North Pole (WIBX) - That dateline might not be completely authentic but the name and news are. Santa Claus has withdrawn from the biggest political race of the year and is now throwing his support behind Green Party candidate Jill Stein.

The man whose legal name is "Santa Claus" announced his candidacy and vowed to "conduct (his) entire campaign for about $5,000 and not seek a second term."  On his website, santaclausforpresident.com, he said that he would run as a write-in candidate on on a platform that included the "ten key values of the Green Party platform."

On Halloween he withdrew his official candidacy and said that he is now endorsing Jill Stein and asking his "88,000+ Facebook followers" to do the same.  Note that we could only find two hundred plus followers on his site but, after all, it is Santa Claus, so he may see something that we do not.

Think we are joking?  He says that he is running on children's issues, like preventing abuse and neglect, and has said that the other candidates are not talking enough about the issues at the "heart and soul of America." Quirky perhaps, but clearly he has struck some kind of a chord with voters. He qualified to be on the ballot in nearly one-third of the states as an independent write-in candidate. He officially announces his candidacy here:

 

 

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