Weird News: Cat Becomes Most Popular Mayoral Candidate
By Matt O'Hern // June 19, 2013
SOCIAL MEDIA PROPELS CAT AS HUMOROUS ALTERNATIVE TO CANIDIATES
ABOVE VIDEO: Morris the cat is running for mayor in Xalapa, Mexico. Some students are dubbing him the citizen s candidate out of frustration with local politicians.Video courtesy of News 2242
With an absence of prominent candidates for mayor of Xalapa, Mexico, a grassroots campaign started to launch a humorous alternative. Shortly after the social media blitz, a cat named Morris now has more Facebook fans than any candidate in the race. Despite the fact that Morris is ineligible to appear on a ballot, his Facebok page has accrued over 130,000 “Likes”, which is more than any candidate who is running to become mayor of Xalapa, the capital of the state of Veracruz.
According to Morris’ owner Sergio Chamorro, the felines fanatic following illustrates a severe height of disillusionment and skepticism among voters. In an article published by The Guardian, Chamorro said:
“Morris has become an expression of how fed up people are with all the parties and a political system that does not represent us.”
Chamorro, the owner of the furry black-and-white candidate whose first campaign slogan was: “Tired of voting for rats? Vote for a cat.”
According to The Guardian, “Morris has also inspired a number of other animal candidates in other Mexican cities including a donkey in Ciudad Juárez, a dog in Oaxaca and a chicken in Tepic. None, however, have become as popular as the cat, which appears to have politicians and the authorities genuinely worried.”
Local elections in around half of the country on 7 July.
Have you reached a point where you would vote for an animal over a political candidate? Comment below.
