Copake resident kicks off 2024 campaign for U.S. president

EGREMONT, Mass. — Resolved to offer his alternative candidacy for the office of U.S. president in 2024, Copake, New York, resident Mark Warren Moody began his unorthodox campaign in earnest with an announcement Saturday, Feb. 17, at the Egremont Barn.

During a pause in a sold-out Wanda Houston concert featuring the singer and her back-up band, the Rejuvenators, Moody took the stage to make his planned announcement, beginning with a brief vocal rendition of “Amazing Grace.” The idea of a song and the choice, he noted, borrowed from the playbook of former U.S. President Barack Obama.

“I don't want this job; that’s why I should have it. We need something new,” Moody said, naming his first of three reasons for running, and noting that the name of the evening’s band was appropriate: Moody wants to “rejuvenate” the country.

He added that he fully meets the eligibility requirements for the presidency. He was born in New York City in 1970. Despite spending his school years in England, he still meets the requirements of the presidency.

Moody’s professional life is that of a practicing attorney whose office is in Manhattan, although he now makes his home in Copake, in a residence that had been purchased by his parents.

“I’m willing to die for my country,” Moody said, describing the depth of his fervor. This was provided as his second reason for running.

“I believe in the promise of America,” he said, naming the third reason that compels him to be a candidate. He recalled the words of the Declaration of Independence, saying that they were appropriate to the present day, and pointed to Thomas Paine’s 18th-century pamphlet, “Common Sense.”

“I am incorruptible,” he concluded, adding that he has “nothing more than a bunch of ideas.”

His ideas are presented in an essay on his website. Moody indicated that he has no organization or campaign committee structure.

In explaining the “betabilitarian” origins and applications on his website, Moody writes that secrets of the universe are unknowable. Avid information-gathering is all that’s possible in a search for truth.

It is not important what a person thinks, only that the person does think for themselves, Moody argues.

More information about Moody’s political philosophy is available on the website that also describes his new political party: www.betabilitarian.com

An earlier version of this article misquoted Mark Moody, who stated that one of the reasons he is running for president is that he does not want the job.