William Alan Mohr

 

William Alan Mohr, May 23, 1959 (Grand Rapids, Mich.) -

VP candidate for Constitution Party (aka American Constitution Party aka U.S. Taxpayers Party aka Independent American Party aka Conservative USA Party) (2020)

Running mate with nominee: Donald Leon Blankenship (b. 1950)
Popular vote: 60,148 (0.04%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

In 2020 the Constitution Party was somewhat diminished from it's former self. It was no longer affiliated with California's American Independent Party and since the 2016 election a number of states walked out of the national organization. Plus, the party of Trump had co-opted and attempted to mainstream several of the Constitution Party's platform planks at least through rhetoric if not in action, stealing away potential voters from the third party.

West Virginia coal CEO Don Blankenship was nominated for President on the second ballot. This was seen as a mixed blessing by some. On the positive side he was a well known figure and had deep pockets, but on the negative side the reason he was well known was not exactly complimentary. He served a year in the Taft Federal Correctional Institution in California, convicted of conspiring to violate safety standards that led to the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster in 2010, killing 29 workers.

In marketing his book entitled An American Political Prisoner, Blankenship wrote on his website--

Over the past thirty years I have been threatened with death several times: had urine thrown on me: had eleven bullet holes shot into my office: had two cars smashed with ball bats and clubs while I was in them: been continually lied about: been the subject of several false books: been branded with multiple derogatory names: been sued numerous times: been slandered on national television many times: been subjected to continued ridicule by newspapers: been falsely accused of causing the Upper Big Branch (UBB) tragedy: been falsely arrested: endured a trial where I faced thirty years in prison for made up charges, and been put in federal prison for a misdemeanor.

Describing himself as "Trumpier than Trump," Blankenship had also made national headlines in his 2018 candidacy in West Virginia for the U.S. Senate due to his behavior some considered unprofessional and comments that were interpreted as crude.

There is probably some kind of metaphoric significance with the fact Blankenship filed for President with the FEC on Halloween, 2019 but I'll leave it to others to define it.

The Party's 40-page platform is too long to reproduce here, but their webpage does list their "Twelve Key Issues"--

States’ Powers
Everything not specifically delegated by the Constitution to the federal government, nor prohibited by the Constitution to the states, is reserved to the states or to the people.

Education
Since the Constitution grants the Federal Government no authority over Education, the 10th Amendment applies. This includes funding.

Gun Rights
A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

Foreign Policy, Defense, & Terrorism
American government committed to the protection of the borders, trade, and common defense of Americans, with no entanglement in foreign alliances, is paramount. Any and all wars must be declared by Congress.

Veterans
We vigorously resist the attempt by any government agency to nullify or reduce earned benefits to veterans and their survivors, including but not limited to, compensation, pensions, education, and health care.

Immigration
The Constitution Party has long been the only national political party to stand firmly against the proposals for a “Pathway to Citizenship/Comprehensive Immigration Reform/Amnesty” that come out of Washington.

Treaties & Trade Deals
We believe firmly that any so-called free trade deals and/or treaties that usurp American Sovereignty and/or the Constitution are unconstitutional and we should withdraw from them immediately.

United Nations, Agenda 21, & Global Organizations
We vehemently oppose Agenda 21 and feel we should part ways with the UN and any other global agency that attempts to subvert American Sovereignty.

Religious Freedom
All Americans have equal right to worship according to their beliefs. Government is to be kept out of the religious realm.

Healthcare & Social Security
We believe in the privatization of Healthcare and Social Security, with Social Security being phased out.

Judiciary
We reject the notion that the Supreme Court’s decisions are binding as law beyond those parties to whom the case pertained. Activist Judges should be impeached, as permissible by the Constitution.

Drugs
The federal government’s only responsibility in preventing drug abuse is to control our borders. Drugs are a state issue.

Running-mate Bill Mohr had been an active Republican until 2005 when he joined the U.S. Taxpayers Party in Michigan, the local Constitution Party affiliate.

In one interview during the campaign Mohr shared his thoughts on the COVID-19 pandemic--

The COVID pandemic is an opportunity for corrupt governors to grab power and money, and it's happening. I wish people could understand what’s happening. And although there is a virus, the actions being taken are not about the virus.

You don’t quarantine the innocent, you quarantine the sick and that didn’t happen here. We shut our government down, our country down. The mask thing should have been done a long, long time ago.

One more thing, the idea that you can’t buy and sell without a mask, that resembles the mark of the beast. That will be an easy step from the silly mandate to wear a mask into if you don’t have the mark of the beast you won't be able to buy or sell, this needs to be stopped here.

Blankenship/Mohr finished in 8th place nationally. They were on the ballot in 18 states and registered write-ins in several more. Strongest showings were in Utah (0.37%), Alaska (0.31%), Nevada and Idaho (0.22% each). It was by far the most dismal Presidential election result for the Party since their debut election in 1992.

Election history:
2006 - Michigan House of Representatives (U.S. Taxpayers Party) - defeated
2008 - Michigan House of Representatives (U.S. Taxpayers Party) - defeated
2010 - Michigan House of Representatives (U.S. Taxpayers Party) - defeated
2012 - Michigan House of Representatives (U.S. Taxpayers Party) - defeated
2014 - Michigan House of Representatives (U.S. Taxpayers Party) - defeated
2016 - Grand Rapids (Mich.) City Commissioner Ward 2 (Nonpartisan) - defeated
2018 - Village of Martin (Mich.) Board of Trustees At-large (Nonpartisan) - defeated

Other occupations: state chair of the U.S. Taxpayers Party, home maintenance and improvement

Notes:
Mohr's son, Bill Mohr II also ran for public office in Michigan under the US Taxpayer's Party for university regent positions. The "Our Campaigns" website has blended the two into one politician.

Scott Nelson Bradley

 

Scott Nelson Bradley, September 13, 1951 (American Fork, Utah) -

VP candidate for Constitution Party (aka American Constitution Party aka Independent aka US Taxpayers Party aka Independent American Party) (2016)

Running mate with nominee: Darrell Lane Castle (b. 1948)
Popular vote: 203,107 (0.15%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

In a convention process that apparently created division and rancor, the Constitution Party nominated their 2008 VP candidate for President in 2016. Darrell Castle's running-mate was Scott N. Bradley of Utah.

Among the many factors that tore the Party asunder was Castle's own on-off-on again availability. He was one of the contenders early in the game, but withdrew for health reasons. After his healing had taken place, he was willing to be back in the arena.

Idaho walked out and nominated their own Constitution Party ticket of Arlon Scott Copeland and John Richard "J.R." Myers, but Castle and Bradley managed to also be listed in the Spud State under the banner of "Independent."

Castle told one reporter: "This isn't the first time I've done this, but in all my time with the party, there has never been a political opportunity like this moment. I don't say this to be egotistical; I say this to be honest — this is the best two candidates for the Constitution Party that we've ever had. Scott and I understand the principles and can communicate them effectively. These two people that represent the Democratic and the Republican parties don't even have principles ... The problem with America is the same problem facing the rest of the world, and that can be summed up in two words: human nature. The Founders understood human nature. They understood that people are wicked by nature, and that wickedness has to be restrained. The states came together to form a contract, a compact, a written Constitution, to give the government 17 enumerated powers. It is the abuse of that power that has caused the problems we face today. Power itself has got to be limited, or it will burst its chains and terrible things will happen, and it's happening now everywhere we look."

At first blush the CP stand on the issues did not seem to be that far removed from the Republicans. If anything, the Trump Party appeared to have co-opted, at least in their rhetoric, much of the long-standing CP platform of theocracy, isolationism, and deregulation. One wonders why the CP did not endorse the Republican nominee. 2012 Constitution Party Presidential candidate Virgil Goode actually did just that.

But Bradley, himself a former Republican, told a reporter in May 2016, "It's an interesting phenomenon. People say to me a vote for a third party is a wasted vote, but you can look back at the track records of the two major political parties and see they're taking us down the same paths. It's really amazing to me that people say to me you have to vote for the lesser of two evils. I consider them to be the evil of two lessers."

The Castle/Bradley ticket finished in 6th place nationally with the highest number of popular votes to date in their Presidential election history. Some pundits felt that both the Libertarian and Constitution parties were beneficiaries of "Never-Trump" conservatives in 2016. They were on the ballot in 24 states and registered as write-ins in 17 more. They also cracked 1% a few times, with their strongest results in Alaska 1.21%, South Dakota 1.10%, Hawaii 1.03%, Wyoming 0.79%, Utah 0.71%, Idaho 0.64%, North Dakota-Washington-West Virginia 0.53% each.

Election history:
2006 - US Senate (Utah) (Constitution Party) - defeated
2008 - Constitution Party nomination for Vice-President - defeated
2010 - US Senate (Utah) (Constitution Party) - defeated

Other occupations: Utah Air National Guard, LDS missionary, executive at AT&T, administrator at Utah State University, Founder and Chairman of the Constitution Commemoration Foundation, author, lecturer

Notes:
Winner of the 2006 election was Orrin Hatch.

James N. Clymer

James N. Clymer, May 4, 1948 -

VP candidate for Independent (aka Constitution Party) (2004)
VP candidate for Constitution Party (aka Independent aka American Constitution Party aka US Taxpayers Party aka Independent American Party) (2012)

Running mate with nominee (2004): Michael Anthony Peroutka (b. 1952)
Running mate with nominee (2012): Virgil Hamlin Goode, Jr. (b. 1946)
Popular vote (2004): 2,899 (0.00%)
Popular vote (2012): 122,417 (0.09%)
Electoral vote (2004, 2012): 0/538

The campaign (2004):

After three consecutive runs, Howard Phillips declined to campaign for President in the 2004 election as the standard bearer for the Constitution Party. The torch needed to be passed.

Controversial Judge Roy Moore of Alabama toyed with the idea of running for President as the Constitution Party nominee, and it would have been his for the taking. But he decided to remain with the Republican Party.

Maryland attorney Michael Peroutka was drafted for the job, and he modestly said he would accept but would be willing to step down in the event another candidate with star power wanted the nomination. In May 2004 Peroutka was chosen, by default apparently since no Big Names stepped forward, and in turn he selected Chuck Baldwin, an independent Baptist minister, protégé of Rev. Jerry Falwell, and radio host in Florida. "The day that I received the phone call from Michael Peroutka asking me to be his running mate was one of the most shocking days of my life," Baldwin said, "Never in my wildest imagination did I anticipate such a call. I did not seek this position. I never saw it coming."

With no real competition in the form of a marquee candidate like Ron Paul or Pat Buchanan, the Peroutka/Baldwin ticket had the Right wing purists pretty much all to themselves, which might explain why they were one of the very few third parties to see an improvement in their percentages when compared to the 2000 election. They almost had some competition from a party splintered off the Reform Party in 2002 by Buchananites called the America First Party, but it imploded after a short time due to a fiasco involving the invitation and then disinvitation of Bo Gritz to speak at their convention. In 2004 the barely existent AFP endorsed Peroutka. Apparently the AFP is still around today.

The ticket was also endorsed by the white nationalist League of the South (designated as a hate group by the SPLC), the Georgia chapter of the Southern Party, and radio tabloid conspiracy host Alex Jones. They almost snagged Pat Buchanan's nod, but he eventually endorsed Bush and returned to the Republicans after leaving the Reform Party.

In the course of meeting filing deadlines before their actual convention, Party Chairman Jim Clymer was inserted as a stand-in name for Vice-President. He made it clear to the media he had no intention of becoming the permanent VP, "Michael Peroutka is running, I'm not."

It seems they were unable to replace Clymer with Baldwin only in Kansas, where the Peroutka/Clymer ticket finished 5th place out of five with 0.24% of the vote in that state. Clymer was also running as the 2004 Constitution Party candidate for the US Senate in Pennsylvania in a race won by Arlen Specter.

The campaign (2012):

Virgil Goode had covered several political affiliations by the time he became the 2012 Constitutional Party Presidential nominee. As a member of the Virginia Senate 1973-1997 and US Congress from Virginia 1997-2009 he started out as a Democrat, declared himself an independent 2000-2002, and joined the Republicans 2002-2010. He was defeated for re-election in 2008.

In most third parties someone with Goode's extensive public service in elected office would be a plus, but in the Constitution Party it could prove to be fatal particularly since Goode's voting record included supporting some neoconservative issues such as the Patriot Act and Bush administration military initiatives. However at the convention Goode was nominated over 2008 VP nominee Darrell Lane Castle. It seemed to be an indicator the Party was starting to mature as they were willing to embrace a true professional politician and all the real-life compromises that entails.

In a game of political musical chairs, Constitution Party 2004 VP and 2008 Presidential nominee Chuck Baldwin had rejoined the Republican Party about the same time Goode was leaving it.

Goode selected Jim Clymer, who was the outgoing national Party chair, as his running-mate.

Among other things Goode advocated the use of troops and walls to halt Mexican illegal immigrants from crossing the border, eliminating Obamacare, pulling the US military out of Afghanistan, ending free trade agreements, and replacing income and estate tax with sales tax.

But the press didn't really cover Goode's platform as much as they speculated how much his campaign was going to hurt Republican Mitt Romney. And for sure it seemed Goode spent more energy attacking Romney than Obama. News coverage of the Constitution Party's struggle for ballot access in the face of active Republican opposition (e.g. Pennsylvania) also overshadowed their message.

Nationally the Goode/Clymer ticket finished in 5th place and they did not end up playing the role of spoiler in any state that I can ascertain. On the ballot in 26 states and write-ins in 14 more, their strongest percentages were in South Dakota 0.65%, Wyoming 0.58%, North Dakota 0.37%, Idaho and Michigan and Virginia 0.34% each, Nevada 0.32%, Missouri 0.29%, Utah and Washington 0.28% each, Colorado and Tennessee 0.24% each.

Election history:
1992 - Pennsylvania Auditor General (Libertarian Party) - defeated
1994 - Lt. Governor of Pennsylvania (Constitution Party) - defeated
1998 - Lt. Governor of Pennsylvania (Constitution Party) - defeated
2000 - Pennsylvania Attorney General (Constitution Party) - defeated
2003 - Lancaster County Board of Commissioners (Penn.) (Constitution Party) - defeated
2004 - US Senate (Penn.) (Constitution Party) - defeated
<2013/14 - 2020> - Manor New East Precinct, Manor Township, Penn. Judge of Elections (Constitution Party)

Other occupations: attorney, Chair of the Constitution Party

Notes:
Clymer is one of the few Constitution Party members  to win an elected office.
Goode endorsed Donald Trump in the 2016 election

Charles Obadiah Baldwin

Charles Obadiah Baldwin, May 3, 1952 (La Porte, Ind.) -

VP candidate for Constitution Party (aka Independent aka Alaska Independence Party aka American Independent Party aka American Constitution Party aka Concerned Citizens Party aka US Taxpayers Party aka Nebraska Party aka Independent American Party) (2004)

Running mate with nominee: Michael Anthony Peroutka (b. 1952)
Popular vote: 141,751 (0.12%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

After three consecutive runs, Howard Phillips declined to campaign for President in the 2004 election as the standard bearer for the Constitution Party. The torch needed to be passed.

Controversial Judge Roy Moore in Alabama toyed with the idea of running for President as the Constitution Party nominee, and it would have been his for the taking. But he decided to remain with the Republican Party.

Maryland attorney Michael Peroutka was drafted for the job, and he modestly said he would accept but would be willing to step down in the event another candidate with star power wanted the nomination. In May 2004 Peroutka was chosen and in turn he selected Chuck Baldwin, an independent Baptist minister, protégé of Rev. Jerry Falwell, and radio host in Florida. "The day that I received the phone call from Michael Peroutka asking me to be his running mate was one of the most shocking days of my life," Baldwin said, "Never in my wildest imagination did I anticipate such a call. I did not seek this position. I never saw it coming."

Baldwin was a Democrat until ca1980, then an evangelical Christian Republican until 2004. He left the Republicans because he considered George W. Bush to be too liberal. He was also a rabid anti-Zionist, opposed neoconservatives and the "New World Order," and seemed to be in the 9/11 Truther camp to some degree. As Baldwin explained in July 2004, "... I could no longer in good conscience stay in the Republican Party. Therefore, earlier this year, I joined the Constitution Party. It is the only Party at the national level that stands for the fundamental principles upon which our nation was built. It is the only Party that truly shares my pro-life, pro-liberty, and pro-constitution convictions."

Here are some samples from Baldwin's 2004 entries in his Food for Thought column which also I think reflects the thinking within the Constitution Party at that time. You'll notice he is much harder on the situational ethics of Republicans and evangelicals than he is on the Democrats:

--It seems to me that, in the end, both parties are marching to the same drummer with only a slightly different cadence. The major difference seems to be that of control not course. Indeed, both parties seem headed in the same direction.

--Both Democrats and Republicans want the president to have fast track trade authority. Leaders from both parties support NAFTA, GATT, the WTO, NATO, the World Bank, the IMF, MFN for Communist China, etc. President Bush is currently pushing the New World Order envelope even further by promoting the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).

--If President Bush is reelected in November, it is almost certain that he would re-institute the military draft and would even become the first President in U.S. history to draft America's daughters. In addition, Mr. Bush would, in all likelihood, appoint pro-abortion justices to the U.S. Supreme Court and would continue his unconstitutional, imperialistic propensities to unilaterally invade foreign countries without a declaration of war from Congress.

--While we are on the subject of judges, it did not help Chief Justice Roy Moore of Alabama one bit that there was a Republican governor in Alabama, that there was a Republican Attorney General in Alabama, or that there was a Republican President in the White House. But I can assure you that a Peroutka / Baldwin victory in 2004 would change all of that! In fact, my first recommendation to Michael would be that Roy Moore be his first appointment to the United States Supreme Court.

--President Bush has done as much or more to advance the homosexual agenda as did his predecessor, Bill Clinton. He has appointed many open homosexuals to high public office, as I am sure most all of you know.

Homosexuality by its very definition is fornication. Accordingly, in our military, in our law enforcement agencies, and in other high positions of trust, thorough background investigations are required as to the moral character and integrity of the applicant. I dare say that Bush's promotion of homosexuals to high public office not only violates the laws of decency and integrity, it also violates the laws of these United States of America.

Furthermore, Bush has not reversed Clinton's "Don't Ask ­ Don't Tell" policy allowing sodomites to serve in our armed forces. In fact, come to think about it, I can't recall a single executive order that Bill Clinton made that Bush has overturned. However, he did make a point to reverse Ronald Reagan's policy to take America out of UNESCO and put us right back in. The truth is, both President Bush and John Kerry support civil unions for sodomites. My dear friends, regardless of rhetoric to the contrary, that is not a pro-family position.

--If an American President was truly pro-family, he would never give favored treatment to homosexuals. He would, furthermore, uphold the constitutional provision that requires the President to ensure that every state has a republican form of government. This means he would never submit to tyrannical, activist judges who would attempt to redefine the family.

If an American President truly believed his oath of office, he would never promote the passage of unconstitutional, Orwellian acts such as the egregiously misnamed USA Patriot Act, which has done more to eviscerate the Bill of Rights, especially the Fourth Amendment, than anything that I can ever recall in my lifetime.

If an American President truly believed his oath to the Constitution, he would never invade another country without a formal declaration of war by Congress. The truth is, neither George Bush nor John Kerry has any intention of upholding his oath to the constitution, but you can be sure Michael Peroutka will!

--The blind loyalty of conservatives to President Bush defies logic, reason, Christian principle, and even old fashioned common sense. Conservatives, especially Christian conservatives, have become the largest group of naïve, nonsensical, non-thinking, easily duped people on the planet! It's embarrassing!

--The feminist movement of the past half-century has certainly contributed to the problem of poor male leadership. Yet, the truth is, if men were the leaders they should have been, the feminist movement would never have gotten off the ground. The feminist movement was really not a cause, it was an effect.

This lack of masculine leadership is easily seen in modern politics, but that, again, is but a reflection of the true problem. The real problem is men are not the leaders of their homes or of their churches. It is a sad reality that in America today, women are the heads of most families and most churches.

--The willingness of our political and judicial leaders to embrace homosexuality reveals their rejection of God's moral law and authority. It is no coincidence that within a matter of weeks after the White House and federal courts collaborated to remove the Ten Commandments from the Alabama Judicial Building in Montgomery that the entire nation would be embroiled in a fever pitch effort to legalize same sex marriage. God will not be mocked. When one sows to the wind, he reaps a whirlwind.

By accepting homosexuality, America is now fueling the flames of debauchery. When homosexuality is finally and fully accepted by American law, pedophilia and other more onerous behavior will not be far behind. As such, America is on the verge of a self-induced implosion.

--I charge G. W. Bush with posturing himself as a conservative while giving us bigger government than did even Bill Clinton. I charge him with creating the machinery with which a police state may emerge. Furthermore, I charge President Bush with attempting to take more freedoms away from the American people than any president in modern memory.

I also believe that Mr. Bush has redundantly violated his oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States and that he has given nothing but lip service to the pro-life and pro-family agendas. It is also my contention that President Bush has jeopardized the security of these United States and has made a mockery of our nation's laws by his treacherous illegal alien amnesty proposal. He also lied to the American people by saying he supported the Second Amendment only later to endorse the Clinton gun ban.

Even worse, I charge Christian conservatives with willingly surrendering their independent thinking as well as their American heritage in order to accommodate President Bush and the Republican Party. I further charge them with selling their spiritual birthright for a mess of political pottage!

With no real competition in the form of a marquee candidate like Ross Perot, Ron Paul or Pat Buchanan, the Peroutka/Baldwin ticket had the Right wing purists pretty much all to themselves, which might explain why they were one of the very few third parties to see an improvement in their percentages when compared to the 2000 election. They almost had some competition from a party splintered off the Reform Party in 2002 by Buchananites called the America First Party, but it imploded after a short time due to a fiasco involving the invitation and then disinvitation of Bo Gritz to speak at their convention. In 2004 the barely existent AFP endorsed Peroutka. Apparently the AFP is still around today.

The ticket was also endorsed by the white nationalist League of the South (designated as a hate group by the SPLC), the Georgia chapter of the Southern Party, and radio tabloid conspiracy host Alex Jones. They almost snagged Pat Buchanan's nod, but he eventually endorsed Bush and returned to the Republicans after leaving the Reform Party.

On the ballot in three dozen states and write-ins in several more, the Peroutka/Baldwin ticket had their highest percentages in Utah 0.74%, Alaska 0.67%, Idaho 0.52%, Montana 0.39%, South Carolina 0.33%, Virginia 0.32%, Oregon 0.29%, South Dakota 0.28%, Louisiana 0.27%, and Wyoming 0.26%. With the exception of Oregon, these were all states where George W. Bush won with a comfortable margin. Baldwin was not on the ballot in Kansas, the stand-in running-mate in that state (what a strange phrase) was James N. Clymer.

I will continue the Chuck Baldwin story when the 2008 and 2012 elections are covered.

Election history:
2008 - US President (Constitution Party) - defeated
2012 - Lt. Governor of Montana (Republican) - primary - withdrew
2012 - US President (Reform Party of Kansas) - defeated

Other occupations: pastor, radio show host, columnist, editor, state chairman of the Florida Moral Majority

Notes:
Baldwin briefly rejoined the Republican Party 2011-2015 and is now associated with the Independent American Party.

Herbert William Titus

Herbert William Titus, October 17, 1937 (Baker City, Ore.) -

VP candidate for US Taxpayers Party (aka Independent aka American Independent Party aka American Constitution Party aka Taxpayers Party aka Independent American Party aka Right to Life Party aka US Taxpayer Party) (1996)

Running mate with nominee: Howard Jay Phillips (1941-2013)
Popular vote: 128,310 (0.13%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

The 1996 Presidential campaign for the US Taxpayers Party really begins with columnist, pundit, and speechwriter Pat Buchanan's bid for the Republican nomination. His surprisingly popular insurgent effort sounded the call for the forces of the rapidly growing hard Right and evangelical wings of the Republican Party. He called them his "Pitchfork Army" in the best of Populist demagogue traditions. Some of his critics called him "David Duke without the sheets" but the US Taxpayers Party really wanted Buchanan on their ticket and made no secret about it.

Howard Phillips, who basically was the US Taxpayers Party and had been the first Presidential nominee of the new party in 1992, watched as Buchanan gave Sen. Bob Dole a big scare early in the season but then bombed out on Super Tuesday in Mar. 1996 and suspended his campaign. This made Buchanan a free agent in the eyes of Phillips, who told a reporter, "My first choice is Pat Buchanan as an active candidate. My second choice is Pat Buchanan as an inactive candidate." The plan, if Buchanan was tied up, was to run someone else for President and still electioneer as the Party of Buchanan. Then, after they won the election, instruct the Electors to brush aside whatever name was officially in the ballot and cast their lots for Pat Buchanan.

For his part, Buchanan was playing coy and openly considered running in the third party if they gained ballot access in all 50 states (they didn't make it). He used that leverage to influence the Republican ticket, saying if Dole did not select a strong pro-life running-mate, then maybe a Party of Buchanan wouldn't be such a bad idea. Dole's subsequent selection of Rep. Jack Kemp was apparently sufficient and Buchanan came on board and endorsed the Republican ticket. So that was the end of that.

So once again the new party turned to Howard Phillips as the Presidential nominee. It would be the second of three runs for him. He described his long range plans for the US Taxpayers Party: "Our main constituencies are pro-lifers, home-schoolers and those concerned with the expansion of government. We want to establish a firm enough position so that as the Republican Party dissolves, as I believe it will, ours will be seen as an alternative."

Platform issues included: Balancing the Federal budget "immediately" -- abolishing the IRS, Dept. of Education, NEA, HUD, ATF, CIA -- Pull the US out of the UN, NATO, NAFTA, GATT -- Impose a moratorium on immigration -- Oppose abortion -- Support states' rights

Phillips opposed what he called the "Satanzation of America." He wrote, "The goal of the New World Order is to remove God from His throne and replace Him with power-seekers who desire not freedom UNDER God, but freedom FROM GOD." He also said, "My comprehensive object is to restore American jurisprudence to its biblical presuppositions and the federal government to its constitutional boundaries."

The campaign had some support from other third parties. The American Independent Party in California had become an affiliate and would remain so for the next decade. The Right to Life in New York, which had endorsed the Republicans in 1992, backed Phillips in 1996. The Concerned Citizens Party, based in Connecticut, signed on as well.

The US Taxpayers Party drafted Herbert W. Titus as the VP in 1996, but Phillips was on the ballot with four other running-mates as well, all considered stand-ins: Albion Knight his 1992 running-mate was on the ballot in Iowa, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia -- Joseph A. Zdonczyk in Connecticut and Illinois -- Samuel Blumenfeld in Kentucky -- and Robert J. Meucci Sr. in Mississippi. In Arizona no VP was listed.

At one time he was a Leftist who opposed the Vietnam War, supported abortion and Gay Rights, and worked for the ACLU. Then as a result of an apparent family crisis, Titus made a dramatic conversion to Christ in the last weekend of July 1975. From that point onward this attorney only saw the law through a theocratic lens. He left his mainstream tenured law professor position at the University of Oregon and signed to teach at Oral Roberts University. After a few years of that he moved over to become the dean of the law school that became Regent University, which operated under the eye of none other than Pat Robertson.

Two factoids here before I continue. Titus was born in Oregon, so add that to my PNW trivia list. Second, Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson himself was a third party Vice-Presidential candidate, in 1992 with Billy Joe Clegg in the Loyal USA Party-- although Pat probably did not give his permission to be on the ticket.

Onward.

In the previous two or so years leading up to the 1996 election, Titus had made headlines for being forced out of his job at Regent University which sparked protests from students and faculty alike. On the administration/Robertson side, it was said Titus was "too radical" [!!!], an autocrat in the classroom who had a low tolerance for free discussion and that his extremist reputation and presence might hurt the school's chances of being accredited. On the Titus side, he said he was defamed by being portrayed as a white supremacist, conspired against, and had is professional life wrecked. Titus filed a suit for $12.5 million. Robertson and company settled out of court a day before the trial was set, during the heat of the election in Aug. 1996. How much of this Right wing Christian in-house cause célèbre was a factor in Titus' selection as a running-mate I do not know and cannot guess.

Phillips and Titus were both residents of Virginia, which would have posed a Constitutional entanglement in the event of their victory.

Phillips won 184,820 popular votes (0.19%). About two thirds of that was with Titus. On the ballot in 27 states the Phillips/Titus ticket had their strongest showings in: Missouri 0.53%, Idaho 0.45%, Wisconsin 0.40%, Utah 0.39%, Alaska 0.38%, Nevada and New York 0.37% each, Kansas 0.33%, Nebraska 0.28%, New Hampshire 0.27%, Rhode Island 0.26%, Maine and Oregon 0.25% each.

Election history:
1999 - Constitution Party nomination for President - defeated

Other occupations: attorney, author, Special Assistant United States Attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, law professor, regional director with the American Civil Liberties Union, radio host

Notes:
If Titus had won the 1999 Constitution Party Presidential nomination, his choice for a potential
 running-mate was reported to have been [Washington State trivia alert!!!] Ellen Craswell.
"God is the source of law and liberty. If there is no law, there is no liberty."--Herbert Titus.
Drafted the Constitution Restoration Act of 2005 with Alabama Judge Roy Moore.

Rufus Edward Shackelford

Rufus Edward Shackelford, March 6, 1926 (Wauchula, Fla.) - June 17, 1992 (Manatee, Fla.)

VP candidate for American Party (aka Americanist Party aka Independent aka American Constitution Party) (1976)

Running mate with nominee: Thomas Jefferson Anderson (1910-2002)
Popular vote: 158,724 (0.19%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

By the 1976 election the American Party and the American Independent Party were two separate political entities, both claiming to be the rightful philosophical heir to George Wallace's 1968 significant third party effort.

The 1976 American Party convention was an unenthusiastic, sparsely attended event according to news accounts. Continuing the John Birch Society trajectory as set by 1972 Presidential nominee John G. Schmitz, the Party's 1976 top pick was the old 1972 running mate, Tom Anderson. Some of the Party faithful wanted Anderson and company to wait and see if Ronald Reagan would be the Republican choice or if George Wallace would be the Democratic standard bearer so they could endorse one of those two. But Anderson wouldn't have it. He wanted to run.

The VP choice was Rufus E. Shackelford, a very wealthy tomato grower from Wauchula, Fla. with operations in California and Texas. He owned his own plane and the size of his pocketbook probably helped in the selection process which was not an unusual practice for several minor parties. This was the only time Shackelford had ever run for public office.

Shackelford was "born a Democrat" and then became a Republican before joining the American Party in 1969.

His stump speeches pulled no punches:

This may sound corny, but I have always felt very close to the Constitution and those two parties have gotten away from it. That's why I belong to the American Party. I find that the other parties are alright to a point. But after you leave the local and state level and get them to Washington, they're the same. You've got Socialism A and Socialism B. We're bogged down in the bureaucratic sense of socialism.

This country is financially, morally and spiritually bankrupt, and all due to the foolishness of the Democrats and the Republicans.

Not many people know this, but it's a fact. The Republicans and Democrats alike are governed and looked after by a single organization, the Council on Foreign Relations. And it's because of this organization the willingness of the two political groups that this country is in the mess it's in today.

The Commies are desperately trying to destroy the very fibre of this nation through the destruction of the Christian concept, and I will not stand for it.

I feel that Henry Kissinger is one of the most unqualified and evilest men in the White House today. How can a man who doesn't even have a complete control of the English language try to solve our foreign problems? I'll tell you this right now, I will have nothing to do with this man.

On Lester Maddox and the American Independent Party: He (Maddox) has no organization. He's a populist movement. We are not a movement. We are a political party and we've got some 700 candidates running for office in this country.

The 1976 American Party platform included: opposition to abortion and euthanasia, dramatically scale back government commercial regulations, support capital punishment, no court plea bargaining for criminals, no federal day care centers, encourage nuclear and solar power, oppose the Equal Rights Amendment, oppose any form of gun control, oppose socialized medicine, abolish the Federal Reserve, oppose quota systems in employment, eliminate public welfare, abolish foreign aid, no detente with Communist states, keep the Panama Canal, remove the United States from the United Nations.

On Election Day the American Party placed 6th, right on the heels of the American Independent and Libertarian parties with all three in a tight 0.19% - 0.21% range. Anderson/Shackelford were on the ballot or had recorded write-ins in 28 states. Consistent with their 1972 results, the John Birch Society-inspired American Party had their strongest support in the Far West: Utah 2.45%, Montana 1.76%, and North Dakota 1.24%. Other states where they, relatively speaking, did well: Virginia 0.98%, Mississippi 0.87%, Kentucky 0.71%, Minnesota 0.70%, Shackelford's Florida 0.68%, and Indiana 0.63%. Anderson actually beat Maddox, both of them write-ins, in the latter's home state of Georgia.

Immediately after the election Shackelford expressed gratitude that Carter had won over Ford because the Georgia Governor would be "the most closely watched man in history" and his inexperience would mean he would certainly face stumbling blocks in getting his "socialist program" through Congress. Shackelford also made a prediction that over time revealed his strength was not in punditry: "Anybody who sees the Republican party as being conservative is crazy. The Republican party is a tool of Nelson Rockefeller and the Ripon Society and will be four years from now despite what columnist Jack Anderson says about Ronald Reagan reorganizing the party."

Other occupations: soldier (WWII), President of 4 Star Tomato

Election history: none

Buried: New Hope Baptist Cemetery (Wauchula, Fla.)

Notes:
Baptist, born-again Christian.
In 1977 Shackleford was endorsed by the American Party leadership in California for President in
 1980.
Financially backed NH Gov. Meldrim Thomson's short-lived 1980 bid for President as a third party
 nominee.
Was a member of Democrats for a Better Government in 1964, an anti-LBJ group.
Earliest Presidential election with a Florida-born VP on the ticket.
His obituaries had no mention of his 1976 VP run.