Third Party Watch

From the Green Party:

The 2008 election year has begun and so far the Green Party has 3 victories and on April 1 there are 20 races in contention. We currently have 235 elected Greens in the U.S. Green Party of the United States has set a goal of running over 1000 races in 2008 and [...]

Fox News is reporting an Internet rumor that Bob Barr is considering a presidential bid:

Former Republican Georgia Rep. Bob Barr is considering a run for president on the Libertarian Party ticket, according to FITNews.

Barr, who joined the Libertarian Party after leaving Congress in 2003, is looking to attract conservatives who are unhappy with the choice [...]

Ballot Access Reports:

On March 31, Hawaii Elections officials ruled that the Constitution Party petition for party status has enough valid signatures, so the party is on the ballot. The party is now on for president in 18 states. The Constitution Party had failed to get on the Hawaii ballot in 2004, although it was on [...]

During a weekend state convention in Peoria, the Illinois Green Party chose former public schoolteacher and 2006 congressional candidate Kathy Cummings as its nominee for US Senate.

Cummings was denied ballot access for her congressional campaign in 2006 despite turning in 2 1/2 times the required number of petition signatures. After gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney polled [...]

Here’s the local view (from Fairbanks):

Former Alaska senator Mike Gravel said on Thursday that he has no intention of giving up his struggle to be the next president of the United States.

Gravel, who earlier in the week announced he was leaving the Democratic Party to seek the Libertarian Party nomination for president, blamed the leadership [...]

From Orden Bonaria Representative to the United Nations Sir Daniel Imperato’s indy presidential campaign:

Imperato says he wants to move Italy and USA closer. “I’m in Italy to help Raffaele Lombardo and I know that at the same way I’m giving a help to Silvio Berlusconi.

I’m in the United States as undertaker and I’ve reached many [...]

From the Root for President campaign:

Wayne Root has been endorsed by one of the world’s most famous poker champions Greg “Fossilman” Raymer (winner of the $5 million dollar grand prize in the World Series of Poker, and countless millions more in many big victories since then).

Raymer is also a publicly announced Libertarian, who has spoken [...]

Former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney won 79% of the vote in the Wisconsin Green Party’s Presidential Preference Primary. The Primary, conducted by mail among dues paying members of the party, ran from April 28 through March 27. Kent Mesplay, who campaigned in Wisconsin in November of 2007, won 10%. Ralph Nader received 5% through write-in votes, [...]

According to his website, Libertarian/Democratic party presidential hopeful Mike Gravel is scheduled appear on CNN tomorrow:

Sunday, March 30 @ 6:30 PM
March 28th, 2008 by Peace Czar
Summary:
Interview on CNN Newsroom with Rick Sanchez

Senator Gravel will appear live on CNN Newsroom Sunday with host Rick Sanchez. He will discuss his recent switch to the Libertarian Party, [...]

Click here to participate in the survey.

Libertarian Lists has initiated new online survey. While anyone may participate in the poll, this one is primarily geared towards Libertarian Party members, as the questions deal with Libertarian Party presidential candidates and other Libertarian National Convention issues. If you aren’t an LP member, don’t worry—the next [...]

Andrew Sullivan once scribed:

“The sophisticated form of anthrax delivered to Tom Daschle’s office forces us to ask a simple question. What are these people trying to do? I think they’re testing the waters. They want to know how we will respond to what is still a minor biological threat, as a softener to a major [...]

I wouldn’t support Tom Knapp if he was running for dogcatcher, primarily because he’s not running for dogcatcher. He is running for US Congress in Missouri’s Second Congressional District, though.

Here’s a bit about who Knapp is and why he’s running in a district where he doesn’t reside (there is no constitutional requirement to live [...]

Over at The Ledger, Michael Freeman asked:

So where do supporters of Ron Paul go now?

He also noted:

So where do the Libertarians go this fall? Assuming it’s an Obama-McCain matchup, they could split, with some opting for Obama because of his opposition to the war in Iraq, or some believing McCain is more likely to [...]

Back in January, Third Party Watch covered the “Ron Paul Billionaire” thread. The general topic was about a billionaire who wished to mount a parallel campaign to augment Ron Paul’s official campaign for president. The topic recently resurfaced on Ron Paul Forums because of this interview (skip to the 20:10 mark) with Ron [...]

The following is from the Ralph Nader campaign. From an editorial point-of-view, it is notable that Nader’s campaign went after John McCain, but didn’t bring up Barack Obama’s role in the matter.

The Nader/Gonzalez campaign today called on Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and the Republican National Committee to move to break the logjam at the [...]

While some Libertarian Party members are being critical of Mike Gravel’s enthusiasm for Franklin Roosevelt, Libertarian Party presidential hopeful Wayne Allyn Root is picking up on a tradition started by FDR, too: The fireside chat.

Root promises more, too. From a campaign e-mail:

My first “Presidential Fireside Chat” video is up in its entirety (45 minutes) [...]

From About.com:

During the 18th century, the British parliamentarian Edmund Burke had a very public disagreement with American pamphleteer Thomas Paine. Paine held that natural rights, in principle, were worth a bloody revolution to protect; Burke said that they were not. As it happened, the American Revolution was relatively short and relatively low-casualty so Paine won [...]

Both Eric Dondero and “ElfNinos Mom” (ENM) have recently interviewed Democratic/Libertarian presidential candidate Mike Gravel. Considering that they come from generally opposing ends of the libertarian spectrum on a wide range of issues, the contrast is interesting. Dondero’s interview was live on BlogTalkRadio, while ENM’s is presented as a well-written article over [...]

From Ralph Nader’s campaign blog:

Senator Clinton:

Just read where Senator Patrick Leahy is calling on you to drop out of the Presidential race.

Believe me.

I know something about this.

Here’s my advice:

Don’t listen to people when they tell you not to run anymore.

The rest is located here.

The NY Sun noticed Bob Barr’s potential presidential bid:

Mr. Barr, a conservative who gained attention for teaming up with the American Civil Liberties Union against surveillance measures, said he would not “dally” in making a decision about whether to mount a Libertarian bid for president, but he did not give a specific time frame. The [...]

Here’s what the media are saying about Mike Gravel joining the Libertarian Party:

NY Sun:

A top Libertarian Party official and the editor of ThirdPartyWatch.com, Steven Gordon, said Mr. Gravel’s proposal for a fusion candidacy was intriguing, but probably wouldn’t fly. “I think it would be a very difficult sell,” Mr. Gordon said, though he noted that [...]

In an email sent to Missouri Libertarians a short time ago, Heartland Libertarian Conference organizer Mike Ferguson announces:

Former US Senator Mike Gravel (AK), who recently was a Democratic candidate for President until joining the LP this week, has accepted our invitation to participate in the LP Presidential candidates’ debate in Kansas City.

The conference is scheduled [...]

With the recent party-switching of Mike Gravel and Bob Barr—it’s starting to look like a minor exodus of former officials from the major parties. I certainly hope so. Add Keyes’ name to the list, officially.

Im recieving trustable info from D.C. that Keyes will indeed be bolting the GOP to join the CP—and on Tax Day [...]

The following statement is from the Cynthia McKinney presidential campaign:

Much has been made around the edges of this campaign about the issue of race. Sadly, nothing has been made of the public policy exigencies that arise because of the urgent racial disparities that continue to exist in our country.

I am glad that candidate Obama mentioned [...]

Miller Politics interviewed Constitution Party personality Chuck Baldwin. To begin, here’s his answer about whether he plans to jump into the presidential race:

“I am very honored that anyone would suggest that I should be considered as the CP presidential candidate. There are many great people in our party that, in my opinion, are much [...]