Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Third Party Presidential Candidates


The national news media have extensively covered the Presidential Election. Little of this coverage has been dedicated to the third party candidates who, in many states, will appear on the ballot next to the two major party candidates. You can, of course, learn about these candidates here. I first wrote about the minor presidential candidates in February. The Libertarian Party and the Reform Party are both are on the ballot in Kansas.


Libertarian Party

The Libertarian Party is on the ballot in 29 states.

Gary Johnson is the nominee of the Libertarian Party. A former governor of New Mexico, he originally sought the nomination of the Republican Primary before dropping out in December. He was only allowed to attend two of the Republican presidential debates. Johnson supports immediately balancing the budget, block granting Medicare and Medicaid to the states, implementing a flat sales tax with a prebate to replace the federal income tax system, and ending all foreign aid. Johnson also supports ending the war in Afghanistan, repeal the PATRIOT act, and legalize marijuana.


Green Party

The Green Party has ballot access in 21 states and the District of Columbia.

Jill Stein is the Presidential nominee of the Green Party. She laid out her platform, known as the “Green New Deal” during her “People’s State of the Union” address in January. Stein supports a “federally-funded” and “locally-controlled” direct employment program. Stein says that this “Full employment program” would directly create 16 million jobs and indirectly create another 8 million. Stein also supports a single-payer “Medicare for All” health finance system.

Stein supports providing grants and low-interest loans to green businesses as well as funding research to develop renewable energy technologies. Her goal is to have 100 percent of US energy use supplied by renewable sources.

Stein supports breaking up the big Wall Street investment banks, reinstating the Glass-Steagall separation between depository and investment banks, and the creation of a federal bank to take over distressed mortgages in order to suspend all foreclosures.

Stein supports amending to the US constitution in order to overturn the Citizens United ruling. She also supports repealing the PATRIOT Act and parts of the National Defense Authorization Act.


Constitution Party

The Constitution Party is on the ballot in 16 states.

Virgil Goode is the nominee of the Constitution Party. In 2006 Keith Ellison was the first Muslim elected to the US House of Representatives. Ellison was sworn-in on a Koran. Goode showed his offense to this by saying in a letter to his constituents, “If American citizens don’t wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran.”

Goode supports immediately enacting a balanced budget. He also supports reducing legal immigration in an attempt to provide more jobs for American citizens. He opposes Amnesty for illegal immigrants and wants to end birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants born in the United States. He also supports adopting English as the official language of the United States.

Goode supports enacting a flat sales tax with a prebate and eliminating the federal income tax and federal estate tax. Goode supports tort reform, opposes gay marriage and civil unions, opposes Obamacare, and supports ending the war in Afghanistan.


Reform Party

The Reform Party is on the ballot in 4 states.

Andre Barnett is running for the nomination of the Reform Party. Barnett supports passing tariffs on imports equal to that placed on American goods in respective countries. Barnett says that,

America must get its own house in order before reaching out to other countries. We cannot push democracy to others before we have perfected here at home. How can we subject our men and women in uniform to harm in countries that are not in favor of them being there? That is not liberation, it is occupation.  

and that

We cannot afford to keep handing out dollars in aid when we are printing more and more of it to pay our debts.

Darcy Richardson ran for the nomination of the Democratic Party before running for the nomination of the Reform Party. He believes in bringing back the separation of investment and savings banks that existed under the Glass-Steagall Act. He opposes the war in Afghanistan as well as the Panamanian and South Korean free trade deals. He supports a capital levy on wealth, a stimulus 5 or 6 times larger than President Obama’s proposed 447 billion dollar jobs act, a new Works Progress Administration, and a 33 to 50 percent reduction in military spending. He has criticized Obama’s decision to not nominate Elizabeth Warren to head the consumer protection bureau. He also supports a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United.


Party for Socialism and Liberation

The Party for Socialism and Liberation is on the ballot in 4 states.

Peta Lindsay is the presidential nominee of the Party for Socialism and Liberation. She is currently seeking a master’s degree in education at the University of Southern California. She has been an active anti-war activist since 2001. Her biography at her party’s website states that, “Lindsay traveled to Cuba in 2002 with Pastors for Peace and witnessed first-hand the accomplishments of a society that is organized to meet human needs, not the profit motive of a few greedy bankers and corporate owners.” Lindsay also was the youngest delegate at the World Meeting of Artists and Intellectuals in Defense of Humanity that was hosted by Hugo Chavez and the Venezuelan government.


Justice Party

The Justice Party has ballot access in 3 states.

Rocky Anderson is the presidential candidate of the Justice Party. Formerly a mayor of Salt Lake City, he called for the impeachment of George W. Bush. He supports a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United decision in order to achieve campaign finance reform and reduce the corrupting influence of money in politics. As a result, his campaign is only accepting donations of 100 dollars or less. He opposes all on-going wars and telecom immunity. He supports universal health care, treating substance abuse as a public health issue, and US leadership on climate change. He also supports the prosecution of government officials and politicians responsible for authorizing and performing warrantless wiretapping and torture as well as Wall Street executives whose decisions helped create the financial collapse of 2007-2008.


You can learn more about the 2012 presidential election including about the smaller 3rd parties that will nominate presidential candidates on Wikipedia.




The final Republican Primary was held in Utah on June 26. Here are the cumulative primary and caucus vote totals from “The Green Papers” for the Democratic and Republican nomination contests.


Candidate                 Popular Vote           Percent        

Barack Obama         7,234,301                89.58%        
No Preference             225,191                   2.79%
Uncommitted              201,193                   2.49%        
John Wolfe                   117,033                   1.45%
Darcy Richardson        109,764                   1.36%



Candidate                 Popular Vote           Percent

Mitt Romney           9,923,260                51.87%
Rick Santorum        3,931,018                20.55%
Newt Gingrich         2,734,295                14.29%
Ron Paul                   2,095,612                10.95%
Uncommitted             118,480                    0.62%
Jon Huntsman              83,918                    0.44%
No Preference              58,399                    0.31%
Rick Perry                      54,769                    0.29%
Michele Bachmann    41,199                     0.22%
Buddy Roemer            33,352                    0.17%
Herman Cain                13,629                    0.07%
Fred Karger                   12,570                    0.07%
Gary Johnson                 4,364                     0.02%

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