Third Party Watch

From www.opendebates.org:

A movie is coming out that highlights the anti-democratic nature of the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD). “An Unreasonable Man” is an award-winning, nuanced documentary about Ralph Nader that is being released in major cities across the country. Co-directed by Steve Skrovan, the executive producer of Everybody Loves Raymond, “An Unreasonable Man” [...]

A Republican State Senator in Montana has introduced a bill that would require the state to pay legal costs associated with a challenge to the results of the 2004 state legislative contest involving Constitution Party candidate Rick Jore. As you might remember, Jore eventually lost his fight for the seat due to some [...]

Ballot-Access News, in their January newsletter, has released voter registration totals of each state for both the major and minor parties. To find out more, click here…

Just as a curiosity I figured I would set up some quick polls on the potential Green, Libertarian, and Constitution party nominees…

http://thirdpartywatch.com/2008-presidential-polls/

This is not scientific, obviously. Rather it’s just a way to get some sense of how TPW readers feel about the race so far.

Some of the candidates I included are currently declared and [...]

Senator Joe Lieberman, re-elected last year as an “independent Democrat” is now flexing a bit of his independence when it comes to Presidential politics. Lieberman has said he’s yet to decide if he’ll endorse a Democrat, a Republican, or perhaps even an independent for the nation’s highest office.

Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Democratic vice-presidential [...]

At the 2007 Annual Convention of the Manhattan Libertarian Party, a resolution was passed encouraging Ron Paul to seek the Republican Party’s nomination for President. Nic Leobold, the original proponent of the resolution sought to have the convention delegates “endorse” Ron Paul, since he argued Dr. Paul is “the Gold Standard Candidate for all who [...]

A.D. Gettis has a new blog devoted to third party politics in Montana. He is reporting today that a Montana Green Party activist is pushing for instant runoff voting and that he apparently has a commitment from a House Democrat to sponsor it. You can read the details here.

The Illinois Green Party is now an officially recognized party and will have a reserved spot on the ballot for all offices up for election come 2008.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has the story…

Illinois’ newest official political party needs candidates for 2008.

Wanted: One candidate for the U.S. Senate, 19 for the U.S. House, 118 potential state [...]

Conservative President 2008 has published a short interview with Randy Stufflebeam, chairman of the Constitution Party of Illinois:

I believe that my choice would have to be one of my heroes, the man who was indirectly responsible for me becoming a Constitutionalist, Chief Justice Roy Moore. His moral courage and constitutional understanding (among his many [...]

Another (final?) update from the Badnarik campaign on retiring their debt. The letter is really long, but from what I read it sounds like Allen Hacker is aiming to take possession of the campaign’s fundraising list as payment for services his consulting firm provided to the campaign. Thus, the campaign’s debt is [...]

This article was published in the California American Independent Party newsletter some time ago by AIP founder and former Chairman, William K. Shearer. I think these are Words of Wisdom for not just the Constitution Party, but for all Third-Parties to adhere by.

This is actually a series of Bill’s articles that I will begin to [...]

The Free State Project has officially signed up 1,000 early movers who have agreed to relocate to New Hampshire within the next 2 years. These first 1,000 will lay the groundwork for a planned wave of 19,000 other liberty lovers.

The press release follows…

The national movement to recruit pro-liberty, small government activists to move to [...]

Oregon Libertarians are fighting for control of the state party, and now they’re taking their battle to court. The Oregonian has the story…

Perhaps best known for wanting to kill taxes and legalize pot, Libertarians believe government governs best when it governs least.

But in Oregon, some members of the live-and-let-live party are going to court [...]

Not that he was a major contender for the LP’s nomination, but Lance Brown has decided to officially drop out of the race.

His official campaign site has the announcement:

Due primarily to developments in my career path over the past few years, I have decided to withdraw from the 2008 race for the Libertarian Party presidential [...]

Reason has a great interview with Congressman Ron Paul about his plans to run for President, his stance on immigration and prescription drug reform, and some other key issues.

Here are a few sample points that might be important to Libertarians…

Reason: Does launching an official exploratory committee necessarily mean you will end up launching an official [...]

This was an article from the State Chair of the Arizona Constitution Party. While I heard from Minutemen Corps Leader, Chris Simcox, that this legislation doesn’t have the chance of becoming law. It’s sad how some lawmakers will go to pass unconstitutional laws in stopping the defense of our Borders. Never mind how good a [...]

Conference of independents in New York City on January 28th

The following is an interview I conducted with William Potter and Ray Perdue. Mr. Potter is the chairman of the Jefferson Republican Party and Mr. Perdue is the state chairman of the JRP of North Carolina and a columnist for LewRockwell.com

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TPW: Tell me a little bit about your personal political backgrounds. What political [...]

Constitution Party state legislator Rick Jore has introduced a bill in Montana to end same day voter registration. Jore’s bill, if passed, would alter the law to allow Montanans to register up to 14 businesses days before an election and still be able to cast a ballot.

The new “same day” registration policy was in [...]

Ballot Access News reports that Kentucky elected an independent candidate to the State Senate in last November’s election.

On November 7, 2006, voters in Kentucky’s 2nd State Senate district elected an independent candidate to represent them in the State Senate. Kentucky almost never elects independent candidates to state or federal office. Independent candidates must contend against [...]

The San Mateo Times ran an article today on alternative parties in California:

The party has a surprising number of members in the county — 6,496 — but the party’s state chairman, Ed Noonan, acknowledges that most of those people probably registered in error.

“Ninety-nine percent of everyone that belongs to the American Independent Party really thinks [...]

Gayle McLaughlin has taken office as the mayor of Richmond, California. This is the first time the Greens have elected someone to be the mayor of a city this large. The popular of Richmond, a city located near San Franciso, is roughly 100,000.

From the San Francisco Chronicle…

Richmond became the largest city in the [...]

Got an email from Michael Badnarik yesterday, sent out to his supporter base. In it he gives updates on his current projects and announces that he will not seek the LP nomination in 2008.

Not much of a surprise considering his Congressional campaign’s poor showing and controversial fundraising.

But now it’s official…

P.S. Many people have been [...]

This next Presidential election looks like it will contain a set of very active major party primaries. Among the dozens of candidates in the mix, it appears that Congressman Ron Paul and Congressman Tom Tancredo will both seek the GOP nod. Paul being a favorite of Libertarians and Tancredo a hero to many [...]

According to Brownlow, who worked on the Mary Starrett for Governor campaign in the 2006 election cycle, he was standing on the sidewalk, with his wife and 12-year old daughter, adjacent to a Portland mall, peacefully holding up a sign that read “SUPPORT OUR TROOPS —BRING THEM HOME!” Brownlow’s son, Jared, is currently serving with [...]