Idaho GOP debate goes viral

by Rebecca Shabad - 05/15/14 2:21 PM ET

Idaho’s GOP gubernatorial debate went viral Thursday as people talked about two fringe candidates.

One, Harley Brown, is a self-described biker and talked about how God had told him he’d become president. He wore a black, leather biker-style hat and vest, and talked about a restraining order his ex-wife had put on him.

{mosads}Another candidate, Walt Bayes, appeared at the debate with a long white beard, and pushed his glasses up on his forehead to read some of his notes. He began by talking about Chernobyl and a nuclear conspiracy.

On Twitter, people couldn’t get enough of what Brown referred to as a contest between a “cowboy, a biker, a curmudgeon or a normal guy.”

He said voters could “take your pick.”

“Thank you very much. We’re leaving it up to you,” Brown said.

The other two GOP candidates taking part in the nearly hourlong debate were Gov. Butch Otter and state Sen. Russ Fulcher. Otter is running for reelection for a third term.

Brown, who previously ran for Congress in 2000 and for Boise mayor in 2001, was perhaps the most colorful candidate.

“After God told me he was going to make me president, I went out and got the presidential seal tattooed on my shoulder,” he said during the debate.

“My morale went from negative 500 to off the scale and started a presidential campaign right there. I’m a type AA guy. I was living in Fat Jack’s cellar because my ex-wife had trumped up, gave me restraining orders; I couldn’t see my kids. It was a mess,” he said.

Bayes, the “curmudgeon,” spoke of nuclear fallout.

“My Bible says it’s going to get worse and worse and worse,” he said.