Monarchy Party

[5] At one point, Florida State University quarterback and eventual Heisman Trophy winner Charlie Ward ran successfully as their vice presidential candidate.

There appears to have been a third student Monarchy Party formed in 1997 on the campus of San Francisco State University, but it is unclear how successful they were.

[6][7] The parties received a political endorsement by Mojo Nixon, and would later be mentioned in a song called the "Ballad of Marshall Ledbetter" by former Dead Kennedys singer, Jello Biafra.

The group at Florida State University was formed late one night in January, 1989, in the TV lounge of Landis Hall (which is the dormitory for honors students at FSU) by Andrew Arvesen, Chuck Powell, and Jon Lammers.

But it seemed much more apt to mock the current state of affairs, with the Greek organizations treating student government as its own personal fiefdom.

Many formerly uninvolved students became politically active due to the Monarchists, as is shown by the fact that elections in which they participated drew record voter turnouts.

Some members took an active interest in researching current and historical monarchies, enabling the group to add authentic features to their public events and ceremonies, such as coronations, investitures, and the like.

However, the high point of the event was when the monarch held court, a performance that combined medieval costuming, satirical humor, and the random ennoblement of audience members.

Monarchy candidates finally won the student body presidential election, putting Jeannie Belin and Charlie Ward[11] into office.

[12] Marshall Ledbetter, a fringe member of the Monarchy Party, took over the Florida State Capitol with nothing more than an empty bottle of grain alcohol and his wit.

These lampoons included Pravda, The New York Times, USA Today, Cosmopolitan, U.S. News & World Report, and Rolling Stone.

The idea was that if it were entertaining to read, the paper would reach a larger audience and persuade more readers to see the royalist point of view.

The Kings English was primarily written by Travis Casey, Bucky Goldstein,[13] Andrew Arvesen, and Gregory Cohen.

They did this not only by openly soliciting donations from real monarchs, which they did get, but by selling T-shirts and big floppy hats with a feather in them in the student union.

There were a few dark times for fund raising where Jason Shipp had to use his credit card to buy things for folks who gave him cash to pay for the paper.

When campus workers dug a trench to bury pipes behind the library, the Monarchists hung a sign that read "Moat Construction Project Brought to You by the King."

[10] The group produced dozens of flyers that combined catchy slogans with appropriate historical engravings of monarchs, torture, and jousting.

The party produced an election platform that was about a third satirical jabs at the campus establishment, a third royalist history jokes, and a third serious proposals.

However, it is strange to see how many of the more outlandish platform planks have been implemented in succeeding years by the school administration, most notably woodchipping Woodward Avenue, a major thoroughfare that dangerously cut through the middle of campus, the installation of a snack bar/cafe in the library, and the current administrative pursuit of the Greek Relocation Program (the majority of FSU's Greek organizations are now in an area called Heritage Grove which is over a mile away from campus).

King Tom was said to have spent approximately $4.97 one afternoon on video games at the Student Union arcade, and a submarine sandwich for lunch.

Another source of revenue was an enclosed wall display with a paper troth between the sliding glass doors into a Dixie cup.

As his victory was proclaimed, King Tom was held aloft in a chair on the balcony of the side lobby of the Student Union to the chants of "Beer!

Having run an even cheaper campaign than the Monarchist Party, Jim was brought on board and dubbed Sir James of Parking Lot 4.

In addition to keeping true to the longstanding Monarchist Party platform plank of constructing a beer filled moat King James attempted to get jousting performed during halftime at the Maryland Terrapin football games.