Third Party Watch

Libertarian Party presidential wannabe Christine Smith was interviewed by Paul Molloy on WTAN-AM1340. For those who have listened to Libertarian presidential candidates being interviewed as often as I have, there wasn’t much significantly new. Her speaking style seems to have improved over the last few months.

I’ll highlight the portions which might be controversial, [...]

Doug Mataconis has weighed into the debate started by Brad Spangler which we’ve also entertained at this site. The topic: Should the LP stay or should it go now?

Mataconis:

A look at how the world has really worked since the Libertarian Party was formed in the early 1970s would seem to add credence to Spanlger’s [...]

This year, the Constitution Party’s national convention is scheduled for April. The Libertarian Party will convene to nominate its 2008 presidential slate in late May. The Green Party won’t choose its ticket until July.

This may not seem unusual (the Republicans and Democrats usually hold their conventions in August or even early September), but third parties [...]

This is perhaps more of a rant than news, but bear with me. October 20th I took some official campaign pictures of Socialist Party nominees Brian Moore and Stewart Alexander soon after they were nominated to be the ticket: the first official campaign photos. Sadly, I parted with my Wriststrong Wristband; handing it [...]

When looking at major party candidates, sometimes I’m torn between hoping the marginally better one wins because it would be better for the country or hoping the worst one wins because it tends to help build third parties. I’m wondering how others feel about this general issue.

First, since John McCain has pretty much wrapped [...]

With the 2008 Libertarian National Convention now appearing on the political horizon, I’d like to offer some thoughts on how we might be able to solve one of the ongoing issues of debate within the Libertarian Party.

First of all, I’d like to ask a question for the consideration of Libertarian Party activists: If you had [...]

And I always thought this would be
The land of milk and honey
Oh but I come to find out
That it’s all hate and money
And there’s a canopy of
Greed holding me down—”Tones of Home” by Blind Melon

OK, maybe not hate, money and greed, but at least a lack of basic good judgment coupled with a bad case [...]

I like this…

“O fear, anxiety and hesitation. How can I leave my dearest? We’ve been together so long! And I’m wearing his pin! Yet, now my beloved is dating someone else! I must make a break … No, I can’t, I just can’t!”

Come on, republican men and women – your steady date has betrayed you. [...]

Ballot Access News

The February 12 issue of the Columbus, Ohio Dispatch (that city’s major daily newspaper) carries this op-ed by Capital University Law Professor Mark R. Brown. Thanks to Steven Linnabary for the link.

Super Tuesday is behind us, and for many there were no surprises.

The GOP presidential candidates who stood for the Constitution, individual liberty, and a sound economy, were marginalized by the national media and the party machine.

But the machine no longer has a monopoly, and the countless millions who share our passion for liberty and limited [...]

by Chuck Baldwin

A few weeks before Super Tuesday, my friend Howard Phillips asked me who I thought the Republican Presidential nominee would be. I predicted John McCain. With the results of Super Tuesday now history, most political pundits are also predicting that the Arizona senator will gain the Republican nomination for President. And with Mitt [...]

Dear friends,

As many of you know I have been registered with the Independent American Party for several years. With mixed feelings I finally decided in December to temporarily register with the Republican Party in order to support Congressman Ron Paul’s presidential campaign. I also admit to fond feelings towards Governor Mitt Romney’s presidential bid. Though [...]

I thought this was a good chuckle.

However, for those not in Nevada, I recommend substituting such a cure for a third-party that closely resembles the IAP.

Electile Dysfunction is a newly discovered psychological disease. It is caused when an elector is unable to become aroused over any candidate running for office. Voting when one is so [...]

The Libertarian Party of North Carolina has just passed a resolution condemning the actions of the of the Libertarian National Committee when they encouraged Ron Paul to consider seeking the Libertarian Party nomination. I’ll provide the entire wording of the resolution, but interject some opinionated commentary at points.

For the purpose of disclosure, I do [...]

While, in my opinion, the verdict is still open on Ron Paul and racism, I certainly sympathize with Radley Balko when he wrote that he’s happy Ron Paul made a very strong statement on the War on Drugs—but hasn’t been satisfied with Paul’s responses so far with respect to recent allegations of racial writings (most [...]

Editorial Note: The following is a letter written by former Lago Vista (TX) City Councilman, Texas Libertarian Party Chair and Libertarian National Committee Representative Patrick Dixon. It was originally addressed to a person in a leadership position within the Ron Paul campaign, but that name has been omitted from this publication of this [...]

GOPUSA has published an article by Eric Dondero about Ron Paul:

In the Fall of ‘91 Burt Blumert, Paul’s longtime partner with his Camino Coins Gold business in Burlingame, CA and the Ron Paul Investment Letter, finally secured permission from Paul to launch an exploratory committee, and to raise money for the effort. Paul himself wanted [...]

Every year, awards are given to the music that sells the most. Often, I prefer the music that has the greatest impact on society. Perhaps it’s time to recognize the best songs of the freedom movement. It doesn’t matter if you support Barack Obama or Ron Paul, Steve Kubby or Cynthia McKinney, [...]

Aside from the fact that both are former congresscritters from Georgia, one might think that Bob Barr and Cynthia McKinney would have very little in common. However, they both oppose Bush’s misadventures in Iraq and both oppose the curtailment of civil liberties brought about by this administration. To be certain, there are distinct [...]

The answer to the question, so far, is: I don’t know. However, at the time of this posting, News Corp (NWS) is trading down 0.47 (2.21%). One possible reason why is that Ron Paul supporters are dumping News Corp stock because Fox News won’t include the Republican presidential candidate in a televised forum [...]

I invite you to come listen to a recent radio interview I was invited to do about libertarianism and the Ron Paul Revolution – his platform and his great supporters (and how his campaign affects the LP/third parties, and liberty in America).

The show, broadcasts on several New Hampshire radio stations (as well as on [...]

Congressional candidate John Wallace recently interviewed Constitution Party of New York chairman Burr Deitz on his radio show. You can listen to the interview here.

The outsourcing of jobs to cheaper labor sources overseas is something that a vast majority of people that vote Republican or Democrat are deeply concerned about, neither party provides a solution to this dillema because any true solution would be anti-corporate, third parties have offered intriguing solutions, yet we still have Democrats and Republicans in power. We have an unpopular mistake of a war being fought in Iraq, even if Democrats pay lip service to returning to peace they still will do nothing to alleviate the problem. Hillary Clinton even cosponsored a bill that would give President Bush the authority to start another such mistake of a war with Iran. Yet, we still have Democrats and Republicans in power.

Before you guys beat up on me too much here, I’m offering this opinion piece as some self-deprecating third party humor—for the most part…

Thanks to Brian Doherty, my attention has been diverted to folks even wackier than many covered at TPW. I’ll leave it to you to come up with some exceptions to this [...]

Monica Hesse of the Washington Post wrote an interesting, albeit occasionally misleading, article about Reason’s somewhat infamous regular parties in the District.

Four minutes into Reason magazine’s monthly bash at the Big Hunt lounge, and every Libertarian-as-Bacchus fantasy you’ve entertained plays out before your widening eyes.

To begin, Hesse covered one angle which might be missed by [...]