Basil Marceaux
Encyclopedia
Basil Marceaux, Sr. is an American
who has on multiple occasions been a candidate for state and federal public office in Tennessee
.
Most recently, he filed as a candidate for the 2010 Republican
nominations for governor in the Tennessee gubernatorial election
and U.S. House of Representatives
in Tennessee's 3rd congressional district
. Owing in part to his unconventional viewpoints, his 2010 campaign for Governor became something of a media sensation.
Marceaux previously ran unsuccessfully as a candidate for United States Senate
and House of Representatives and ran unsuccessfully for Tennessee governor in 2002 as an independent candidate.
. He received an associate's degree
in business administration from Edmondson Junior College
in Chattanooga, and served as a United States Marine. According to his website, he was in the Marines from 1971–1973, serving in Force Recon and rising to the rank of Lance Corporal
.
He has listed his professions as an inventor, entrepreneur
, importer-exporter and historian
. He is married to Getona Deaver and has two children. Marceaux is currently a resident of Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee
.
once and the Governor of Tennessee in three separate elections.
from the United States House of Representatives
.
His official campaign website on freesitenow.com states "VOTE FOR ME AND IF I WIN I WILL IMMUNE YOU FROM ALL STATE CRIMES FOR THE REST OF YOU LIFE!" His campaign video became a viral hit
in late July 2010, airing on MSNBC
, The Colbert Report, The Soup
on television, as well as on the Bubba the Love Sponge
, Paul and Young Ron, Keith and the Girl
and Monsters in the Morning radio shows. He was later invited onto Jimmy Kimmel Live
and interviewed on The Opie & Anthony Show.
Stephen Colbert
of The Colbert Report discussed Marceaux's candidacy at length in two segments, and urged all his Tennessee viewers to vote for "Basil Marceaux-dot-com" (as Marceaux had repeatedly introduced himself in campaign videos) in the primary election.
He was also interviewed on the Toucher and Rich show on 98.5 Sports Hub in Boston, where he said that, "If you kill someone you get murdered" and that "Once you're found guilty of murder we'll bury you under the prison for 50 years, and then put you up on Boot Hill."
A Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc.
poll, taken before the popularity of Marceaux's video became widespread, predicted that Marceaux would receive one percent of the vote in the Republican gubernatorial primary.
Marceaux welcomed the media attention the campaign received, and he denied rumors that he was intoxicated when his campaign video was filmed. He stated that his speech is slurred because he has only three teeth and the news program's producers forced him to modify and shorten his statement as he was delivering it.
The day before the August 2010 primary, the Chattanooga Times Free Press
reported on Marceaux's record in criminal court, which consisted primarily of misdemeanor
traffic violations, including seven cases in which Marceaux was found not guilty by reason of insanity in 2005.
Marceaux faced Bill Haslam
, Zach Wamp
, Ron Ramsey
and Joe Kirkpatrick in the Republican gubernatorial primary election
on August 5, 2010. He finished fifth, receiving 3,505 votes (0.5% of the total).
In the 3rd congressional district Republican primary that same day, Marceaux received 655 votes (about 1% of the total), placing ninth in a field of eleven candidates. Chuck Fleischmann
won the primary, edging out second-place finisher Robin Smith.
A Public Policy Polling
poll showed that Marceaux would lose to President Barack Obama
by 25 points if he were a candidate in the 2012 presidential election
.
, both of which soon went viral
. Marceaux released the song to iTunes
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
who has on multiple occasions been a candidate for state and federal public office in Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
.
Most recently, he filed as a candidate for the 2010 Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
nominations for governor in the Tennessee gubernatorial election
Tennessee gubernatorial election, 2010
The 2010 Tennessee gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 2010. Democratic Governor Phil Bredesen was term-limited and unable to seek re-election...
and U.S. House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
in Tennessee's 3rd congressional district
Tennessee's 3rd congressional district
The 3rd Congressional District of Tennessee is a congressional district in Tennessee. It currently includes a north-south strip in the eastern part of the state. Current Republican Representative Chuck Fleischmann has served since 2011....
. Owing in part to his unconventional viewpoints, his 2010 campaign for Governor became something of a media sensation.
Marceaux previously ran unsuccessfully as a candidate for United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
and House of Representatives and ran unsuccessfully for Tennessee governor in 2002 as an independent candidate.
Biography
Marceaux was born in Stroudsburg, PennsylvaniaStroudsburg, Pennsylvania
Stroudsburg is a borough in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the Poconos region of the state, approximately five miles from the Delaware Water Gap, at the confluence of the Brodhead and Pocono Creeks. It is the county seat of Monroe County. Stroudsburg is part of the...
. He received an associate's degree
Associate's degree
An associate degree is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by community colleges, junior colleges, technical colleges, and bachelor's degree-granting colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study usually lasting two years...
in business administration from Edmondson Junior College
Edmondson Junior College
Edmondson Junior College was a two-year proprietary college in Chattanooga, Tennessee, that closed in July 1992. It was owned by Phillips College, Inc...
in Chattanooga, and served as a United States Marine. According to his website, he was in the Marines from 1971–1973, serving in Force Recon and rising to the rank of Lance Corporal
Lance Corporal
Lance corporal is a military rank, used by many armed forces worldwide, and also by some police forces and other uniformed organizations. It is below the rank of corporal, and is typically the lowest non-commissioned officer, usually equivalent to the NATO Rank Grade OR-3.- Etymology :The presumed...
.
He has listed his professions as an inventor, entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
, importer-exporter and historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
. He is married to Getona Deaver and has two children. Marceaux is currently a resident of Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee
Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee
Soddy-Daisy is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 11,530 at the 2000 census. The City was formed in 1969 when the communities of Soddy and Daisy, along with nearby developed areas along U.S. Highway 27, merged to form Soddy-Daisy. It is rapidly becoming a...
.
Political experience
Before his 2010 candidacies for Governor and the U.S. House, Marceaux had previously run as a candidate for the Tennessee State Senate three times, the United States SenateUnited States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
once and the Governor of Tennessee in three separate elections.
2010 candidacies
A 2010 Republican candidate for governor, Marceaux has campaigned for a recall of gun permits and the banning of law enforcement officers from charging suspects for anything except vehicle moving violations. He has promised to emphasize phonics in public schools and would require high school students to read the minutesMinutes
Minutes, also known as protocols, are the instant written record of a meeting or hearing. They typically describe the events of the meeting, starting with a list of attendees, a statement of the issues considered by the participants, and related responses or decisions for the issues.Minutes may be...
from the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
.
His official campaign website on freesitenow.com states "VOTE FOR ME AND IF I WIN I WILL IMMUNE YOU FROM ALL STATE CRIMES FOR THE REST OF YOU LIFE!" His campaign video became a viral hit
Viral video
A viral video is one that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email...
in late July 2010, airing on MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
, The Colbert Report, The Soup
The Soup
The Soup is an E! Entertainment Television weekly series; it is a revamped version of Talk Soup that focuses on recaps of various pop culture and television show moments of the week...
on television, as well as on the Bubba the Love Sponge
Bubba the Love Sponge
Todd Alan Clem is an American radio personality better known by his Legal name Bubba the Love Sponge Clem. He is the host of The Bubba the Love Sponge Show on various Cox Radio and Beasley Broadcast Group stations, formerly on Sirius XM Howard 101, as well as on RadioIO.-Early career and the...
, Paul and Young Ron, Keith and the Girl
Keith and The Girl
Keith and The Girl, abbreviated as KATG, is a popular comedy podcast that began on March 7, 2005. It is hosted by comedian Keith Malley and singer Chemda Khalili in Queens, New York. Chemda is of Persian descent whilst Keith's exact origins are unknown, but believed to be eastern European...
and Monsters in the Morning radio shows. He was later invited onto Jimmy Kimmel Live
Jimmy Kimmel Live
Jimmy Kimmel Live! is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and broadcast on ABC.The nightly hour-long show made its debut on January 26, 2003, following Super Bowl XXXVII. Jimmy Kimmel Live! is produced by Jackhole Productions in association with ABC Studios...
and interviewed on The Opie & Anthony Show.
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Tyrone Colbert is an American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and actor. He is the host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, a satirical news show in which Colbert portrays a caricatured version of conservative political pundits.Colbert originally studied to be an...
of The Colbert Report discussed Marceaux's candidacy at length in two segments, and urged all his Tennessee viewers to vote for "Basil Marceaux-dot-com" (as Marceaux had repeatedly introduced himself in campaign videos) in the primary election.
He was also interviewed on the Toucher and Rich show on 98.5 Sports Hub in Boston, where he said that, "If you kill someone you get murdered" and that "Once you're found guilty of murder we'll bury you under the prison for 50 years, and then put you up on Boot Hill."
A Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc.
Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc.
Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc. is an independent polling firm that conducts voter surveys for news media, lobbyists, advocacy groups, trade associations, and political action committees. Mason-Dixon is the nation's most active state polling organization, conducting copyrighted public opinion...
poll, taken before the popularity of Marceaux's video became widespread, predicted that Marceaux would receive one percent of the vote in the Republican gubernatorial primary.
Marceaux welcomed the media attention the campaign received, and he denied rumors that he was intoxicated when his campaign video was filmed. He stated that his speech is slurred because he has only three teeth and the news program's producers forced him to modify and shorten his statement as he was delivering it.
The day before the August 2010 primary, the Chattanooga Times Free Press
Chattanooga Times Free Press
The Chattanooga Times Free Press is a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and is distributed in the metro Chattanooga region of Tennessee and Northwest Georgia...
reported on Marceaux's record in criminal court, which consisted primarily of misdemeanor
Misdemeanor
A misdemeanor is a "lesser" criminal act in many common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished much less severely than felonies, but theoretically more so than administrative infractions and regulatory offences...
traffic violations, including seven cases in which Marceaux was found not guilty by reason of insanity in 2005.
Marceaux faced Bill Haslam
Bill Haslam
William Edward "Bill" Haslam is the 49th and current Governor of Tennessee. A member of the Republican Party, Haslam was elected to office in 2010...
, Zach Wamp
Zach Wamp
Zachary Paul "Zach" Wamp is the former U.S. Representative for , serving from 1995 to 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party...
, Ron Ramsey
Ron Ramsey
Ronald Lynn "Ron" Ramsey is the Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee and Speaker of the State Senate. A Republican from Blountville in East Tennessee, Ramsey succeeded long-term Democratic Lieutenant Governor John S...
and Joe Kirkpatrick in the Republican gubernatorial primary election
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
on August 5, 2010. He finished fifth, receiving 3,505 votes (0.5% of the total).
In the 3rd congressional district Republican primary that same day, Marceaux received 655 votes (about 1% of the total), placing ninth in a field of eleven candidates. Chuck Fleischmann
Chuck Fleischmann
Charles J. "Chuck" Fleischmann is the U.S. Representative for . The district is based in Chattanooga and includes a large swath of East Tennessee, including Oak Ridge. He is a member of the Republican Party....
won the primary, edging out second-place finisher Robin Smith.
A Public Policy Polling
Public Policy Polling
Public Policy Polling is an American Democratic Party-affiliated polling firm based in Raleigh, North Carolina. PPP was founded in 2001 by businessman and Democratic pollster Dean Debnam, the firm's current president and chief executive officer...
poll showed that Marceaux would lose to President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
by 25 points if he were a candidate in the 2012 presidential election
United States presidential election, 2012
The United States presidential election of 2012 is the next United States presidential election, to be held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. It will be the 57th quadrennial presidential election in which presidential electors, who will actually elect the President and the Vice President of the United...
.
Song and video
Marceaux created a Christmas song titled "Come Christmas" in December 2010 coupled with a music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
, both of which soon went viral
Viral video
A viral video is one that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email...
. Marceaux released the song to iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
.
External links
- Marceaux for Governor
- Marceaux on WSMV NBC TV Nashville newscast
- basilmarceaux.com
- Basil Marceaux's blog
- Basil Marceaux at YouTube
- Washington Post article http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/06/AR2010080606164.html?sid=ST2010080606236