John Smith Joins Race For President

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (AP) -- Move over, Barack Obama. There's another "change" candidate in the race.

Capt. John Smith, the swashbuckling adventurer of yore, is gunning for the White House. Smith, of course, got a lot of press last year when he returned from the past for America's 400th anniversary, commemorating the experiment in self-government he helped start at Jamestown.

He says that visit got him to thinking, as he looked around the Chesapeake Bay he had explored and mapped in 1607-09.

Smith was deeply troubled by the severe pollution he saw. Long ago, he called its land and waters sweet, pleasant and beautiful.

No more. So he sought out William C. Baker, president of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, who told him the federal government's leadership in bay cleanup efforts was flagging.

Smith announced his candidacy recently at the foundation's headquarters near Annapolis, Md.

"My campaign slogan is simple -- 'A Clear Vision for a Clean Bay,"' the red-bearded explorer told cheering supporters. "My message to the people is this: We must work together for a healthy Chesapeake Bay, for healthy rivers and for clean water for all Americans."

"My vision is for a clean and restored Chesapeake Bay, with abundant fish, crabs and oysters, a region with healthy farms and a vibrant seafood economy, just like in the old days."

Clad in cape and breeches and sporting a sword, Smith noted his leadership skills, having negotiated with the Powhatan Indians and been elected president of the Jamestown colony. "We can make the Chesapeake a model for restoration success, for the rest of the nation and for the rest of the world."

Baker, his political strategist, said the foundation supports the Capt. John Smith for President campaign. He encouraged people to go to Smith's Web site, www.votethebay.org, and join the effort. "Send a message to the real presidential candidates that clean water is not a luxury; it's the right of all Americans," Baker said.

On first analysis, it looks as if Smith has it all: rugged good looks, military experience, a couple of best-selling books -- still in print after 400 years -- grass-roots appeal and a genuine outsider "not from Washington."

Left unanswered is the age issue. After all, Smith is even older than John McCain. And there's the question of his U.S. citizenship. The last anyone knew, Smith was still a subject of Great Britain.

Chuck Epes, the bay foundation's Virginia spokesman, said Smith will campaign in several states, all around America's largest estuary.

"We'd love it if he could swing through Fredericksburg sometime," Epes said.

Sadly, though, the lawyers have already had their way. The foundation, a nonpartisan nonprofit, doesn't endorse candidates -- and Smith is merely a fiction.