UVA Today

You’re forgiven if you didn’t know Palmer was running for president. Reporters have described him as a “previously unknown” candidate. And yet the unknown candidate was the first person in 44 years to beat an incumbent president in a primary.

Besting Biden in a state primary was out of the question. But the contest in American Samoa presented an opportunity. The territory is so small that even a dozen votes can sway the outcome. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg won it in 2020, and Palmer used that victory as a blueprint and launched a virtual campaign there.

“We wanted to get 100 votes and, you know, we didn’t get there. We only got 51, which was halfway to our goal,” Palmer said. “But it also happened to be a low-turnout election.”

Palmer, a 1994 graduate, is using the attention he got by beating Biden in a primary to launch his ideas into the national conversation. (Contributed photo)

The archipelago’s residents cast just 91 ballots on Super Tuesday, so Palmer’s 51 votes gave him the edge. 

Palmer’s win won’t dent Biden’s campaign, but it did land the Echols Scholar and 1994 interdisciplinary studies graduate a mention in every major news outlet. 

“I know I’m a longshot candidate with very little chance of winning,” Palmer says on his campaign website. “Presidents almost always win renomination from their party. As a result, our campaign is less focused on winning and more focused on ideas, solutions and changing the conversation.” 

Those qualities – ideas, solutions and changing the conversation – were also hallmarks of Palmer’s time on Grounds, where he launched three enterprises as an undergrad in the early 1990s. 

First was the “Grand Canyon Adventure,” a spring break excursion that involved hauling 14 classmates across the country in a U-Haul minivan for $99 each. “We stayed in tents at the Grand Canyon, and it made enough of a profit that the adventure was free for me,” he said.

Next was “Airport Limo,” or “basically an illegal cab company where I drove people to the airport.” He tried make it legal by applying for the special permits and plates, but balked at the cost of taxi insurance. 

But near the end of his time on Grounds, Palmer landed on a gem. He invented the “Corner Meal Plan.” Students with a special debit card could eat at participating Corner restaurants instead of in dining halls. Within 18 months, more than 3,000 Hoos signed up. Palmer stayed in Charlottesville after graduation to grow the business and, at 24, sold the company for six figures. 

He founded more companies, built on his successes and eventually pivoted to providing venture capital mainly to education-related businesses and startups. Now, he is based in Baltimore, which is where he decided to run for president.

Palmer’s best friend likened his chances of becoming a major, recognized presidential candidate to “an ant building a spaceship. It’s completely impossible,” he said. But the Super Tuesday win did give him a chance to get his messages into the national conversation. His platform includes three main ideas: rebuilding the American dream by focusing on young workers and a people-first economy; modernizing government; and “conscious capitalism.”

“Conscious capitalism,” in Palmer’s telling, means reshaping America’s corporate landscape –and the nation’s tax codes – to encourage more companies to focus on being in “business for good.” That includes tracking what Palmer calls “impact metrics,” or measurements of their positive contributions. Think Ben & Jerry’s and Patagonia. Those kinds of companies would pay fewer taxes, and investments in them could be partly tax deductible.

Palmer said this idea of using capitalism for civic good is an outgrowth of time spent in UVA economics professor Steven Rhoads’ courses. And Palmer’s interest in government? All thanks to professor Larry Sabato, with whom he still stays in touch.

On Grounds in the early 1990s, Palmer launched a series of entrepreneurial efforts, including the Corner Meal Plan, an alternative to meal plans from the University’s dining halls. More than 3,000 students signed up. (Contributed photo)

“And so, we’ve been focused like crazy on the ideas, engaging voters and discussing those ideas,” Palmer said. “And the ideas really resonate with people when they get to spend even two minutes with me.”

Although it is all but certain Biden will soon lock up the Democratic nomination, Palmer said he isn’t through yet.

“My goal is to make sure I am not remembered as a ‘Jeopardy!’ trivia question,” he said, “and that I actually get the issues and ideas, that are the reason I am campaigning, on the radar.” 

And if by some chance Palmer wins the presidency in 2024 or maybe 2028, he’ll see about hosting a victory party in the Rotunda.

“But I’ll need your help reserving it. You have to reserve it these days, don’t you?”