Third Party Watch

Perhaps Jesse Ventura is more interested in a Senate run than in a presidential one. From KARE TV:

Former Gov. Jesse Ventura said he “may” file the necessary papers to run for the U.S. Senate in the November election.

If he doesn’t, his former campaign manager will.

Both are hinting at a run against Republican incumbent Norm [...]

From John Murphy for Congress:

John Murphy, the Independent congressional candidate in the 16th district, told his campaign volunteers today that Democrat candidate Bruce Slater had changed his position in the last month on health care as result of the Murphy campaign.

Murphy explained that his campaign brochure, released over a month ago in both hardcopy and [...]

Filing for Federal offices ended last week and it produced a couple of surprises. Among those are two credible major party candidates who have decided to run as independents instead of taking on incumbents in their party primaries. Either of these races could, in theory, produce an upset…

In District 14, Congressman Connie Mack [...]

From Zogby International:

Republican John McCain trails Democrat Barack Obama by three points in a national general election test, but leads Democrat Hillary Clinton by 10 points, the latest Zogby Interactive survey shows.

The online poll, conducted April 25-28, 2008, shows that Obama retains 80% support among Democrats, compared to just 66% of Democrats who said they [...]

From Jürgen Vsych:

“What Was Ralph Nader Thinking?” New biography of the consumer advocate and independent presidential candidate

What Was Ralph Nader Thinking when he ran for president against impossible odds? Read this new book and find out!

If you’ve ever been in a car accident, or dared to eat a hot dog, you may be alive because [...]

From John Murphy for Congress:

John Murphy, the Independent congressional candidate in [Pennsylvania’s] 16th District, announced to his supporters yesterday that the campaign had collected over 2,400 signatures at voting precincts throughout the 16th District on April 22.

John Murphy said “even though we have collected close to a hundred more signatures than required, the Democrat Party [...]

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

Peace activist Cindy Sheehan wants to snatch House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s congressional seat from her in November, but first she’s going to need the help – and signatures – of 10,198 friends and supporters.

Sheehan was at San Francisco City Hall on Friday to take out papers for her independent run for [...]

From Joe Rothstein:

Consider this scenario:
—After the last primary election votes are counted in South Dakota and Montana June 3 just enough superdelegates declare for Obama to insure his nomination by the thinnest of margins.
—Hillary Clinton claims that the decision to exclude the Florida and Michigan delegations has distorted the nominating process and that the only [...]

By popular demand, here’s Daniel Imperato:

Here’s the article:

The poll also gauged potential head-to-head match-ups if independent Ralph Nader or possible Libertarian candidate Bob Barr, a former congressman, get on the ballot. Nader drew 3 percent and Barr 2 percent in both national match-ups.

McCain fared slightly worse against Obama with Barr and Nader in the race, but their presence did not [...]

From the Nader 2008 campaign:

Ralph Nader is polling at ten percent in Michigan.

A poll by Lansing-based EPIC-MRA shows McCain 46 percent, Clinton 37 percent and Nader at ten percent.

With Obama in the race, the poll shows Obama at 43, McCain at 41 and Nader at eight percent.

These Michigan results are reflected in national polling.

A Fox [...]

I’d like to make a personal request and ask that everybody who visits this site take a couple of minutes of your time to contact one or more legislators in Alabama and urge them to support HB738, which is a bill that will significantly decrease the signature requirement for independents in Alabama.

The committee meets [...]

From the Nader/Gonzalez campaign:

A statement by Ralph Nader, Independent Candidate for President:

Once again, former President Jimmy Carter is to be commended for taking the initiative toward resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The announcement that he will meet next week in Damascus with Khaled Meshal, the leader of Hamas, is consonant with a March 1, 2008 poll [...]

From an LTE:

Now that Ralph Nader has announced his candidacy, we again see the blatant hypocrisy in many Democrats. They charge him of being egotistical while implying that their candidate is entitled to all liberal votes. They treat him and his supporters like second-class political citizens.

Nader wants “more voices and more choices.” He gives a [...]

It looks like the former Minnesota will be talking about his potential presidential aspirations on Larry King Live tonight.

From the program teaser:

Jesse Ventura…for president!!?? The former wrestler-governor is back and talking politics. Where has he been – and is he really making a run for presidency?

The International Herald Tribune has another possible angle to the [...]

From the Ralph Nader campaign:

Declaring President George W. Bush the most impeachable president in American history, the Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader summoned the Democratic Congress to live up to its oath of office to uphold the Constitution. In a letter to U.S. House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Mr. Nader laid bare the compelling [...]

From the Examiner:

In the opening to his fourth book, due out April 1, the former wrestler and governor of Minnesota writes: “As I begin to write this book, I’m facing probably the most monumental decision of my 56 years on this planet. Will I run for president of the United States, as an independent, in [...]

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For those of you who wish fast notification of breaking news or other items of interest to the third party and independent community, we’ve just started several ThirdPartyWatch e-mail lists.

MEDIA

This list is for media announcements of breaking stories or issues dealing with third parties, independent or third party candidates which are [...]

Jack Kervorkian is considering a independent congressional bid in Michigan. He is currently on parole, after having been convicted in a highly publicized physician-assisted suicide case. From the AP:

He tells The Oakland Press newspaper that he plans to run without party affiliation for the congressional sea now held by Republican Joe Knollenberg.

Kevorkian needs [...]

Apparently Matt Gonzales, Nader’s Vice-presidential choice, has officially left the Green Party and re-registered as an independent.

From the Fog City Journal

Vice-presidential candidate Matt Gonzalez ended speculation about his political party affiliation, announcing today he has left the Green Party.

In a statement released to Fog City Journal, Gonzalez said he made the decision to change party [...]

Click here to participate in the survey.

LibertarianLists has just launched a new online survey designed to help gauge which presidential candidates the libertarian community and Libertarian Party will be supporting in 2008. There is a special section designed to help better understand the thoughts and intentions of Ron Paul supporters.

While the survey is primarily [...]

I’m not sure if Michael Bloomberg or a copy editor selected the title of this NY Times column: I’m Not Running for President, but …

No matter who wrote the title, it’s fitting. Here’s the pertinent quote from the op-ed (emphasis added):

I believe that an independent approach to these issues is essential to governing our [...]

From reading comments over at DailyKos, one might think that Ralph Nader is the Antichrist of progressive politics. Here’s a sample:

Gore tried to WIN, Nader tried to LOSE.

It’s as simple as that. You can second-guess any number of things Gore did during the campaign, but Nader knowingly and deliberately did everything he could to [...]