PAT PAULSEN, COMIC, WITTY `CANDIDATE'.

Byline: William Grimes The New York Times

Pat Paulsen, the mournful-looking comedian who ran five tongue-in-cheek races for the presidency, died Thursday in Mexico. He was 69 and lived in Tujunga.

Paulsen, who had colon and brain cancer, died Thursday in Tijuana from pneumonia and kidney failure after recent surgery to remove scar tissue from previous surgery, publicist Glenn Schwartz said Friday.

Doctors had said Paulsen's cancer was inoperable. He had been undergoing alternative cancer treatment in Mexico for about a month. ``His cancer was under control,'' Schwartz said.

Paulsen became a household name in 1968 when he announced on ``The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour'' that he was running for president under the Straight Talking American Government Party, or the S.T.A.G. Party.

The joke took on a life of its own, as he campaigned in one election after another, using slogans like ``We Cannot Stand Pat,'' ``We Can Be Decisive, Probably'' and ``United We Sit.''

At last summer's Democratic National Convention in Chicago, he promised: ``If elected, I will win.''

Paulsen was born in South Bend, Wash., a small fishing village, and grew up in Point Bonita in Marin County. He joined the Marine Corps toward the end of World War II and served in China. After leaving the service, he worked as a postal clerk, a hod carrier, a gypsum miner and a Fuller brush man.

While studying forestry at San Francisco City College, he joined an acting group, the Rick-Y-Tic Players, and formed a comedy trio with his brother, Lorin. After the trio broke up, he struck out on his own, doing take-offs on folk singers.

While performing at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, he met the Smothers Brothers, who hired him to write songs for their television variety show. His regular appearances offering double-talk editorials on issues of the day won him an Emmy in 1968. After the show was taken off the air, Paulsen was host of his own variety show, ``Pat Paulsen's Half a Comedy Hour'' for three months in 1970.

When the brothers proposed that Paulsen run for president, he reportedly said: ``Why not? I can't dance. Besides, the job has a good pension plan and I'll get a lot of money when I retire.''

A mock biography on his campaign Web site stated: ``Pat's campaign was based in comedy and he ran it using outright lies, double talk and unfounded attacks on his challengers. Who thought that this style would be the method of campaigns in the future?''

Paulsen shared his thoughts on the burning political questions of the day with a dry, deadpan delivery, his face immobile, but his oratory managed to soar. ``Only a cheap politician, greedy for political gain, would try to single out one individual for blame,'' he said during the 1972 campaign. ``The fault lies not with the individual but with the system, and that system is Richard Nixon.''

In last year's New Hampshire primary, Paulsen polled 921 votes to President Clinton's 76,754. Commenting on Bob Dole's proposal to cut taxes by 15 percent, he said: ``I think we should just tip the government if it does a good job. Fifteen percent is the standard tip, isn't it? If they don't do a good job, give them less.''

Paulsen produced wine at the Pat Paulsen Winery in Sonoma County, whose bottlings included the modestly priced Refrigerator White.

He is survived by his wife, Noma; a sister, Norma, of Santa Rosa; a brother, Lorin, of Santa Rosa; and three children, Terri, Monty and Justin, all of Santa Rosa.