Constitution Party seeks change in national political landscape

[nashville_brook]

http://www.tennessean.com/government/archives/04/12/62741973.shtml?Element_ID=62741973

By EVAN MAYOR
For The Tennessean

They say the war in Iraq is unconstitutional, they oppose the Patriot Act, gay marriage and the income tax, and they want to see ''true'' pro-life judges appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Meet the Constitution Party.

Representatives from around the country gathered yesterday at the Sheraton Music City Hotel on McGavock Pike to discuss the future at the party's semiannual national convention.

''It's about restoring constitutional government,'' said Chuck Baldwin, the party's vice presidential candidate for the 2004 election. ''We must honor the contract, and all three branches of government have broken that contract."

<snip>

go man go!

looks like liberals aren't the only ones reading What's The Matter With Kansas.

[Deja Q]

1. Oppose gay marriage? Or want support for equality?

It's a gay issue so I must be involved, at least to an extent. This 'Constitution Party' sounds far more noble than the one Dash-hole is in.

[nashville_brook]

2. huh? me no understand...

[tsuki]

6. Constitutionalists are to the Repubs as Progressives are to the DLC.

That is, as I understand it.

[JohnKleeb]

9. Ummm hypno, I am a poly sci student

and I saw Michael Peroutka's accepetance speech, he's not pro gay at all, he was saying something about sodomites that day, believe me these guys are ultra right wing and are true reactionaries who really do believe that america was founded simply as a Christian nation.

[makhno]

12. Is that polytechnic science?

Sorry, as a polisci major myself, this gets my goat every time. :P

[stevedeshazer]

22. Here's their party platform, check it out

link: http://www.constitutionpartyoregon.org/2002site/platform/platform.htm

<snip>
Preamble

We, the members of the Constitution Party, gratefully acknowledge the blessing of the Lord God as Creator, Preserver and Ruler of the Universe and of this Nation. We solemnly declare that the foundation of our political position and moving principle of our political activity is our full submission and unshakable faith in our Savior and Redeemer, our Lord Jesus Christ. We hereby appeal to Him for mercy, aid, comfort, guidance and the protection of His Divine Providence as we work to restore and preserve this Nation as a government of the People, by the People, and for the People.

* The U.S. Constitution established a Republic under God, rather than a democracy.
* Our Republic is a nation governed by a Constitution that is rooted in Biblical law, administered by representatives who are Constitutionally elected by the citizens.
* In a Republic governed by Constitutional law rooted in Biblical law, all Life, Liberty and Property are protected because law rules.

We affirm the principles of inherent individual rights upon which these United States of America were founded:

* That each individual is endowed by his Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are the rights to Life, Liberty, Property and the Pursuit of the individual's personal interest;
* That the freedom to own, use, exchange, control, protect, and freely dispose of Property is a natural, necessary and inseparable extension of the individual's unalienable rights;
* That the legitimate function of government is to secure these rights through the preservation of domestic tranquility, the maintenance of a strong national defense, and the promotion of equal justice for all;
* That history makes clear that left unchecked, it is the nature of government to usurp the liberty of its citizens and eventually become a major violator of the people's rights; and
* That, therefore, it is essential to bind government with the chains of the Constitution and carefully divide and jealously limit government powers to those assigned by the consent of the governed.

The Constitution Party calls on all who love Liberty and value their inherent rights to join with us in the pursuit of these goals and in the restoration of these founding principles. We speak for Americans: hardworking, productive, taxpaying men and women who constitute the backbone and the heart of the American Republic and its economy. These are the producers; these are the ones who should be "first considered and always remembered." It is on their backs that government is carried, and it is out of their pockets that government is financed. Without them and without the product of their skills and their labors, there would be no source to fund the legitimate functions of government nor would there be charity to support the private institutions helping those in need.
No nation can survive if it fails to honorably address the problems which concern these citizens. To these productive but generally forgotten Americans, we offer this platform. It responds to their desires; it is the voice that speaks of them and for them, as does that of no other political party.

[quaoar]

3. Yadda, yadda, yadda

The party's 2004 candidate, Michael Peroutka, received just over one-tenth of 1% of the national popular vote, finishing fifth nationally with just under 150,000 votes. The Peroutka-Baldwin ticket was on the ballot in 36 states, including Tennessee.

I'll bet Karl Rove is quaking in his boots.

Unless the Constitution Party can attract a well-known candidate as its nominee, it will never be anything other than static on the radio dial of politics.

They tried to recruit Roy Moore this year but failed. That's too bad because Moore could have swung several states to Kerry -- Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas, Virginia.

[Sub Zero]

21. Good idea...

if a very well known fundamentalist were to run it could suck tons of votes away from the repubs...

[stevedeshazer]

4. They cost my Repug sister-in-law her election

She was running for county commissioner in a three-way race as a Repug. Her vote plus the 1500 or so votes cast for a Constitution Party candidate exceeded that of the Democrat, but the Dem won.

The Constitution Party guy "Nadered" her (her term.)

I thought it was funny as hell.

[norml]

14. The Constitution Party is the perfect wedge to split the Republican base.

We should do all we can to increase awareness of The Constitution Party as an alternative to the Republican Party, for "true conservatives", tired of the "too liberal" Republican Party.

[snippy]

15. The Reich wing fundamentalists never will leave the republican party

voluntarily. Their power in and control of that party is growing every year. I agree though that the democrats should have a strategy to identify and exploit wedge issues for splitting the republican party. I think that strategy needs to have the goal of forcing either the moderate republicans or the Reich wing fundamentalists to drive the other faction out of the party. I think the moderates would be the ones driven out. The democratic strategy also should include the goal of persuading independents not to support the republican party.

[stevedeshazer]

19. A lot of them did where I live

Total vote in the race I mentioned:

COUNTY COMMISSIONER POS 1
VOTE FOR 1
BOB EKSTROM (CON). . . . . . . . 3,112 13.29
COLLEEN DESHAZER (REP) . . . . . . 9,063 38.70
JOE CORSIGLIA (DEM) . . . . . . . 11,157 47.64
WRITE-IN. . . . . . . . . . . 85 .36
Total . . . . . . . . . 23,417
Over Votes . . . . . . . . . 4
Under Votes . . . . . . . . . 1,679

source: http://www.co.columbia.or.us/Elections/el45.htm

[snippy]

24. But look at the Constitution Party vote totals in all the other races in

the county. Most of them were less than the undervote for that office. And the presidential candidate got 163 votes out of 25,000. If the Constitution Party is going to challenge the republican party for the Reich wing fundamentalist vote by starting at the county commissioner level it will take decades for it to make a difference in national or state wide races.

[stevedeshazer]

26. Well, there was this one too

COUNTY COMMISSIONER POS 3
VOTE FOR 1
ROSEMARY MOLONY LOHRKE (DEM) . . . . 9,250 40.21
TONY HYDE (REP) . . . . . . . . 11,930 51.86
G. KEITH CARPENTER (CON) . . . . . 1,766 7.68
WRITE-IN. . . . . . . . . . . 58 .25
Total . . . . . . . . . 23,004
Over Votes . . . . . . . . . 3
Under Votes . . . . . . . . . 2,093

These were local candidates who got 7.68% and 13.29% in local races, the first year they really tried...that's respectable. I know from experience that they wrote letters to the local small town newspapers and went to candidate forums and, ESPECIALLY, church functions to spread their message.

Sure, they have a long way to go, but they are doing just exactly what the Radical Right did thirty years ago to take back their party.

I'm just saying that they have demonstrated on a local level that they can start to compete, and that CAN'T be good news for the Republicans; they're being outflanked on the right, their most important constituency.

They're obviously not ready to compete on the national level, but it's something to watch in the future. I favor the success of any party that helps divide the Radical Right now.

[Solon]

5. This party is NUTS, they are more right wing than the Repubs n/t

[tsuki]

28. Why should I care whether they are nuts, let them split their voting block

[depakid]

7. I watched an interview with their presidential candidate

and suffice it to say the man is whack. I mean seriously disturbed.

He didn't seem to possess any coherent philosophy that I could make out and what's more, the guy just rambled on and on with utterly false statements about US history and even about the constitution itself.

You think libertarians are nuts- these folks are completely beyond the pale of rational thought..

[Guarionex]

8. not impressed - the Cons. Party are ultra-rightists

Just because on some issues they are isolationist and that position correlates with the liberal desire to get out of Iraq, doesn't mean we should flood to their party.

BEWARE of wolves in sheep cloting...the Cons. party is ultra right

[sonicx]

16. duh. but they have spoiler potential.

think Nader.

[CatholicEdHead]

10. No chance

The Constitution party is way out in right field that very few people follow them. They are a third party which will go nowhere on the national scene.

[readmoreoften]

11. Let's Fund Them. Give them $ and national airtime.

These Christians are more 'purely' Christian and traditionally conservative. Why aren't we funding them the way the Repubs funded Nader to split the progressive vote.

That's what we need most right now: split the Christians away from Bush and splinter the Republican party. All we need is a viable 'more-Christian-than-Bush" Christian Candidate. Convince the Christians that the Lord God will be vengeful toward them if they don't "vote their conscience" and vote for the "True Christian".

Let them have a 100% abortion and a 100% anti-gay record. Let them take their Christian rhetoric over the top in a way that unequivocal way only the unelected candidates are able.

Split the Republicans down the middle! What a great hope for us they could be.

[CatholicEdHead]

17. Need the Libertarian party also

The Constitution party is not big enough. The Libertartian Party needs to have its profile raised to divide the GOP vote. They would be easier to get than Constitution Party supporters because of the Church network.

[Stinky The Clown]

13. And so it began, sayeth their lord

Here's hoping every religious extremist goes to this party. That would cut a large part of the base out from the republican majority. This could be the start of a return to sanity.

Nothing would please me more than to see these guys screeching at the repubs louder than we do.

Divide and conquer ... we know well how that works.

[proud patriot]

18. looks like allies to me

:D good to know :thumbsup:

[Sub Zero]

23. Allies?

You may want to read something beyond a single article concerning this party before you decide they are "allies".....

[Sub Zero]

20. The worst named party ever

everything I've heard from them suggests they are a christian fundamentalist party that wants a theocracy. But I suppose constitution party is a better sounding name.

[CatholicEdHead]

29. Exactly

During the 2002 MN Governor race, MPR had a hour with the third party canidates. The Constitution guy sounded like a real religious nut. He had his say and came off as a complete fool.

[SteveG]

25. Suggest you read their Party Platform

before you think about giving them any support. They are the antithesis if everything moderate and liberal Democrats stand for. They want to Criminalize abortion, they want the States to be permitted to have state religions, they want to abolish Social Security, they want to abolish all welfare, all federal aid to education, they would allow anyone to practice medicine without a licence.... in general these people are religious fanatic uber-economic libertarians (aka Social Darwinists) and generally complete fascists.

[Vogon_Glory]

27. Perhaps the Constitutionalists Should Be Watered and Nourished

Perhaps the Constitutionalists should be watered and nourished in order to split the reich-wing vote. If the Republicans can fund Nader's bunch, we should return the favor--with interest.