James Curtis Frazier II, December 11, 1955 (Tulsa, Okla.) -
VP candidate for Constitution Party (aka Independent aka American Independent Party aka Concerned Citzens Party aka Independent American Party aka American Constitution Party aka US Taxpayers Party aka Conservative Party) (2000)
Running mate with nominee: Howard Jay Phillips (1941-2013)
Popular vote: 97,104 (0.09%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
At their convention in Sept. 1999 the US Taxpayers Party changed their name to the Constitution Party (an alternative name that lost the vote was "American Heritage Party") and for the third time nominated Howard Phillips for President. His running-mate was Joe Sobran. US Sen. Bob Smith of New Hampshire had previously sought the US Taxpayers Party nomination for President after failing to gain much traction in the national Republican primaries. But shortly before the USTP convention he declared himself an independent candidate for President. That campaign came to an end quickly and he rejoined the Republican Party, endorsing Bush.
Phillips' chief opponent in securing the nomination was none other than his own 1996 running-mate, Herb Titus. Titus said that if he got the nod he would select (Washington State trivia alert!!!) Ellen Craswell as his VP. More on that later.
The Party platform included: anti-choice on abortion, opposed euthanasia, wanted to abolish the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Reserve, privatize Social Security, restrict legal immigration, promote states' rights, end US involvement in the United Nations-NATO-and World Bank, cutting the federal budget by 75%, eliminating Affirmative Action, and it declared a "full submission and unshakable faith" in Jesus Christ.
VP nominee Sobran was not without controversy. In 1993 he was fired from his position with the National Review by his mentor William F. Buckley with the chief charge being an anti-Semite but with assorted other unpleasantries tossed in. Although denials were made, shortly after the 2000 election Sobran was among the speakers at a Holocaust-denial group, making his earlier protestations somewhat disingenuous.
Sobran took a leave of absence from his newspaper column in order to run. In his Sept. 9, 1999 piece he quipped, "With a little luck I will be inaugurated as your vice president in January 2001. I look forward to presiding over the Senate and attending funerals of world leaders."
Sobran was back in the columns within six months. In early March he wrote: In life we sometimes do have to choose the lesser evil rather than the positive good. This is the basis of armed robbery. Forced to choose between your money and your life, you give the mugger your wallet. But though you walk away with relief that your life was spared, you'd be a fool to feel it was a profitable transaction for you. For conservatives who vote Republican, every election is like that.
By the end of March, Sobran had concluded running for office was more work than he bargained for and withdrew from the race. Sobran was eventually replaced by Dr. J. Curtis Frazier of Missouri.
In May 2000 Phillips indicated he would be willing to step aside as the Presidential nominee in favor of Alan Keyes if the latter wanted it. Keyes, an extremely Right-wing Christian, was making a remarkably resilient campaign in 2000 in the Republican Presidential primaries. But, the switch in standard bearers never took place for the Constitution Party.
In June 2000 there was another twist to the Constitution Party campaign. A group within their ranks felt the platform and leaders were not pushing the Christian angle enough and so they split and formed the Christian Liberty Party. They had their start by using the already existing American Heritage Party (the same name that had been rejected earlier by the former US Taxpayers Party now known as the Constitution Party) as a foundation.
The American Heritage Party, now called the Christian Liberty Party, spelled out their Christian nationalist origins on their website:
Establishing a National Party: Building an Ark
The vision for a national Christian Liberty Party was birthed in Washington State in the Spring of 2000 when the original Washington state American Heritage Party recognized the need for a unified national and distinctively Christian party. This would be a party unlike any other in American history, free from entanglement with secular politics-as-usual and defensive-minded conservatism. No stone was left unturned in searching for a genuine Christian alternative and the philosophy, method and approach a Christian party must take to avoid the pitfalls of secular politics.
The Washington state party envisioned a national political party with the following distinctives:
It would develop a comprehensive, unified national vision.
It would acknowledge the Bible as a blueprint for political action.
It would identify Biblical principles undergirding the party platform and program.
It would hold members accountable to their subscription and leaders to the party vision and principles.
It would develop character, leadership and scholarship qualifications for candidates and party leaders.
It would charter local Voter Clubs to inspire, educate and mobilize members for the work of renewal in our nation.
Now for a slight detour. Remember the earlier mention of Ellen Craswell? She had been a Republican State Legislator here in Washington and in 1996 ran for Governor in that party against Democratic King County Executive Gary Locke without any pretense of being anything other than what she was-- a member of the evangelical Right wing. She was crushed in the general election.
In 1998 Craswell's husband Bruce ran for US Congress in Washington's 1st District as a member of the American Heritage Party against Republican incumbent Rick White. Bruce Craswell's impressive 6.1% of the popular vote result was enough to derail White's re-election, handing the victory to the Democrat who is now our current Governor-- Jay Inslee.
End of detour, back to the main topic--
J. Curtis Frazier, who had run for the US Senate in Missouri two years prior under the US Taxpayers Party banner, was selected as a stand-in VP nominee after Sobran bailed. In early Sept. 2000 he was chosen as the official running-mate.
With Frazier quotes like this, it is difficult to understand why a Christian splinter group left the Constitution Party: "All life, liberty and property are protected because the Constitution is rooted in Biblical law ... There is no question whether abortion is legal or not. Abortion is illegal under Biblical law."
2000 was one of the poorer results for the Constitution Party, probably due to Patrick Buchanan's presence in the race. I count the Phillips/Frazier ticket in 40 states plus five registered write-in jurisdictions. Their strongest percentages reveal a national rather than regional appeal: Connecticut 0.66%, South Dakota 0.56%, Utah 0.35%, Mississippi-Wyoming 0.33% each, Louisiana 0.31%, Idaho-Pennsylvania 0.29% each, Montana 0.28%, Alaska 0.21%, California 0.16%, Arkansas 0.15%, Oregon 0.14%, Minnesota-North Dakota 0.13% each, Kansas-South Carolina 0.12% each, Nevada 0.10%.
Election history:
1998 - US Senate (Mo.) (US Taxpayers Party) - defeated
Other occupations: physician, Missouri State Constitution Party Chairman, editor of "These Truths" newsletter, member of Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, member of Gun Owners of America, member of The Conservative Caucus, member of Separation of School and State Alliance.
Notes:
In the 1996 election for Washington State Governor I wrote-in my father's name.
