Third Party Watch

The Libertarian Party’s drive for 5,000 new and renewed memberships has hit 1,100. With only 17 days left, it seems somewhat difficult to imagine the party coming anywhere close to the stated goal. Time will tell.

The following are two interesting articles that detail some of the unlikely and unusual ties that bind NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg together with radical fringe politican Lenora Fulani and modern quasi-philosopher Fred Newman. The latter two have been charged as bigots for all manner of strange anti-Jewish and anti-white comments over the years.

Bloomberg’s Therapist: [...]

Ballot Access News is reporting that an official within the New Mexico Division of Elections is trying to disqualify the NM Green Party. It sounds highly suspicious and is worth keeping an eye on.

From B-A-N:

Whether the party is qualified depends on how one reads sec. 1-7-2.C, which deals with the decertification of political parties. [...]

The Libertarian Party has issued a press released demanding that the White House fire deputy chief of state and chief political strategist Karl Rove amid allegations that he leaked sensitive information to the press. The White House, so far, has resisted calls from Democrats and others to force Rove out.

The LP’s statement concluded with [...]

Found this link via Liberty For Sale, a great site worth checking out.

It’s a Libertarian Purity Test. I took the test twice, first time got a 41… reconsidered a few answers and got a 46. I’m between a soft and medium-core libertarian apparently.

In digging around the Prohibition Party’s website I noticed some very interesting items on there that I thought were worth sharing.

First, the site contains an analysis of the party’s recent performance in Presidential elections with specific focus on the competition between Earl Dodge and Gene Amondson in 2004.

This article lays out exactly what was spent [...]

The Washington Times has published an extremely interesting op-ed piece. In it they suggested that the Minnesota Independence Party might be in a situation to take advantage of a recent partisan budget battle. Both the Republican and Democratic Parties in that state have been having serious internal problems.

The piece closes with the following [...]

The state of Maine released registration data that shows the Green Party has 2.4% of total state registrations. That’s the highest percentage in any state for a nationally organized third party, with the exception of the American Independent Party in California, as they are technically the state affiliate of the Constitution Party.

London Bombing Reactions: [...]

Apparently, the Independent Greens of Virginia decided to nominate a whole slate of candidates without letting them know about it. This included several independents, a Libertarian candidate, and (somehow) a Constitution Party candidate.

The Lynchburg News & Advance writes:

Of the 15 House candidates confirmed by Independent Green Party officials to the state board, six responded [...]

The Libertarian Party has reached the 1,000 new and renewed memberships point in it’s push toward 5,000. The campaign, which started in mid-June, has a stated end date of July 31st. Based on these numbers, it seems that without some urgent action the party will be unlikely to even reach half their goal.

Politics1.com is reporting that some within the Constitution Party (including National Chairman Jim Clymer) don’t want Dornan to run for Congress on their ballot line. Jim Gilchrist, head of the Minuteman Project, has expressed interest in the race and appears to be the favorite of party leadership at this point.

More on B-1 Bob. [...]

I’ve been working on this project all week and now I think it’s to the point where I can reasonably invite others to come check it out. So, I would like to happily announce the launch of The Ultimate Third Party Encyclopedia!

It’s based on “wiki” software which powers a number of similar sites including [...]

Bob Dornan is back and he has a new plan to get back into the House.

The former Republican Congressman and Presidential candidate is apparently considering another run for Congress, but not as a Republican. In 1996, Dornan launched a bid for the GOP Presidential nomination, but he captured no delegates and few votes. [...]

Working with the realistic pool of existing candidates, who would you most like to see get the Presidential and Vice-Presidential nominations of their respective parties come 2008?

The New Haven, Connecticut Board of Aldermen is comprised of 30 members. Currently, twenty-eight of those are Democrats, one is a Republican, and one is a member of the Green Party. Not for much longer.

Joyce Chen, the Green Party’s lone alderwoman in the city has decided to switch to the Democratic Party. [...]

The America First Party has launched an online petition demanding that President Bush appoint a solid conservative to the Supreme Court.

It reads, in part:

With the recent resignation of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, you have a unique opportunity to appoint a jurist who will defend the Constitution and the original intent of the Founders of this [...]

Last year’s Libertarian Presidential nominee Michael Badnarik has been looking for a race to enter in 2006. While no decision has been reached at this point, Badnarik has issued a call for campaign research volunteers on his blog.

The Full Post

Likely Minnesota Independence Party candidate for Governor, Peter Hutchinson, is attracting some very good press as Republicans and Democrats engage in a lose-lose stand-off. Could we see another IP governor come 2006? Hutchinson certainly has the resume to be a credible candidate… he’s held numerous positions including deputy mayor of Minneapolis, State Finance [...]

Of all the candidates who appeared on the 1976 ballot for President or Vice-President…

How many of them appeared again in 1996? Who were they?

What about 2004?

I’ve mentioned some statistics from this site in a past post, but I noticed they added some more information.

Some of the things I found most interesting include a list of the youngest elected Green officeholders… and a really excellent chart that shows how many Green candidates ran for which types of offices, what of those [...]

We are sad to report the death of retired Vice Admiral James Stockdale, Ross Perot’s running mate in 1992. He died at the age of 81 and is survivded by his wife Sybil and four sons.

From CNN.com:

A political unknown, Stockdale became the butt of jokes after he opened the 1992 vice presidential debate by [...]

It seems that there is some confusion surrounding the recent proposed Iraq Exit Strategy that the Libertarian Party has been pushing on their national website. So far nearly 880 people have signed the petition. Some within the party have noted that the LP’s “Defend Your Privacy” campaign some years ago netted something in [...]

Michael Badnarik, the Libertarian Party’s 2004 Presidential candidate, is asking people on his blog to guess which office he’ll run for next.

The thinking so far seems to be either U.S. Senate or Governor of Texas, though some have also suggested he run for Congress.

The Blog Post and Comments

This is just something I happened to take note of while recently browsing the America First Party’s website. In 2002, the party ran nine candidates for office in seven different states. Two were Congressional races, three were state legislative races, and four were local races. All candidates were defeated.

However, in 2004 the [...]

What recent (last 40 years) third party campaign do you believe was the most effective at advancing their party and it’s agenda?

Ross Perot’s campaign and the Reform Party certainly brought attention to a variety of issues which were addressed by the Democrats and Republicans.

George Wallace’s AIP seems to have played a large role in totally [...]