Colin Luther Powell, April 5, 1937 (New York, NY) - October 21, 2021 (Bethesda, Md.)
VP candidate for Independent (2008)
Running mate with nominee: Bradley K. Lord-Leutwyler (b. 1965)
Popular vote: 0 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
Brad Lord-Leutwyler, a visiting lecturer at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas Dept. of Philosophy, filed with "no party affiliation" for President with the FEC in Apr. 2007. On his resume he said he had a degree in (PNW trivia alert!) law (Willamette University, 1991) and a BS in political science (Oregon State University, 1988).
In an interview with Wikinews, Lord-Leutwyler outlined his top three priorities as President--
1) WAR/NATIONAL SECURITY- End it NOW. Bring the troops home. See WWW.VOTEFORBRAD.COM for details.
2) ECONOMY - Banks and financial/investment institutions have had the last seven years to prove how they will behave under relaxed regulation. They created the sub-prime debacle in the process. They cannot be trusted to act in a responsible manner which takes into account the best interest of the American people. Rather, they act in a greedy and selfish fashion. Theses key institutions need greater regulatory oversight. Also, government spending needs to be brought under control. Obama says that he will pay for his plans with the money he saves by ending the war. THIS IS A LIE! The war is funded by deficit spending. Stopping the war and then spending the money is STILL DEFICIT SPENDING.
3) POVERTY/EDUCATION - Education and poverty are intimately linked. Thomas Jefferson knew it. MLK knew it. I learned it from them. When you deny proper education, you create poverty, you weaken your economy, you weaken your defenses, you WEAKEN your nation. NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND must be eliminated and replaced with an intelligent plan, not a specious, knee-jerk fool's errand.
Of all of Lord-Leutwyler's platform issues, his stand on UFO investigation was possibly the riskiest in terms of 2008 voters. Subsequent declassification of some government films and documents have made the public a bit more open about the topic since then--
PRESS RELEASE: 30th October 2007 .•. Independent Presidential Candidate Vows Investigation, Cooperation & Transparency. Independent Candidate for the Presidency of the United States, Brad Lord-Leutwyler today informed over 1,000,000 of his supporters that when elected, he will appoint a special commission to investigate the UFO phenomenon and to declassify millions of relevant documents now in government possession. He suggested that Stanton Friedman would be a possible choice to head the commission. "There is significant evidence available to infer that there are events occurring which warrant open investigation. These events, witnessed by military pilots, airline pilots, citizens of the U.S. and abroad indicate that these unknown phenomenon are of such a nature that investigation would lead to a better understanding of these events, and possibly to deeper insights into nature and human psychology. The government has been compiling data about many of these events for decades, and with limited exception, keeping the truth from the American People is no longer tolerable nor is it acceptable." Inquiries are welcome Contact Brad Lord-Leutwyler with questions at - VOTEFORBRAD@gmail.com ALL inquiries will be handled by the candidate personally Visit: WWW.VOTEFORBRAD.COM
When asked about his running mate by Wikinews, Lord-Leutwyler (who seemed fond of using all caps for emphasis in his campaign releases) answered--
WE ARE DRAFTING GEN. COLIN POWELL AS OUR RUNNING MATE.
Powell's response has not been found.
The popular Colin Powell, who was an attractive potential nominee for both major parties as well as independents in an Eisenhower sort of way had been touted as a Presidential possibility in 1996 and 2000. He ultimately resisted the call for elected office. In the 2008 election cycle there was yet another draft movement for Powell, but the General himself had been supporting and donating money to Sen. John McCain's campaign for the Republican nomination. Once it was obvious McCain was going to be the nominee, there was a secondary draft movement to make Powell the VP choice.
McCain's selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running-mate was apparently the turning point for Powell. On Oct. 19, 2008 Powell endorsed Obama and among his many reasons was Palin's place on the ticket, "Now that we have had a chance to watch her for some seven weeks, I don't believe she's ready to be president of the United States, which is the job of the vice president." Although still a Republican and expressing great admiration and respect for Sen. McCain himself, Powell felt his party had made some disturbing shifts toward intolerance and embracing spurious notions as fact as they appeared to roll out the welcome mat for an army of conspiracy theorists.
Lord-Leutwyler, with or without Powell, did not appear to show up on any ballots or as a registered write-in. In 2010 Lord-Leutwyler made an unsuccessful run for US Congress as a Republican.
Election history: none
Other occupations: US Secretary of State, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, US National Security Advisor, US Deputy National Security Advisor, US Army General, author
Notes:
Son of immigrants from Jamaica.
Powell received three votes for President from faithless electors in Washington State, 2016.
Endorsed Obama again in 2012, Hillary Clinton in 2016, and Joe Biden in 2020.
More PNW trivia-- While Sarah Palin was a student at the University of Idaho in Moscow in 1984, seven miles away in Pullman, Wash. I was a faculty member and librarian at Washington State University. Maybe I saw her at Gambino's?
