Wallingford, Ia. – Turns out the presidential candidate with whom I identify most might be Brady Olson, the northwest Iowa boy who has upended this summer's traditional campaign story line nearly as much as Donald Trump.
If you're unfamiliar with Brady, 15, perhaps you recognize his notorious political alter-ego: the faux candidate known as "Deez Nuts." I remember being a rather shy rural Iowa teen, intrigued by the wider world, nervously anticipating my sophomore year of high school. Although I didn't even run for class president, let alone president of the United States.
Olson suddenly — and unwittingly to some extent — was transformed from a high school golfer, baseball pitcher, basketball player and percussionist into a national political force that has polled better than seasoned governors and lawmakers four times his age. He reached 7 percent support in one Iowa poll. Technically, Brady needs to be 20 years older to qualify as a candidate. But Deez Nuts already is on the ballot in 30 states.
I was just the second journalist — after a TV reporter from Minnesota — to traipse onto the Olson farmstead to pick this unlikely newcomer's political brain.
Brady already has conducted no fewer than 10 email interviews in recent days.
As we sat in the Olsons' kitchen Monday, the phone rang with a call from yet another curious news outlet.
"I got interviewed by a health magazine," Brady deadpanned, "and I didn't have any good answers because I don't eat healthy."
This rural Iowa teen feeds his brain with a steady diet of political news. He seems to perpetually surf and scroll on his iPad.
Brady Olson, 15, also known as the Iowa farm boy-turned-presidential candidate "Deez Nuts," sits and scrolls on his iPad at home. (Photo: Kyle Munson/The Register)
He knows enough about the electoral process, said mom Teresa, who manages the office for a local dentist, that "I really think he could teach a class on it."
Brady's rabid interest in politics is driven by a deep, existential urgency.
"I guess I just want to know if the country's falling apart or not," he said. "I want to be ready if that happens."
Whoa — heavy stuff. He sounds more like a jaded adult who has lived to regret a few votes, not a carefree teen who should be plotting what to do when finally set loose with his driver's license.
Brady is their serious, quiet son, said Teresa and the dad, Mark. Younger brother Tyson, 12, is the gregarious, talkative kid who would rather hunt deer than pay attention to politics.
"He's always seemed like he thought years ahead of where he was," Mark said of Brady.
Little brother's brainstorm
It all began last month when the two brothers sat on the sofa, watching Comedy Central. Brady remarked that he might run for president.
"I didn't think he was serious," Tyson said.
But give the little brother due credit: He suggested the name.
The boys had noticed the popular online video meme that cropped up earlier this year, based on a rap album from the early 1990s.
It took Brady all of 15 minutes to file his candidacy July 26 with the Federal Election Commission.
"I can't believe he came up with an assumed name but used our home address," said Brady's mom.
Brady did casually mention his candidacy to his parents before all this blew up. As I might have done, they shrugged it off.
"When your 15-year-old tells you that he's filed to run for president of the United States," Mark said, "you just kind of — yeah, this isn't going to go anywhere. They probably won't even accept it or really look at it."
It wasn't until the Huffington Post phoned that Mark and Teresa realized there might be broader implications.
"Sometimes we get upset with our kids for not listening," Mark said, "and I guess we're not a very good example sometimes."
The Olson boys, from left, at home in rural Wallingford, Ia.: Tyson, 12; his older brother, Brady, 15; and their father, Mark. Brady has become known around the globe as the presidential candidate "Deez Nuts." (Photo: Kyle Munson/The Register)
Dissecting Deez Nuts' appeal
Mark posed a key question: Why did his son's stunt ignite so fast?
It's the sort of media lightning that's impossible to bottle: Brady picked the right meme at the right time. There was the incongruity of Deez Nuts originating with a seemingly innocent rural Iowa boy. Late summer is a good time for oddball stories. And news headlines already were primed for just this sort of political satire — thanks to the mainstream presidential candidates already flooding into Iowa to gobble pork chops and dispense stump speeches at the Iowa State Fair.
It was uncommonly fertile ground for Deez Nuts.
The authentic Brady describes himself as a political moderate — leaning Libertarian — being raised by a pair of strict Republican parents who attend the local Wallingford Lutheran Church.
Brady has said that among realistic candidates, Democrat Bernie Sanders, Republican John Kasich and Libertarian Gary Johnson are his favorites.
The family lives on a farm that has been in Mark's family for nearly a century. He tends to about 2,000 acres of corn and soybeans and 1,500 head of cattle.
But Brady isn't much of a "farm boy" — has no interest farming, doesn't do a lot of farm chores.
He's also not an aspiring politician. He's been eyeing a career in sports administration.
He figures that half his Deez Nuts "supporters" are in it for the joke, and the other half to protest the political norm.
"I didn't think it was going to catch on," he said. "But now I'm sort of braced for impact."
Copycat candidates
By this week there are nearly 900 candidates — including waves of joke candidates no doubt inspired by Brady — who have filed a presidential bid with the FEC.
Limberbutt McCubbins is a cat — and candidate — from Kentucky whom Brady has cited as a potential running mate.
Other pranksters courting your vote include His Majesty Satan Lord of Underworld Prince of Darkness (apparently a Texas Republican who filed Aug. 20), Captain Crunch (Aug. 20) and Cranky Pants (Aug. 24).
Even fictional "House of Cards" character Francis J. Underwood has signed up — with the White House already listed as his home address.
And of course there are plenty of more obscene candidate names that I can't reprint here.
Unsurprisingly, all this has renewed calls for even a modest filing fee ($5?) for candidates.
Twitter has lit up with celebrity reactions.
Comedian and late-night TV host Conan O'Brien: "Before we completely write him off as a joke, why don't we at least find out more about the foreign policy experience of Deez Nuts?"
Hip-hop producer Diplo: "If I got to decide between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton .. I'm definitely voting for Deez Nuts."
From Compton to Wallingford
Speaking of hip-hop, Deez Nuts is yet another example of rapper Dr. Dre — whose N.W.A. biopic "Straight Outta Compton" is a huge hit — ruling the summer. His classic 1992 gangster rap album, "The Chronic," includes a skit by fellow rapper (also his stepbrother) Warren G called "Deeez Nuuuts" in which Warren utters the phrase while on the phone with his girlfriend.
Brady isn't a hip-hop fan. His mom doesn't listen to Dre, either.
"Never heard that before," Teresa said. "Never even thought that it would be part of my vocabulary."
Our political discourse has gotten to the point that Warren G has endorsed Olson/Deez Nuts for president.
"It was a trip just to know that something you just did on a humbug could just get taken 21 — over 21 years later — and made into something that has to do with the presidential election," Warren G told MSNBC. "That's crazy. But the kid is a cool kid and I just — that was pretty smart thinking. Reminds me of 'Brewster's Millions' back in the day."
Yes, a West Coast rapper has compared an Iowa "farm boy" to Richard Pryor.
The ultimate compliment for Brady probably would be an interview on "Last Week Tonight," the comedy news show on HBO led by "Daily Show" alumnus John Oliver.
"As long as it stays light, we'll all be happy," Mark said of his son's newfound fame.
Brady heads back to school
To keep his cause legitimate now that it has spread to so many states, Brady will need to begin to file financial forms with the FEC; any campaign that reaches $5,000 in contributions or expenditures must begin to report them. (He hasn't raised any money.)
Meanwhile, Brady returns Wednesday to the hallways of the Graettinger-Terril Community School District. There are only about 40 kids in his entire sophomore class. He wonders how Deez Nuts will be received by his peers — typically the toughest critics for any high school kid.
"How are they going to forget about this in less than a week?" he said.
But so far Brady doesn't regret anything, even if he hasn't received a single T-shirt among the myriad versions that have been printed in his honor. (Mike Draper of Des Moines said that his shop Raygun has sold 64 Deez Nuts T-shirts since Friday.)
An Olson family friend in Graettinger plans to produce official Deez Nuts shirts, with all proceeds donated to charity.
"Giving back to the community that gives to you is kind of what it's all about," Teresa said of the everyday philosophy — not just political — that she has tried to instill in her son.
I can vote for that.
Meanwhile, Mark feels that his son has tapped into modern American discontent.
"I think he's always felt that nobody will ever listen to him because he's 15," Mark said. "And I think a lot of Americans believe that nobody listens to them regardless of their age. And I think that's maybe why he's been so popular, even when they find out how old he is and who he is."
That doesn't sound nuts to me.
