A Cal State Long Beach dance instructor has announced his candidacy for this year’s United States presidential election.
Steve Zee has been teaching tap dance for 11 years and is also a political comedian.
He said he is running to express his right of free speech so that he can voice his opinions about various issues such as abortion or race relations.
He also said is aiming to allow citizens to put pressure on the government for their own interests.
Freshman civil engineering major Jose Frias doesn’t agree with the idea of Zee’s campaign.
“It’s a waste of time and money, who’s he kidding?” Frias asked. “What’s the point of exercising his rights this way, why not vote?”
Frias said he would expect someone with a realistic means of running to run for president – someone who can rally the respect of the people, like a political science professor.
Zee is not necessarily a Republican or a Democrat.
In one of his videos, he attacks all of the major Republican candidates and Barack Obama for “not being able to dance,” while he shows viewers how he can tap dance and play the tambourine at the same time.
By not choosing sides, Zee said he is able to keep the audience of people from both parties open to what he has to say.
Sophomore pre-film and electronics art major Isaac Kim said he is surprised that a teacher from CSULB is running.
Kim said Zee does not have a realistic chance of winning, but he said he would still vote for Zee.
Although his campaign is comedic, Zee is serious in the sense that he is expressing his views as a citizen.
“I can’t help if the presentation is funny,” Zee said.
Thomas Truong, sophomore economics major, said Zee should be careful with his comedic approach because comedy can be very one-sided.
“He has to be careful what he says and try to appeal to the masses,” Truong said.
However, as a performing artist, Zee is used to hearing critiques and understands that the public gets to decide if his campaign methods work or not. All he is hoping for is a good response.
According to Zee, he is not making or spending money on the campaign.
He also admitted that he knows his name will not be on the ballot due to the popularity of the other candidates.
“I’m expressing myself clearly on the issues through entertaining others, and I’m having a hell of a good time,” Zee said.