Ron Paul Launches the "Campaign for Liberty"

Although not technically a political as of yet, it seems appropriate to mention Ron Paul's newest political venture, as it appears to have its eye on several activities that, at the least mimic the actions of a political party.

The Campaign for Liberty, as Ron Paul calls it, is currently seeking members to establish, in Ron Paul's words:

[T]o promote and defend the great American principles of individual liberty, constitutional government, sound money, free markets, and a noninterventionist foreign policy, by means of educational and political activity.

Their mission page includes the following:

1. Promoting candidates for public office who share our commitment to freedom.


2. Gaining a foothold in political life at every level of government by expanding our precinct leader program.


3. Educating the electorate and lobbying against harmful or unconstitutional legislation.


4. Encouraging the formation of discussion groups and book clubs at the local level to help people learn more about our ideas.


5. Establishing a speakers bureau to give presentations around the country about the great principles we champion.


6. Developing materials for homeschooling families, to help them educate their children in history, sound economics, and related fields.


7. Featuring written as well as video commentaries on the news and issues of the day.

This is what looks like an attempt to create a grassroots organization that will, one day, become a political party. Time will tell what happens.

The Green Party, Convention July 10-13

Although there are, technically, two Green Party organizations in the USA, this is the one Ralph Nader ran under in 1996 and 2000. Calling itself the Green Party of the United States, it is more commonly referred to simply as the Green Party.

The party has a video of statements from their current candidates for President, with a convention planned for July 10-13, 2008. After Nader failed to garner the 5% vote necessary to qualify for federal matching funds, Nader moved on to become an independent, and remains that way in this cycle. The video below is an interesting read. As is their platform. Technically, that's a draft platform, but I've seen very little change in since Nader left the party.

Enjoy.

-RØß V-

Candidate for the Constitution Party

The Constitution Party has chosen Charles O. "Chuck" Baldwin for its candidate for President of the USA. According to the article on the party's site, Mr Baldwin is a pastor and political activist from Florida. He was the VP candidate in 2004 under Michael Peroutka, who garnered a total of 143,630 votes, or about 0.12% of the total, according to the Federal Election Commission. That was good enough for a 5th place finish in the popular vote.

The Constitution Party is basically an amalgamation of several smaller Right-Wing parties, and espouses a platform that opposes abortion, is very pro-2nd-Amendment, supports protectionism, and isolationism, among other stances. It was even considered as the party of choice had Pat Buchanan left the GOP in either 1992 or 1996. Their platform is available at this link for the reader to see for one's self.

-Rob V-