February 3rd, 2012
09:21 AM ET
Roseanne is Running for President (Not a Joke).
The Green Party welcomed comedian Roseanne Barr as a presidential candidate Friday, following her Twitter announcement.
A spokesman for the grassroots movement said she completed the party's requirements to run under the Green banner and will promote their platform ahead of the 2012 election.
Scott McLarty, national media coordinator for the party, said Barr and Jill Stein, the other candidate that met the qualifications, are committed to ending the influence of corporate money on politics and elections and served as active participants in the Occupy Wall Street movement.
"She's showing that she really is understanding what the Green Party is about and support our positions and our values," McLarty said of Barr. "It's great that someone who is so well known is campaigning not just in the party but for the party."
Barr, who previously supported President Barack Obama, announced her bid Thursday via Twitter. "I am running for Green Party nominee for POTUS. I am an official candidate. I am4 the Greening of America&theworld. Green=peace/justice," she
wrote.
The former star of "Roseanne," the sitcom that ran from 1988 to 1997, has flirted with a run in the past, telling
Jay Leno over the summer, perhaps jokingly that she intended to campaign for the White House. She briefly starred in the Lifetime series "Roseanne's Nuts" in 2011 that documented her life on a macadamia nut and livestock farm in Hawaii and has since appeared at Occupy events.
Stein, a medical doctor and environmental and health advocate, ran for Massachusetts state representative in 2004 and secretary of state in 2006 as a member of the Green-Rainbow Party.
Six individuals, including Barr and Stein,
filed with the Federal Election Commission to register as 2012 Green Party presidential candidates. However, the party is currently only recognizing Barr and Stein due to internal rules that include requiring the submission of a financial report and a list of supporters.
Greens typically emphasize environmentalism, participatory democracy, free speech and social justice and have achieved some electoral success at the local level. Ralph Nader most notably ran for president in 1996 and 2000 as a Green, capturing nearly 3 million votes in the later contest.
The party's national convention ahead of the 2012 race will take place in Baltimore between July 12 and July 15 and McLarty said the Green nomination will offer welcome relief from the GOP battle and dissatisfaction with Obama.
"We have a pair of candidates who are running for working Americans," McLarty said.
And of course, he added, "the publicity is great."
( I say that she should stick to acting, but this is good way to make money & put some fun is the Presidential race ). 