It may come as a shock that two of the most prolific icons in gaming history, Mario and Bowser, have something unique in common with the 43rd president of the United States, George W. Bush. It’s not their past professions, favorite foods, or love of sports; Mario, Bowser and Bush share interest in politics – specifically, the 2004 United States presidential election.
In 2003, Mario Party 5 was released for the Nintendo GameCube and featured the classic board game and minigame playstyle the series is known for. Unlike President Joe Biden’s recent Mario Kart racing against his granddaughter, it’s unknown whether Bush played Mario Party 5 during his presidency, but he may have avoided it for fear of supporting two of his apparent electoral rivals.
Before the release of Mario Party 5, the game’s official website featured a campaign (according to and archived by the Super Mario Wiki) proclaiming Mario and Bowser were running for president – presumably of the United States. This put them up against not only one another but also the then-incumbent Bush.
Mario & Bowser’s Presidential Campaigns Against George W. Bush
While Mario Party 5’s storyline followed Mario and friends as they once again attempted to stop Bowser’s evil plan, those plans didn’t include running for U.S. President. Rather, outside the game, Nintendo pitted Mario and Bowser against one another in a fictitious presidential election as an unusual marketing stunt before release. This was meant to parody the upcoming presidential election in 2004, which would result in Bush winning a second term. It would have been neat to see this election play out in some fashion, whether it be continued marketing after the game came out or some form of in-game event, though any in-game mention of the election may have confused players outside of the United States.
Nintendo of America produced physical merchandise, a wild commercial depicting Mario at a press conference, and even promotional artwork for Luigi, Waluigi, and Donkey Kong running in other electoral races. Although Bush went on to win the U.S. presidency, fans never found out what happened to Mario and Bowser’s campaigns. Sure, Mario and Bowser aren’t from the United States, so they couldn’t legally win the election, and Mario’s lack of dialogue probably would have hurt him in the polls. But it would have been nice to at least know who would have won a fictional election between Mario and Bowser.
