Cthulhu for President

{{Short description|Political parody of the US presidential election}}

Cthulhu for President is a political parody of the United States presidential election, in which Cthulhu, the fictional cosmic horror, runs for President of the United States. Parody campaigns with accompanying political advertising materials were run for each of the US presidential elections since 1996, usually with the motto "Cthulhu for President: Why settle for the lesser evil?"{{cite news |last1=Miller |first1=John J. |title=The Tentacles of H.P. Lovecraft |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-tentacles-of-h-p-lovecraft-1477671211 |access-date=February 9, 2021 |work=Wall Street Journal |date=October 28, 2016 |archive-date=April 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401000747/https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-tentacles-of-h-p-lovecraft-1477671211 |url-status=live }} Similar parody campaigns have been run for presidencies of other countries.

Cthulhu

File:Cthulhu and R'lyeh.jpg

Cthulhu is a fictional cosmic entity created by writer H. P. Lovecraft and described as an enormous clawed and winged anthropoid shape, with a head like an octopus, which is worshipped by maniacal cultists across the world. The creature was first introduced in the 1928 short story "The Call of Cthulhu", but has since been featured in numerous popular culture references.

Chaosium

The American games company Chaosium publishes multiple games about Lovecraft's work, starting with the Call of Cthulhu horror role-playing game in 1981. In 1996, Chaosium published a "Cthulhu for President" political campaign kit, including a campaign button, posters, yard and window signs, speeches, and a vision booklet, "Contract on America" (parodying the 1994 Contract with America).{{cite book |last1=Appel |first1=Shannon |authorlink3=Paul Lidberg|last2=Brooks |first2=Les |last3=Lidberg |first3=Paul |title=Cthulhu for President |date=June 1, 1996 |publisher=Chaosium |isbn=9781568820675 }}{{cite web |title=Cthulhu for President |url=http://www.sirius.com/~chaosium/cth-pres.html |website=Chaosium |access-date=February 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970503024639/http://www.sirius.com/~chaosium/cth-pres.html |archive-date=May 3, 1997}} This won the 1996 Origins Award for Best Game Accessory.{{cite web |title=OriginsAwardsWinners 1997 – 23rd Annual Ceremony |url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5d4db01d648a4e0001199c62/t/5d5453767227700001bc8dfd/1565807482822/Origins+Awards+Winners+1997.pdf |publisher=Origins Awards |access-date=February 9, 2021 |archive-date=October 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201014040901/https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5d4db01d648a4e0001199c62/t/5d5453767227700001bc8dfd/1565807482822/Origins+Awards+Winners+1997.pdf |url-status=live }}

In 2004, Chaosium, in cooperation with Chris O'Neill and Daniel Landis of 9th Level Games, a humorous role-playing game publisher, made a complete "Cthulhu for President" beer and pretzels role-playing game. In it, the players portray Elder Party campaign staffers serving the Great Old Ones in an occult political struggle.{{cite book |last1=O'Neill |first1=Chris |last2=Landis |first2=Daniel |title=Cthulhu for President |date=February 8, 2004 |publisher=Chaosium, Incorporated |isbn=9781568822433}} The 2016 edition parodies the 2016 United States presidential election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.{{cite web |title=Cthulhu for President |url=https://www.chaosium.com/cthulhu-for-president/ |website=Chaosium |access-date=February 8, 2021 |archive-date=February 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210207202651/https://www.chaosium.com/cthulhu-for-president/ |url-status=live }}

Presidential elections

The Cthulhu for President parody campaign recurred over multiple election cycles. Cthulhu.org was the home of the first Internet Cthulhu for President campaign, starting in 1997, accompanying the Chaosium campaign materials,{{cite web |title=Cthulhu for President |url=http://www.cthulhu.org/ |website=Cthulhu.org |access-date=February 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970329081653/http://www.cthulhu.org/ |archive-date=March 29, 1997}} and running at least through 2007.{{cite magazine |last1=Brownlee |first1=John |title=Cthulhu For President! |url=https://www.wired.com/2007/03/cthulhu-for-pre/ |access-date=February 9, 2021 |magazine=Wired |issue=March 7, 2007 |language=en-us |archive-date=October 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021043437/https://www.wired.com/2007/03/cthulhu-for-pre/ |url-status=live }} Buttons and T-shirts depicting Cthulhu with the "Why Choose the Lesser Evil? Cthulhu for President" logo were sold during the 2000 and 2004 United States presidential election campaigns.{{cite news |last1=Dirda |first1=Michael |author1-link=Michael Dirda |title=Cthulhu for President – British literature |url=https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/cthulhu-for-president-2/ |access-date=February 9, 2021 |work=The Times Literary Supplement |date=June 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200630191416/https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/cthulhu-for-president-2/ |archive-date=June 30, 2020}} Cthulhu for President videos and posters were made for the United States presidential elections in 2008 and 2012, and for the 2010 Polish presidential election.{{cite news |last1=Fradin |first1=Andréa |title=Qui se cache derrière la campagne Cthulhu for America ? |url=https://www.nouvelobs.com/rue89/rue89-etats-unis/20160303.RUE2336/qui-se-cache-derriere-la-campagne-cthulhu-for-america.html |access-date=February 9, 2021 |work=L'Obs |date=November 21, 2016 |language=fr |archive-date=February 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208091141/https://www.nouvelobs.com/rue89/rue89-etats-unis/20160303.RUE2336/qui-se-cache-derriere-la-campagne-cthulhu-for-america.html |url-status=live }} A Spanish website (Vota Cthulhu: Partido No Euclidiano Por el Fin de los Días – the Non-Euclidian Party for the End of Days) supported Cthulhu for President in the 2011 Spanish general election.{{cite web |title=Vota Cthulhu |url=http://partidonoeuclidiano.tumblr.com:80/ |website=Partido No Euclidiano (Por el Fin de los Días) |access-date=February 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160401234603/http://partidonoeuclidiano.tumblr.com:80/ |archive-date=April 1, 2016 |language=es}}{{cite web |last1=Watson |first1=Zebbie |title=Who Is Behind Cthulhu For America? |url=https://www.inverse.com/article/16964-who-is-behind-cthulhu-for-america |website=Inverse |date=June 15, 2016 |access-date=February 9, 2021 |language=en |archive-date=November 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108105523/https://www.inverse.com/article/16964-who-is-behind-cthulhu-for-america |url-status=live }} A Cthulhu 2012 campaign website gave Cthulhu a vice presidential candidate, Dagon, from one of Lovecraft's earliest stories.{{cite web |title=Cthulhu Dagon 2012 |url=http://www.cthulhu2012.com/ |website=cthulhu2012.com |access-date=February 10, 2021 |archive-date=October 14, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161014061420/http://www.cthulhu2012.com/ |url-status=dead }}

= Cthulhu for America =

The 2016 United States presidential election cycle included a larger "Cthulhu for America" website, which drew celebrity and international attention.{{cite news |last1=Barnett |first1=David M. |title=Could Cthulhu trump the other Super Tuesday contenders? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/mar/01/could-cthulhu-trump-other-super-tuesday-contenders-hp-lovecraft |access-date=February 9, 2021 |work=The Guardian |date=March 1, 2016 |language=en |archive-date=June 13, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200613201840/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/mar/01/could-cthulhu-trump-other-super-tuesday-contenders-hp-lovecraft |url-status=live }} The site was launched in August 2015, and included merchandise like t-shirts, stickers, flyers, and mugs with slogans including "Why choose the lesser evil?", and a take on Black Lives Matter/All Lives Matter: "No lives matter". Its Twitter account had over 35,000 followers. In December 2015 Cthulhu for America put out a War on Christmas kit including Cthulhu stickers meant to be put over the logo of Starbucks coffee cups.{{cite news |last1=Winston |first1=Kimberly |title=Christmas wins (in the December culture wars) |url=https://religionnews.com/2015/12/01/christmas-happy-holidays-santa-war-on-christmas/ |access-date=February 9, 2021 |work=Religion News Service |date=December 1, 2015 |archive-date=April 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401000746/https://religionnews.com/2015/12/01/christmas-happy-holidays-santa-war-on-christmas/ |url-status=live }} The site gave credit to Chaosium for the 1990s and 2000s "campaigns" but distanced itself from the company.

The Cthulhu for America campaign was "endorsed" by Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and his Twitter followers in June 2016 (also referring to the Spanish Vota Cthulhu page).{{cite news |last1=Mazza |first1=Ed |title=Cthulhu For President? |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cthulhu-for-president_n_574fba9ee4b0ed593f134933 |access-date=February 9, 2021 |work=HuffPost |date=June 2, 2016 |language=en |archive-date=February 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208044519/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cthulhu-for-president_n_574fba9ee4b0ed593f134933 |url-status=live }} del Toro also inverted the Cthulhu for President logo (of VoteCthulhu.com, an alternate URL of Cthulhu for America), and called it "Donald Cthrump", referring to candidate Donald Trump.{{cite news |last1=Axelrod |first1=Joshua |title=Demon god Cthulhu seen as possible third-party candidate |url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/donald-trump?source=%2Fdemon-god-cthulhu-seen-as-possible-third-party-candidate |access-date=February 10, 2021 |work=Washington Examiner |date=June 5, 2016 |language=en}}

In September 2016, American horror author Stephen King wrote that Donald Trump was actually Cthulhu in disguise: "The absurd hairdo isn't absurd at all. It hides the tentacles."{{Cite tweet |user=StephenKing |number=775435683368464388|title=Breaking News}} The Cthulhu for America campaign responded with an angry denial ("Trump could barely hope to be 1/63 as great as I am if he weren't such a buffoon"){{Cite tweet |user=cthulhu4america|number=75472196340879360|title=President-elect Cthulhu}} with a longer statement including references to many of King's books.{{cite web |last1=Mazza |first1=Ed |title=Stephen King Compares Trump To Cthulhu; Cthulhu Issues Angry Denial |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/stephen-king-donald-trump-cthulhu_n_57d77e19e4b0fbd4b7bb4540 |website=HuffPost |access-date=February 9, 2021 |language=en |date=September 13, 2016 |archive-date=April 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401000820/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/stephen-king-donald-trump-cthulhu_n_57d77e19e4b0fbd4b7bb4540 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last1=Iovine |first1=Anna |title=Stephen King calls Trump Cthulhu, gets angry response |url=https://www.aol.com/article/2016/09/13/stephen-king-calls-trump-cthulhu-gets-angry-response/21471035/ |website=AOL |date=September 13, 2016 |access-date=February 9, 2021 |archive-date=April 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401000747/https://www.aol.com/article/2016/09/13/stephen-king-calls-trump-cthulhu-gets-angry-response/21471035/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Garcia |first1=Arturo |title=Stephen King compares Trump to Cthulhu — and now Cthulhu is pissed |url=https://www.rawstory.com/2016/09/stephen-king-compares-trump-to-cthulhu-and-now-cthulhu-is-pissed/ |access-date=February 9, 2021 |work=Raw Story |date=September 13, 2016 |language=en |archive-date=February 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210207202650/https://www.rawstory.com/2016/09/stephen-king-compares-trump-to-cthulhu-and-now-cthulhu-is-pissed/ |url-status=live }} The campaign had earlier made a similar rebuttal to John Boehner's statement that candidate Ted Cruz was "Lucifer in the flesh",{{cite news|date=April 28, 2016|last=Rushton|first=Christine|title=John Boehner: Ted Cruz is 'Lucifer in the flesh'|url=https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-trailguide-04282016-john-boehner-calls-ted-cruz-lucifer-in-the-flesh-1461850156-htmlstory.html|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|access-date=April 28, 2016|archive-date=September 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180921104134/http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-trailguide-04282016-john-boehner-calls-ted-cruz-lucifer-in-the-flesh-1461850156-htmlstory.html|url-status=live}} writing "The only being of pure evil in this race is myself".{{cite news |last1=Fain |first1=Thom |title=Cthulhu For America says Ted Cruz isn't satanic enough to be president – Elections 2016 |url=https://elections.gatehousemedia.com/cthulhu-for-america-says-ted-cruz-isnt-satanic-enough-to-be-president/ |access-date=February 9, 2021 |work=GateHouse Media |issue=April 29, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504203209/https://elections.gatehousemedia.com/cthulhu-for-america-says-ted-cruz-isnt-satanic-enough-to-be-president/ |archive-date=May 4, 2016}}

Cthulhu for America continued into the 2020 United States presidential election, this time with the slogan "Wreck. World. Worse.", parodying the Build Back Better slogan of the Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign.{{cite web |title=Vote for the Greatest Evil {{!}} Cthulhu for President 2020 |url=https://cthulhuforamerica.com/ |website=Cthulhu for America |access-date=February 9, 2021 |archive-date=August 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160803190725/https://cthulhuforamerica.com/ |url-status=live }} When the initial logo used for the 2020 Republican National Convention had a tangle of lines apparently emerging from the Republican elephant, it was popularly compared to Cthulhu and its tentacles.{{cite web |last1=Mazza |first1=Ed |title=HAIL CTHULHU! Twitter Users Mock GOP Convention Logo's Weird Design |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/gop-convention-logo-cthulhu_n_5d43ba9ce4b0acb57fca1492 |website=Huffington Post |access-date=February 9, 2021 |language=en |date=August 2, 2019 |archive-date=February 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210212233537/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/gop-convention-logo-cthulhu_n_5d43ba9ce4b0acb57fca1492 |url-status=live }}