Third Party Watch

In the Raleigh (NC) News & Observer, Ryan Teague Beckwith writes that “Congressional Quarterly has downgraded John McCain’s chances here.” He discusses how recent polls suggest a very close race:

The most interesting poll result from the past week was a survey by Rasmussen Reports that showed Democrat Obama with a two-point lead over Republican [...]

The following is a media release from the Nader presidential campaign:

September 29, 2008
www.votenader.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Marc Abizeid, 202-360-3273, marcabizeid@votenader.org

NADER CAUTIONS UNSAFE AT ANY SPEED CONGRESS TO PUT BREAKS ON STEALTH BAILOUTS

This weekend, drowned out by the $700 billion Wall Street bailout negotiations, the Senate approved a bloated loan package that released $25 billion in below-market [...]

The following is an e-mail from the Green Party of the United States:

Leave the Oil in the Soil!

Dear ,

Were you sickened as we were by the chants of “Drill, Baby, Drill” at the Republican convention? But it got worse. In a cynical election year attempt to win voters [...]

The following is a media release from the Green Party:

Distributed by the Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
National Women’s Caucus of the Green Party of the United States http://greens.org/gp-uswomen/

For Immediate Release
Monday, September 29, 2008

Contact:
Morgen D’Arc, Spokesperson, 207-761-7797, morgenizer@yahoo.com
Linda Manning Myatt, Spokesperson, 248-548-6175, lmmyatt@wowway.com

Green Party National Women’s Caucus challenges NOW to support the historic McKinney/Clemente [...]

Ralph Nader, the independent presidential candidate, says on his blog that it isn’t who won (Obama or McCain) but what won:

Militarism won.
Boondoggle star wars won.
Corruption won.
Corporate crime won.
Bailouts for Wall Street won.
Nuclear power won.
Aggressive NATO won.

What Lost?
Peace advocates lost.
Consumers lost.
Workers lost.
Solar energy really lost.

The Epoch Times reports:

Massachusetts residents are considering repealing the state’s 5.3 percent income tax in November. A proposal that residents will vote on, Question 1, will allow them to join other states who live income tax free—including Florida, Nevada, Alaska, South Dakota, Wyoming, Washington, and Texas.

Many Massachusetts state officials warn that this binding referendum will [...]

Constitution Party congressional candidate (Pennsylvania, 16th district) Dan Frank, independent candidate John Murphy, and Democratic candidate Bruce Slater participated in a WGAL-TV Round Table Discussion on Tuesday, September 23. Noticeably absent was incumbent Republican Congressman Joe Pitts, who bowed out of the debate a day or so earlier.

A key issue was the bailout of [...]

by Chuck Baldwin

At the time of this writing, the U.S. House and Senate are poised to pass a $700 billion bailout to Wall Street. At the behest of President George W. Bush, the U.S. taxpayers are going to be on the hook for what can only be referred to as the biggest fraud in U.S. [...]

Ballot Access News

On September 26, the 5th Circuit removed Bob Barr from the Louisiana ballot. The three judges were Carolyn King (a Carter appointee from Texas), James Dennis (a Clinton appointee from Louisiana), and Priscilla Owen (a Bush Jr. appointee from Texas). The action was taken without any hearing. The case is Libertarian Party et [...]

“If John McCain wants to bow out, I’m willing to step in and take his podium on Friday,” says Cynthia McKinney, the Green Party candidate for President:

The financial meltdown won’t come any closer to a resolution because a presidential debate is postponed. Now is the best time for Americans to see how prepared their leaders [...]

Bob Barr (Libertarian Party) calls Treasury Secretary Paulson’s $700 billion gift to his Wall Street friends the “bailout from hell”:

The Bush administration played this game before, using 9/11 to ram the Patriot Act through Congress, and then misused its authority while resisting court oversight. Never again should Congress allow itself to be duped in this [...]

by Chuck Baldwin

Yesterday, September 22, Congressman Ron Paul publicly gave me his endorsement for the office of President of the United States. In his blog at the Campaign for Liberty web site, he said, “I’m supporting Chuck Baldwin, the Constitution Party candidate.” (See the complete statement)
Obviously, I could not be more delighted and honored to [...]

In a web radio interview yesterday on RevolutionBroadcasting.com (no archive apparently available), Constitution Party presidential nominee Chuck Baldwin reportedly reaffirmed that he has “no objections to the platform of the Constitution Party”.  This echoed his statement in February that

2008 just might be the year to break the two-party stranglehold on American politics and vote for [...]

The following is a media release from the Nader presidential campaign:

September 23, 2008
www.votenader.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: (Washington) Toby Heaps, 202-471-5833, toby@votenader.org

POLLS INDICATE NADER HELPS OBAMA
Is Nader a Republican ‘spoiler’ this year?

Contrary to conventional wisdom, Ralph Nader’s presence on the ballot in 2008 actually helps Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama, according to at least five national polls [...]

The Dallas Business Journal reports that “presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain will have their names on the ballot when election season rolls around in Texas,” and adds:

The Texas Supreme Court denied a petition filed by Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr and the Libertarian Party of Texas to remove the Democratic and Republican presidential [...]

The following is a media release from the Nader presidential campaign:

September 23, 2008
www.votenader.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Toby Heaps, 202-441-6795, toby@votenader.org

Ralph Nader to Congress: Put the Brakes on “Carte Blanche” Bailout:
“Haste Makes Waste” with Goliath of Panic Legislation.”
“Taxpayers are being asked to foot the bill for corporate malfeasance.”

Independent presidential candidate and longtime consumer advocate Ralph Nader said [...]

&

Ballot Access News

Ron Paul today endorsed Constitution Party presidential candidate Chuck Baldwin.

Paul made it clear that he was responding to Bob Barr’s criticism for “remaining neutral” by supporting the four significant alternative candidatesm, specifically mentioning Barr’s failure to appear at Paul’s unity event “by canceling his appearance “forty minutes before the pess conference started…To say [...]

In early June, Ron Paul had this to say about Bob Barr:

[Barr’s voting record] doesn’t mean he can’t represent these [libertarian] values, and he’s saying the things that he should be saying, he’s joined the Libertarian Party, he presents these views, and he talks our language, so I do really believe that he can [...]

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that “Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr has lost the first clash in his strange Texas fight to keep John McCain and Barack Obama off the ballot in that state,” adding:

The news media has been tentative with this story, uncertain whether the Barr lawsuit is a legal move with profound implications — [...]

Politico finds that while the major party candidates “have stepped gingerly around the financial crisis and the question of government intervention, third party candidates Bob Barr and Ralph Nader have shown no such compunction. ”

The article says Barr and Nader saw this coming:

Barr boasts that he was a few weeks ahead of the curve, pointing [...]

The following is a media release from the Nader presidential campaign:

September 21, 2008
www.votenader.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mike Welch, 202-471-5833, mike@votenader.org (National HQ);
Joe Alfone (504)319-9312, (Local)

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE RALPH NADER TO SPEAK IN PITTSBURGH

On Wednesday, September 24, at 7 p.m., Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader will host a news conference in 1500 Psovar Hall, 230 Bouquet St, University of [...]

New Jersey’s Suburban News reports on a speech scheduled for Friday by Chuck Baldwin:

The entire public is cordially invited on Sept. 26 from 7 – 10 p.m to meet Chuck Baldwin, Constitution Party candidate for president (www.Baldwin08.com), as he travels to New Jersey to meet with voters face-to-face. This event is free to the public [...]

Reporter-Pub blog spotlights a response from a reader who says Sarah Palin is “one of the highest ranking libertarian Republican elected officials in the US,” citing as evidence:

Libertarians have been supporting her since the 1990s. Some facts:

Sarah Palin has spoken to two Libertarian supper club meetings in Anchorage 2005/06

Sarah Palin asked for and received the [...]

Under California law a party is qualified to participate in primary (and thus also general) elections if 1) it achieves as many registrants as 1% of the voter turnout in the last regular gubernatorial election, or 2) had a statewide candidate win a 2% share in that election. Here are the registration numbers and selected [...]