You're elected, Charlie Brown.
You're the biggest man in town.
Tell me, how do you like it now?
You're the biggest man in town.
Tell me, how do you like it now?
"I have the results of my poll! ...You'll never be elected, Charlie Brown. You have no way of winning. No way."
— Lucy van Pelt
The eighth Peanuts TV Special, You're (Not) Elected, Charlie Brown originally aired on CBS October 29, 1972, nine days before that year's United States presidential election between Senator George McGovern (D) and President Richard Nixon (R). In this Election Day Episode, an election for Student Council President is announced and Linus van Pelt enters, with his campaign backed by Charlie Brown and Linus' elder sister, Lucy.
Paired (in edited form) on ABC from 2006-19 (and often on DVD in full) with It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, due to Halloween's proximity to the American fall election season and Linus bringing up the Great Pumpkin during his final debate. Followed by There's No Time For Love, Charlie Brown in 1973.
You're (Not) Elected, Charlie Brown contains examples of:
- Animal Goes to School: Snoopy infiltrates the Peanuts Gang's school under his "Joe Cool" persona but isn't found out until he tries to answer a math problem by stating his paw, afterwards he is booted off the premises. Becomes a Brick Joke later on as Linus says during his campaign speech that any dog who wander onto school premises will be welcomed with open arms, which cuts to the beagle applauding him, as he somehow snuck into the school auditorium.
- Animated Adaptation: This special adapts a storyline in October 1964
where Linus runs for school president, but has some differences from the comics, such as him selecting Charlie Brown to be his running mate, whereas here Charlie Brown is just Linus' campaign manager. - As the Good Book Says...: Given that this is the same guy who most famously quoted the Scripture on stage, of course he'll incorporate some biblical allusions into his campaign, such as how his administration would release us from our spiritual Babylon and bring down the false idols in high places.Schroeder: I wonder why the principal looked so pale...
- Berserk Button: Charlie Brown prepares himself and Sally cold cereal, only for Snoopy to come into the kitchen and make himself an entire breakfast buffet, making Charlie Brown grit his teeth and snarl.
- Brick Joke: Early on in the special, Sally is griping to Charlie Brown about school lockers being too difficult to open; to which Charlie Brown replies that at one point during his time in the school he had a locker that he had to hit the bottom of to open. At the very end of the special, Sally takes out her aggression at Linus "selling out" by kicking a locker, which promptly opens after she walks away.
- Casanova Wannabe: Snoopy, under the alias of "Joe Cool", attempts to woo two girls in the hallway by turning on the water fountain for them. The girls' reactions are to turn their heads and scoff, which makes Snoopy immediately back off.
- Comical Overreacting: Sally proclaims that she's never going to school again, and after Charlie Brown questions why multiple times, she says that it's because she can't get her locker open. As it turns out, the only reason why she can't open it is because she can't reach it.
- Department of Redundancy Department: The final caller on Lucy's radio show keep saying phrases that have to do with "asking the candidate a question" and variations thereof, and do so for so long, that they forget what their question was.
- Didn't Think This Through: Linus is an avid believer of the Great Pumpkin, sure, but deciding to incorporate it into his final electoral speech was an incredibly stupid move, dropping his approval rating from 98% to 50%; not helped by his claim of, "It is depressing to think that there are students who don't believe in the Great Pumpkin." In fact, what was that thing he said back in It's the Great Pumpkin that he didn't follow up on here? "There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people: Religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin."
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Linus opting to preach about the Great Pumpkin during his final campaign speech is analogous to a politician deciding to incorporate religion into their speeches. More often than not, it backfires.
- Fingore: Snoopy, attending school as "Joe Cool", gets his paw pinched on a binder. After he is thrown out, the same binder snaps on his nose.
- Graceful Loser: Russell spends the entire special being a passive competitor and never antagonizing Linus, and once the tiebreaker vote comes down to him, he believes that Linus would ultimately be a better president and votes for him.
- Height Angst: According to Sally, the biggest problem on campus is that nobody is able to reach the lockers, and she wants Linus to do something about it should he end up winning the election.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: Linus claims in his first campaign speech that his first order of action will be to meet with the school board, but Lucy then whispers into his ear, forcing him to retract his statement.Linus: They meet at 8 o'clock... and I go to bed at 7:30. (blushes)
- Know When to Fold 'Em: The votes are tied with Linus and Russell at 83 votes, with Russell himself being the final voter. Contrary to what he said to Lucy, Russell ends up throwing the election and votes for Linus, admitting that Linus would make a better president than he would.
- Limited Animation: At the start of the special, when the kids run out of the school at the final bell, the same kids keep passing by, so we see multiple clones of Lucy and Peppermint Patty.
- Never My Fault: While he's aware that preaching about the Great Pumpkin cost him his reputation as a candidate, Linus doesn't believe that he's in the wrong for trying to spread the word about him.Linus: It is depressing to think that there are students who don't believe in the Great Pumpkin. (glumly sighs)
- Never Trust a Title: Yes, Charlie Brown isn't elected, but he's not even running. It's about Linus campaigning for Student Council President.
- An Offer You Can't Refuse: Lucy's preferred tactic of convincing people to consider Linus for president; either agree with her or MEET A FIST!
- Pawprint Stamping: Snoopy infiltrates the school as Joe Cool and is asked to solve an equation on the board. After looking at it, he just puts his pawprint as an answer. This gives him away and is thrown out.
- Percussive Maintenance: Although not being there to see it happen, Sally finally gets her locker open by kicking it.
- Push Polling: Lucy takes an opinion poll to see if Linus could win the school election. Naturally, she intimidates everyone into saying they would vote for him and she thus concludes that he has a good chance.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: The final caller on the radio show goes on a tangent for so long that...Lucy: What is your question?!
Caller: Question?! Oh my gosh! I forgot what the question is! (Lucy hangs up in frustration) - Step Up to the Microphone: Vince Guaraldi, who had previously only made instrumental tracks for Peanuts, makes his singing debut in this special for the song "Joe Cool".
- Student Council President: What the election is set to determine. The way that Linus describes his administration makes it sound like the school runs an Absurdly Powerful Student Council, but as logic would dictate, this turns out to not be the case.
- Stupid Question Bait: Lucy eggs Russell on asking if he'd vote for Linus if he were to solve every problem on campus, to which Russell replies no every single time. When she's had enough...Lucy: Well, why not?!
Russell: Because I'm the one who'd be running against him.
(Lucy blushes in embarrassment and walks off) - Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- While Linus wins the election, he's quickly taken aback by the realization that he's still strictly subordinate to the faculty and in fact, like most student government positions, has no real power. He is also seen sheepishly exiting and apologizing to the principal, probably because the latter wasn't thrilled by Linus' "bringing down the false idols" comment.
- While Linus did lose some support over bringing up the Great Pumpkin in his last speech, at least he fared better than in the original comic strip storyline, as apparently no one wanted to elect someone who believes in such childish and ridiculous things as the Great Pumpkin, let alone as school president.
- This Is Gonna Suck: As soon as Linus drops a Wham Line, Charlie Brown and Lucy are already expecting the worst.Linus: And, as a change of pace, rather than campaign talk, I've decided to say a few words... about the Great Pumpkin!
Charlie Brown and Lucy: AAUGH!! - Verbal Tic: A caller on Lucy's radio show keeps adding a "Y'know" to virtually all of his sentences, so much that an aggravated Lucy hangs up on him.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: After spending the entire special complaining about the lockers being unreachable, Sally's locker finally opens for her after she kicks it... but only once she's already left.
