Third Party Watch

Ballot Access News

On September 5, U.S. District Court Judge John Copenhaver upheld West Virginia ballot access laws for president. Barr v Ireland, 2:08-0990.

The decision is 34 pages long. It puts heavy stress on the problems that a later deadline than August 1 would cause elections officials. Of course, if the state didn’t require so many [...]

Chuck Baldwin, the Constitution Party candidate for President, says “by all appearances, Governor Palin is a true conservative.” As evidence, he adds something we haven’t seen elsewhere: “She was rightly critical of the invasion of Iraq, once calling it a ‘war for oil.’”

The problem, he says, is this:

Let’s face it: John McCain is using [...]

Constitution Party presidential candidate Chuck Baldwin announces on his website that Ron Paul has invited him to join in a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

The press conference will be held from 10:30 am to 11:30 am on Wednesday, September 10.

According to the announcement, the two candidates will outline the positions [...]

The following is a media release from the Independent Greens of Virginia:

For Immediate Release
Contact: Joe Oddo 703-338-0200
www.gailparker.us Gail “for Rail” Parker
www.VoteJoinRun.us 703-585-0512©

T. Boone Pickens invited to join Independent Greens Presidential Ticket

The Independent Greens of Virginia were the first state party in America to endorse and join The Pickens Plan on July 7, 2008. [...]

This from Alexander Nobles at Political Lore:

Jesse Ventura stated at Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty rally in St. Paul, Minnesota, that he would run for president in 2012 if he determined that the grassroots made significant political advances in the interim. It is doubtful he would run for the Libertarian party nod, given that his [...]

National Journal, covering Bob Barr at the GOP convention, reports:

“Bob Barr is a friend of mine; he’s a good guy,” said former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican. But Hastert declined to forecast Barr’s November performance, instead saying, “The Democrats have the Green Party, and the Republicans have the Libertarian Party.” The comparison may [...]

The Boston Globe reports that “Libertarian Bob Barr has qualified for New Hampshire’s presidential ballot as an alternative to Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama.”

The third-party alternatives on the ballot in New Hampshire now include Barr, Independent candidate Ralph Nader, and another Libertarian, George Phillies.

The article notes:

Third-party presidential candidates need 3,000 certified signatures—1,500 from [...]

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

www.BobBarr2008.com
Interview Contact: Andrew Davis
Email: Andrewdavis@bobbarr2008.com
Phone: (202) 731-0002

Obama, McCain Fail to Qualify for Texas Ballot
Barr Met Deadline, Demands Law Be Enforced

Atlanta, GA - The Bob Barr presidential campaign has stated “serious legal consequences” will occur should Senators Barack Obama and John McCain be allowed on the [...]

The following is an op-ed in the September 2 issue of the Washington Times, by Libertarian Party presidential candidate Bob Barr:

The dirty little secret about social security
The problem can be solved
Bob Barr
Tuesday, September 2, 2008

I am frustrated by the refusal of Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama to adequately confront Social Security’s looming fiscal crunch. [...]

CQPolitics found Libertarian Party presidential candidate Bob Barr at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, where he was seeing old friends and trying to get support from the Ron Paul fans in town. Barr seemed immune to the Palinmania going on inside the convention hall:

Barr said reports of a “cursory vetting process” for [...]

The following is a media release from the Krikorian congressional campaign:

KRIKORIAN IN POSITION TO WIN OH2 CONGRESSIONAL SEAT

PRESS RELEASE - September 4, 2008.

Republican and Democratic faithful reject Schmidt & Wulsin

American Political Polling (APP) just conducted a survey, commissioned by the Krikorian for Congress campaign, of 400 registered voters in Ohio’s second congressional district (OH2). The [...]

Chuck Baldwin recently did a few radio interviews in South Carolina while campaigning there…

Here’s Part 2…

Bob Barr gets an A+ rating from the National Rifle Association and is an NRA board member, while McCain receives a C rating. But few expect the NRA to buck the Republican Party in any way.

Gun Owners of America is another story. GOA makes the NRA look like the Sarah Brady bunch. [...]

ABC News’ Nitya Venkataraman reports from Minneapolis that Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr stopped by Ron Paul’s Minneapolis “Rally for the Republic” to meet and greet supporters of the Texas congressman:

“Ron has chosen to work within the Republican Party, I’ve chosen to work through the Libertarian Party through the electoral route, but we all want [...]

Ballot Access News

The Alaskan Independence Party is continuing to stick with Chuck Baldwin as its presidential candidate. The party has turned in its paperwork to have the Constitution Party national nominees on the AIP’s line.

According to an interview with Bob Bird, the Alaskan Independence Party’s U.S. Senate candidate, posted here, the Alaskan Independence Party is [...]

Ballot Access News

On September 2, the Texas Secretary of State agreed that Chuck Baldwin (Constitution Party presidential nominee) is a declared write-in for president. Baldwin is now listed as a declared write-in candidate on the Secretary of State’s webpage. Baldwin had filed on time, but the state had lost his original paperwork.

Ballot Access News

The Ohio Secretary of State will put Chuck Baldwin on the ballot with the ‘Constitution Party’ label. He had already qualified as an independent, and because the party has a case pending to obtain that label, the Secretary of State decided to simply approve the idea, without waiting for any more court involvement. [...]

Ballot Access News reports that “the Republican Party challenge to Bob Barr’s Pennsylvania ballot position has been moved from September 4 to September 5 (Friday). It will be at 10 a.m. in Courtroom One, Widener Bldg., 1339 Chestnut St., Philadelphia. Experienced election law attorney Sam Stretton will be defending Barr.”

The GOP is seeking to invalidate [...]

John McCain, the Republican nominee for President, only has a “C” rating with the National Rifle Association (NRA). He has even been described as “one of the premier flag carriers for the enemies of [...]

Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader has packed his bags and left Denver, heading for St. Paul and the Republican convention. There he will seek “to steal as much attention from the Republican National Convention as possible with a Thursday rally, just as he did from the Democrats, says Jesse A. Hamilton of the Hartford [...]

Sandusky Register blogger Tom Jackson notes the Zogby International poll giving Bob Barr 8% of the vote in Ohio and says, “It’s just one poll, but members of the Ohio Libertarian Party are pleased and hope the poll numbers show they can become a player in state politics.”

The party’s chairman, Kevin Knedler, told me party [...]

McClatchy Newspapers reporter Maria Recio says that “if the presidential race ends up being as close as polls are finding, third-party candidates now polling in single digits could emerge as potential kingmakers in battleground states.”

Ralph Nader, she says, could be a factor in Nevada, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania. And Bob Barr could be a [...]

The campaign website for Nevada State Senatorial candidate, Janine Hansen, has recently gone online.
While parts of it are still under construction, Janine’s campaign message is loud and clear:

“...I have worked representing citizens and families at the Nevada Legislature every session since 1971, I know how the system works. The Legislature is full of lobbyists [...]

CPOMA member, Rich Selfridge announced that Chuck Baldwin has made it on the ballot in Massachusetts.

The last time a CP Presidential candidate was on the ballot there was back in 1992.

In other news, the Constitution Party got on the ballot in Louisiana recently, and is expected to get on in other southern states.

Shane Cory, Bob Barr’s Deputy Campaign Manager, says the Barr campaign is definitely going to “make a stand in Texas.” He’s referring to the situation where both major parties failed to register for the presidential campaign before the Texas deadline, leaving Bob Barr as the only presidential candidate on the Texas ballot.

Says Cory:

This situation [...]