Name recognition works with low information voters. Too bad that Tray Be Gone has been trademarked.
Via FOX news
Scott Fistler wasn’t drumming up the political recognition he thought he needed to win an election. The 35-year-old, who lists “The Sneetches” by Dr. Seuss as his favorite book, kept coming up short in his bid for public office.
The voters in Arizona just weren’t feeling him. So Fistler changed his name — to Cesar Chavez.
Though the famed labor leader has been dead for years, Fistler is running under the Chavez moniker for the 7th Congressional District seat in a community composed mostly of Hispanics.
If Chavez, the Democratic candidate, makes it onto the ballot, he would be in a six-way race for the seat left vacant by retiring U.S. Rep. Ed Pastor.
Fistler is fairly upfront about his strategy here. He’s already run twice for office, unsuccessfully, as a Republican. He then changed parties, and his name — after paying a $319 fee to the state late last year.
“It’s almost as simple as saying Elvis Presley is running for president,” Chavez told The Arizona Republic. “You wouldn’t forget it, would you?”
He also told the paper he picked his new name because it was a popular one with voters.
“If you went out there running for office and your name was Bernie Madoff, you’d probably be screwed,” he said.
His plan is oddly similar to the plot of the 1992 film “The Distinguished Gentleman,” where Eddie Murphy’s character wins a congressional election by changing his name to that of the dead incumbent.