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.
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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