RADIOCAST: 1940, The Year Gracie Allen Won The Wisconsin Presidential Primary

This coming Tuesday, April 5th, Wisconsin Democrats and Republicans will head for the polls and voice their preferences for their party's presidential nominee. On one side, there's the possibility of electing the country's first woman president. On the other side there's the possibility of electing a political outsider who has never run for office.

But if you were around in 1940, that's old news. Back then one of the most popular women in America, a political outsider who had never run for office before, threw her hat into the ring for a chance to become the country's commander in chief.

It was none other than Gracie Allen, the beloved comedy star who, with her husband George Burns, had made the move from vaudeville headliners to being nationally broadcast in a top-rated radio program.

As recalled by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, earlier in the year, Gracie announced on their program that she was running for president as the candidate for the Surprise Party. It became a running routine for months. Since 1940 was a leap year, the party mascot was a kangaroo. Fans began wearing campaign buttons that said, "Down with common sense! Vote for Gracie Allen!"

Every week, their radio program opened with the rallying song, "Vote for Gracie." ("Even big politicians / don't know what to do / Gracie doesn't know either / but neither do you").

Every week, George would ask about her stances on the important issues of the day.

On the Neutrality Bill pending in Congress: "If we owe it, let's pay it."

On recognizing Russia: "I don't know. I meet so many people."

On which political party she was affiliated with: "I may take a drink now and then, but I never get affiliated."

Wisconsin held its two party primaries on April 2nd that year. Incumbent Democrat Franklin Roosevelt, the eventual national winner, won the state easily, as did Republican New Yorker Thomas Dewey.

The results were front page news for the next day's Milwaukee Sentinel, but on the bottom corner was a small bit of copy stating that Gracie Allen had received 63 votes.

The next week on their radio program, Gracie was in a celebratory mood over what she called her landslide victory. As always, her logic eluded George.

Gracie: "I got 63 votes!"

George: "63 votes, out of millions of voters in Wisconsin?"

Gracie: "Oh, that was in only one copy of the paper. And that paper has a circulation of 187,000. 187,000 times 63..."

The laughter from the audiences was so loud she didn't have to finish. Listen for yourself.

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