View from the North 40: A candidate by any other name

This is another election year and my heart would be filled with a sense of dread and foreboding sauteed in a tangy brine of bored cynicism, if it weren’t for a few bright spots of hope. Hope for hijinks, pratfalls and a little bit of “what the what is that about?” already forming.

Elvis Presley is alive and well in Arkansas, of all places, and looking for his magic moment in the Arkansas State House.

The Associated Press reported Feb. 27 that Elvis D. Presley, who is a professional impersonator of famous rock crooner Elvis A. Presley, filed as a Libertarian nominee to eventually go up against four-time District 1 winner Republican Rep. Rick Crawford.

I can’t take it anymore. Here come the Elvis titles.

Don’t get all shook up if he doesn’t win, because apparently Presley doesn’t go crying in the chapel with a mess of blues if voters actually can help falling in love with him. The AP reported that Presley has run unsuccessfully for Arkansas governor, land commissioner and state Senate without getting all shook up.

In case you are wondering, yes, he had his name changed to Elvis Presley to reflect, more than just a little bit, his passion for the original Elvis Presley.

But Elvis D. Presley isn’t the only name changer fighting for a win in this year’s election cycle thanks to Pennsylvania’s Meteorologist Drew Anderson.

News organization Lancaster Online reported Monday that Anderson is seeking the 1,000 signatures from Republican voters he needs to get on the primary ballot to challenge U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker.

Anderson, a 29-year-old Penn State alumnus, is just old enough to run for the office, but we know he’s serious about his bid because he quit his job as WPMT Fox 43 meteorologist to work on his campaign.

He told Lancaster Online that the residents in his area need an “everyday person” representing them.

“We need more real people in Washington,” added the man who, just last year, had his first name legally changed to “Meteorologist.”

Yes, his legal name, the one that will show on the ballot, is Meteorologist Drew Anderson. It doesn’t get much more real than that.

But here’s the thing about changing your name to reflect your job: What if you change jobs?

What if Elvis D. Presley gains weight and he doesn’t look like chubby Elvis A. Presley, but looks like chubby John Goodman instead and then has to change is performance routine?

What happens if Anderson wins the election? Is he going to change his name again, maybe to “Congressman”? Will we have to call him U.S. Representative Congressman Meteorologist Drew Anderson?

What if he becomes president? Will he be U.S. President Commander-in-Chief Congressman Meteorologist Drew Anderson?

I think we all know, now, that stranger things have happened. But still.

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Hold on to your heads, it’s an election year at http://www.facebook.com/viewfromthenorth40/.