Walking for Peace, Running for President
Ladies and Gentlemen, remember that you heard it here first: Mike Oren, the PeaceWalker, is running for President.
In case you didn’t already know, Oren has been walking for peace since 2004, trying to generate publicity against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. At 56, he has walked nearly 6,000 miles in his so-called PeaceQuest, and although he’s arrived outside the White House for the second time (from St. Petersburg, Florida this year), he hopes to one day be sitting on the inside.
Originally from Bowling Green, Ohio, Oren was bar-tending at a golf course in Las Vegas when he heard a news story about Carlos Arredondo, a father who lit himself on fire after hearing that his son, a marine, was killed in Iraq. Within three days, Oren decided he needed to do something personally to inspire public opinion on the matter. “There were massive protests before this Iraqi war started. But people just gave up on it. “ Thus began the first leg of his PeaceQuest, from San Bernadino, CA to the Statue of Liberty.
If nothing else, Oren is aware that his best efforts, intentions, gimmicks, and peregrinations will get him nowhere without one crucial factor: media attention, which he courts aggressively (“Can you get this on democracy now? NPR radio?” he inquired of your devoted blogger). The first thing he did before starting his walk was hire a press agent.
Outside the White House, proudly displaying his long, white beard and the all-American “PEACEWALKER,” tattoo that stretches across his back, he berates a group of BBC journalists walking through gate (they’re there to cover President Obama’s meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron). “Don’t underestimate me!” he bellows amid his anti-war cries. “You’re looking at the next president of the United States!” The British are unmoved. “The people love me! I’ll legalize pot!”
Oren, who claims he’s been covered in over 31,000 publications, is proud of his accomplishments. “I’m the most famous stranger you’ll ever meet,” he says, name dropping the news outlets on which he’s appeared (some verifiable): CNN, Channel 12, a Florida NPR station, CBS news, and several others. He even utilizes social and new media. Supporters can friend him on Facebook, follow his blog, and make donations on his website (1800 hits since March!) using PayPal. All that adds up to change you can believe in: 70% of Americans supported the war, he points out, when the PeaceQuest began.
Which brings us to his Presidential ambitions. Aside from his Ohioan birth (which makes him an electoral shoe-in – there have been 8 Presidents from Ohio and any politico can vouch for its electoral import), he points to his experience volunteering for the George McGovern Presidential campaign, serving as a state democratic delegate in Nevada, and his 9-year stint as an AFL-CIO delegate to Southern Nevada ‘s Central Labor Council. “Anybody can become president now, since Barack Obama came out of nowhere.”
Until he officially announces his candidacy and initiates a campaign website on Labor Day (complete with its own PayPal), Oren will continue spreading the peace gospel and distributing fliers, relying on the financial support of like-minded people he comes in contact with to survive. “I’ve been homeless since 2004. And you know how many hotel rooms have gotten comped because of my fliers?”
Fortunately, transportation between campaign stops won’t be too expensive. Oren will be traveling by foot.
-Niv Elis
