Michelle Marie Tidball

 

Michelle Marie Tidball, January 1, 1963 (San Diego County, Calif.) -

VP candidate for Birthday Party (aka Non Affiliated aka Independent aka Unaffiliated aka No Party) (2020)

Running mate with nominee: Kanye Omari West (b. 1977)
Popular vote: 71,079 (0.04%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Entertainer Kanye West, who had been identified as a pro-Trump Christian conservative in recent years, announced he was running for President on July 4, 2020. Giving his address as Cody, Wyo., he filed with the FEC under the Birthday Party on July 16, 2020. His running mate was also from Cody, a Biblical life coach, dental office worker, and self-proclaimed servant of God named Michelle Tidball.

Tidball had an autobiography on her commercial webpage that had been removed by the time of the campaign--

I had my first encounter with God as six months old when my mother awoke to find that I was slipping away into a crib death. In a hospital tent God first visited me and spoke life and destiny which I can still recall today. My childhood consisted of visitations and atmospheric encounters. Being raised in the church I loved God, encountered Him, but wanted to know more. At seventeen I had an encounter in the heavenly realms and made a decision to serve Him all the days of my life. The first thing God did was teach me about His Sabbath, Feasts, and Word!  I began walking in His cycles and began to know and understand.

I have various degrees in mental health and criminal justice. I worked as a mental health therapist for ten years and then shifted into life coaching. This seemed a good transition helping people get “unstuck” in their lives using biblical principles and prophetic insight. I use this as well to help sons who are “stuck” and are not encountering God as they were designed to.

I have been involved in almost all aspects of ministry including speaking, pastoring, prayer, teaching, and the most time spent in bringing deliverance to those who are in bondage. My heart has always been to walk in the fullness of sonship and to bring others into manifesting their sonship – to be about His business and see the completion of things He mandated before the foundations of the world.

I look forward to bringing the word with experience and practical counsel on walking as brilliant sons manifested upon the earth!

Shalom!

Michelle

For the most part Tidball remained elusive to the media and took little part in the electioneering.

West's official platform was released on his campaign website--

Kanye West Presidential Platform

1. Restore faith and revive our Constitutional commitment to freedom of religion and the free exercise of one’s faith, demonstrated by restoring prayer in the classroom including spiritual foundations.

We will not hide the truth from our children, but will declare to the next generation His praises and wonder. Psalm 78:4

2. Restore the sound national economy. Reduce household debt and student loan debt.

God has plans to give us hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

3. Provide leadership to restructure our country’s education system to serve the most at-risk and vulnerable populations allowing the widest possible range of educational and vocational paths to job opportunities and career success.

Direct your children on the right path. Proverbs 22:6

4. Maintain a strong national defense, fully prepared, but not so quick to tie up our country’s young men and women in foreign quagmires that do not advance our national interest, and which last for decades.

Through God we shall do valiantly. Psalm 60:12

5. Reform the legal system to provide true justice, equitable for all citizens, regardless of race or ability to defend oneself in court. Recognize the disparity in verdicts and prison sentences, caused by the lack of financial resources or legal assistance.

There will not be differing weights and differing measures. Proverbs 20:10

6. Reform the approach to policing in a manner that treats all Americans the same, regardless of race, color, or ethnicity. Refocus police forces on real crime. Eliminate federal sentencing guidelines that tie the hands of judges, resulting in ridiculous sentences for the most minor offenses.

We will speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. Proverbs 31:8

7. Take care of the environment, diligently pursuing clean air and water as a national security priority and making renewables top priority.

The past is forgotten and everything can be new 2 Corinthians 5:17
8. Ensure that we always place Americans’ best interest first and foremost in dealing with foreign affairs. We must project strength, not aggression. We want trust, but we must also verify. We want fair trade, not one-sided deals that hurt American workers.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Matthew 5:9

9. Support faith-based groups to provide vital local services, giving communities a shared purpose in government.

We will provide ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works Hebrews 10:24

10. Creativity and the Arts can be an important source of innovation and development of other national strengths and resources.

He has given them skill in all kinds of work done. Exodus 35:35

As the campaign began it was apparent West knew a lot more about how to gain publicity than he did about the basic workings of government. On July 8 he had a long interview with Forbes which was used a reference point until Election Day. Some quotes--

I would run as a Republican if Trump wasn’t there. I will run as an independent if Trump is there.

Trump is the closest president we’ve had in years to allowing God to still be part of the conversation.

One of the main reasons I wore the red hat as a protest to the segregation of votes in the Black community. Also, other than the fact that I like Trump hotels and the saxophones in the lobby.

One time I talked to Jared Kushner, who was saying, ‘We don’t have Black leaders, we just have hustlers.’ Why? Because they killed all the Black leaders.

That is a form of racism and white supremacy and white control to say that all Black people need to be Democrat and to assume that me running is me splitting the vote. All of that information is being charged up on social media platforms by Democrats. And Democrats used to tell me, the same Democrats have threatened me. . . . The reason why this is the first day I registered to vote is because I was scared. I was told that if I voted on Trump my music career would be over. I was threatened into being in one party. I was threatened as a celebrity into being in one party. I was threatened as a Black man into the Democratic party. And that’s what the Democrats are doing, emotionally, to my people. Threatening them to the point where this white man can tell a Black man if you don’t vote for me, you’re not Black.

Let’s see if the appointing is at 2020 or if it’s 2024—because God appoints the president. If I win in 2020 then it was God’s appointment. If I win in 2024 then that was God’s appointment.

It’s so many of our children that are being vaccinated and paralyzed. . . . So when they say the way we’re going to fix Covid is with a vaccine, I’m extremely cautious. That’s the mark of the beast. They want to put chips inside of us, they want to do all kinds of things, to make it where we can’t cross the gates of heaven. I'm sorry when I say they, the humans that have the Devil inside them. And the sad thing is that, the saddest thing is that we all won’t make it to heaven, that there’ll be some of us that do not make it. Next question.

God just gave me the clarity and said it’s time. You know I was out there, ended up in the hospital, people were calling me crazy. I'm not crazy. Between all of the influences and the positions that we can be put in as musicians—you go on tour, you put out all these albums, and you look up and you don’t have any money in your account. It can drive you crazy, through all of that I was looking crazy because it wasn’t the time. Now it’s time. And we’re not going crazy, we’re going Yeezy, it’s a whole ‘notha level now. N-O-T-H-A.

I don’t know if I would use the word ‘policy’ for the way I would approach things. I don’t have a policy when I went to Nike and designed Yeezy and went to Louis and designed a Louis Vuitton at the same time. It wasn’t a policy, it was a design. We need to innovate the design to be able to free the mind at this time.

A lot of Africans do not like the movie [Black Panther] and representation of themselves in…Wakanda. But I’m gonna use the framework of Wakanda right now because it’s the best explanation of what our design group is going to feel like in the White House…That is a positive idea: you got Kanye West, one of the most powerful humans—I’m not saying the most because you got a lot of alien-level superpowers and it’s only collectively that we can set it free. Let’s get back to Wakanda . . . like in the movie in Wakanda when the king went to visit that lead scientist to have the shoes wrap around her shoes. Just the amount of innovation that can happen, the amount of innovation in medicine—like big pharma—we are going to work, innovate, together. This is not going to be some Nipsey Hussle being murdered, they’re doing a documentary, we have so many soldiers that die for our freedom, our freedom of information, that there is a cure for AIDS out there, there is going to be a mix of big pharma and holistic.

West had registered to vote for the first time in his life at the same time he announced. Even with the backing of Elon Musk and several Republican operatives, West's attempt to gain ballot access in several states was something of a debacle. Missed deadlines and suspicious petition signatures were part of the problem.

The candidate found himself frequently defending his campaign against charges that he was either in the race for commercial self-promotion, or, was a Trump-backed ringer designed to draw votes away from Biden.

There was also a weird sideshow that began in mid-August--

The far Right and Christian-based American Independent Party in California, which had nominated Trump/Pence in 2016, chose Rocky De La Fuente as their nominee, who was already the nominee of the Alliance and Reform parties. But De La Fuente's running-mate Darcy Richardson was bumped as the VP and replaced with Kanye West. Apparently this VP choice was accomplished without input from any of the nominees. De La Fuente said, "I was not consulted to see if I wanted Mr. West as my running mate ... Obviously, we're a weird—and I wanted Mr. Richardson as my running mate—but it was their decision and their decision only."

De La Fuente had entered the AIP primary in Mar. 2020, but came in second to Phil Collins, who was also the Prohibition Party nominee for President.

The Independent Political Report quoted Darcy Richardson--

“Please let Rocky know that if he runs with the unstable, bi-polar Trump-loving Kanye West in California that I will withdraw as his vice-presidential running mate nationally,” Richardson declared in a text message to [AIP official Mark] Seidenberg earlier today. “I’ve spent my entire adult life battling the duopoly and certainly DO NOT want my name associated with a candidacy that peripherally includes a Trump/GOP plant like the unhinged rapper….Bill Shearer must be rolling over in his grave.”

It should be noted that Richardson did remain in the race, or at that was my impression when I posted our interview Oct. 6, 2020. In it he said--

Rocky and I are on the ballot in Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vermont.  We also hope to be official write-in candidates in a couple of dozen states.

Rocky is also on the ballot in populous California where --- much to my chagrin --- he's paired with unhinged, pro-Trump rapper Kanye West on the American Independent Party ticket, a remnant of segregationist George Wallace's 1968 presidential campaign.

https://thirdpartysecondbananas.blogspot.com/2020/10/darcy-richardson-2020-vp-alliance-party.html

West was also not pleased with being nominated VP, calling the AIP "deceitful" and issued a statement that included, "I am campaigning to be the next president of our great country — not vice president ... The political party in California that listed my name as its VP candidate has done so without my knowledge ... Californians, I ask for your vote for president and urge you to write in ‘Kanye West.’"

The De La Fuente/West ticket placed 5th out of the 6 positions on the California ballot with 0.34% of the vote in that state. It was by far De La Fuente's largest bloc of votes nationally.

Back to the Birthday Party vote tally-- West was on the ballot in a dozen states and registered as a write-in a dozen more. His strongest results: Utah 0.48%, Idaho 0.42%, Oklahoma 0.36%, Arkansas and Tennessee and Vermont 0.34% each, Kentucky 0.30%, Mississippi 0.28%, Colorado 0.25%. Amazingly, the West/Tidnall ticket finished in 7th place, ahead of several longtime third parties such as the Constitution and Socialist Workers parties.

West has been teasing a run for 2024.

Election history: none

Other occupations: therapist, life coach, dental officer worker, pastor

Notes:
She has had numerous surnames over the years but Tidball seems to be her name at birth.

Darcy George Richardson

 

Darcy George Richardson, December 6, 1955 (Pittsburgh, Penn.) -  

VP candidate for Alliance Party (aka Independent aka Independent Republican aka Reform Party of the United States of America aka Natural Law Party aka Independence Party) (2020)

Running mate with nominee: Roque De La Fuente Guerra (b. 1954)
Popular vote: 28,098 (0.02%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Perennial candidate Rocky De La Fuente had an interesting year in 2020. He initially ran for the Republican Presidential nomination and at the same time entered the Republican primary for the 21st congressional district in California. In the latter race, his son was running in the primary as a Democrat. In all of these cases, victory proved elusive.

Although De La Fuente had initially filed with the FEC as a Republican on May 16, 2019 he went on to gain the Presidential nomination of the Alliance Party on Apr. 25, 2020. On June 20, 2020, the Reform Party also nominated De La Fuente, just as they had in 2016. The Natural Law Party jumped on board and backed his candidacy as well. His 2020 running-mate in each of these cases was Darcy Richardson.

Richardson has a long history with third parties, both as a candidate, political operative, and historian. He is the author of A Nation Divided: The 1968 Presidential Campaign (2002) as well as several works on the history of third parties in US politics. I must say I have consulted his research several times in the course of constructing this blog.

Richardson's fascinating career has included working with Eugene McCarthy during the former US Senator's final two runs for the Presidency in 1988 and 1992. Darcy was the National Chair of The New Democrats during that same time period. He has been a consistent champion and activist for challenging the Republican/Democratic duopoly. In 2018 he was the Reform Party's nominee for Governor of Florida. On July 15, 2019 he had filed with the FEC for President as a Reform Party candidate, but later withdrew as other options surfaced.

More than any other person in my generation, Richardson's political journey is basically the history of third parties in late 20th/early 21st century America. No doubt I am missing a few entities here, he has also been linked as candidate or campaign worker with the Democratic Party, Citizens Party, Consumer Party, New Democrat, Boston Tea Party, Reform Party of the United States of America, Peace and Freedom Party, just plain Independent, Alliance Party, Socialist Party of the United States of America, Independent Republican, Independence Party, Natural Law Party, and Minnesota Progressives. It is possible he holds the record in this regard among third party VPs.

Although the Alliance Party was a new entity it was comprised of several older political parties now operating under one name. The Party's website offered a summary of their genealogy--

How the Alliance Formed

America’s growing dissatisfaction with a failing, polarizing two-party system and recognizing there is strength in numbers and a deep desire to put people and country over politics and greed, eleven independent political parties merged under one banner - The Alliance Party.

On October 14, 2018, in Denver, Colorado, three political parties - the American Moderates Party, the Modern Whig Party and the American Party of South Carolina - agreed to merge to create The Alliance Party.  On January 4, 2019, the Alliance Party officially registered with the Federal Elections Commission.

The following parties merged into the Alliance after the merger of the original three.

    Independence Party of Minnesota (2019)
    American Alliance Party (2019)
    Independent Party of Connecticut (2020)
    American Delta Party (2020)

Prior to the 2018 meeting, six independent parties had merged into the Modern Whig Party between 2008 and 2016.

    USA Party (2008)
    Veterans Party (2008)
    American Centrist Party (2010)
    Center Party (2010)
    National Centrist Party (2011)
    American Moderate Party of California (2016)

Discussions are under way with other independent, grassroots parties and organizations to join the Alliance.

Rather than issuing a platform the Party released a "Manifesto" with a message they viewed as pragmatic and centrist. Instead of picking through this long document, I'll focus on two items that seem to get to the core of their philosophy as it relates to the issues of 2020. First, their requirements in order to be a candidate under their banner, as found in the Nov. 2020 website--

All Alliance candidates are held to high expectations and requirements, because public service by way of elected office is among the highest of callings.

We require, monitor and enforce term limits for all of our federal and state legislative offices.

In addition, we require transparency from candidates when running for office and while serving in office. Requirements for federal and state legislative include fully disclosing all contributions during campaigns and while in office; providing redacted copies of their 1040 personal tax returns from the most recent three years; providing annual disclosure of all income received while in office during the preceding year, including the source and amount.

We expect all Alliance candidates and elected officials to demonstrate civility, honesty, tolerance and humility in their interactions with others. Each candidate enters into a written agreement with the Alliance with regards to these expectations. You may find the State and Federal Agreement HERE, and the Local Agreement HERE. [I did not include hot links here--SW]

We expect all Alliance candidates and elected officials to function as pragmatic problem solvers. Functionally, this requirement means country over party; progress over ideology; with an emphasis on constituent concerns and needs.

The second item I found to be pertinent in regard to the peculiar state of the union in 2020 and the Alliance Party's standpoint came from Richardson's Vice-Presidential nominee acceptance speech on Apr. 25, 2020--

Hello everyone. It’s an honor and a privilege to be addressing the inaugural national convention of the Alliance Party, a party — as fate would have it — emerging on the American political scene in one of our nation’s darkest moments, an uncertain period in which the United States may be facing its greatest challenge in modern history.

The deadly COVID-19 pandemic, which has already claimed more than 53,000 American lives while exposing the inadequacies of the U.S. health care system, coupled with what will almost certainly be an ensuing deep recession or, more likely, a depression from which we are unlikely to soon recover, presents a most unpredictable future for all of mankind.

As national chairman James Rex — I love Jim, he’s great — has eloquently pointed out, the twin crises facing this country demonstrates just how ill-prepared the special interest-​dominated duopoly was in preparing for the kind of pandemic the country is now facing. Knowing that the kaleidoscopic impacts of climate change multiplies the threats of infectious diseases, and given the SARS, the Zika virus, MERS and Ebola outbreaks in recent decades and the very real possibility of a more widespread global pandemic in the near future, both parties share in the blame for this country’s unforgivable lack of preparedness.

As Jim has said repeatedly, the United States had ample warnings — decades, actually — yet our leaders had done little or nothing to prepare the country for the kind of pandemic we’re now tragically experiencing. How pathetic that the United States, once the manufacturing marvel of the world, had to rely on life-saving ventilators, masks and other basic Personal Protective Equipment from counties like China and South Korea at the outset of this deadly crisis.

Making matters worse, President Trump squandered at least eight weeks at the ​beginning of this health crisis calling the coronavirus a “hoax” — and that was only four months after he shuttered the U.S. Agency for International Development’s PREDICT program, which was responsible for identifying and combating new emerging viruses. The President’s slash-and-burn approach to the scientific wing of the federal government also includes trying repeatedly —and sometimes with success — to cut funding for the CDC’s unit for fighting global pandemics. Shame on him.

But the Democrats, who have been reduced to second-guessing the Republicans in recent years, also share in the blame. They, too, have neglected science and research as federal funding for basic research in these critical areas has shrunk markedly over the past two decades during Democratic and Republican administrations alike. The Democrats controlled the House for half that period and, likewise, held a working majority in the U.S. Senate for ten of those twenty years.

​The forthcoming campaign will undoubtedly be a difficult one, but I am deeply honored and humbled to be part of this much-needed effort. I know that Rocky — the favorite son of all fifty states and of every country that still looks to the United States for leadership — feels the same way.

Following a steady forty-year decline, one in which our middle class was virtually hollowed out through misguided trade deals such as NAFTA, the Alliance Party, in my view, is the party this country has been waiting for — a party determined to end, once and for all, the hyper-partisanship and extreme polarization of American politics and, most importantly, a party capable of returning the United States to its historic, independent and positive role as a force for good around the globe.

We should once again be a beacon to the rest of the world, especially at a time when most nations are gripped with fear and uncertainty. We’re Americans, after all.

This is our moment. Let the Bloodless Revolution of the year Two Thousand and ​Twenty begin, ushering in a new and creative approach to the myriad issues facing our country which will once again make the United States of America a Gold Medalist nation in education, the environment and a world-class health care system while creating an innovative economy for the 21st Century that works for everyone, not just the investor class, or the so-called one percent.

Thank you and keep the faith. And stay safe everybody.

Something unexpected happened to the campaign on Aug. 15, 2020.  

The far Right and Christian-based American Independent Party in California, which had nominated Trump/Pence in 2016, chose De La Fuente as their nominee. But Richardson was bumped as the VP and replaced with Kanye West. Apparently this VP choice was accomplished without input from any of the nominees. De La Fuente said, "I was not consulted to see if I wanted Mr. West as my running mate ... Obviously, we're a weird— and I wanted Mr. Richardson as my running mate— but it was their decision and their decision only."

De La Fuente had entered the AIP primary in Mar. 2020, but came in second to Phil Collins, who was also the Prohibition Party nominee for President.

The Independent Political Report quoted Darcy Richardson--

“Please let Rocky know that if he runs with the unstable, bi-polar Trump-loving Kanye West in California that I will withdraw as his vice-presidential running mate nationally,” Richardson declared in a text message to [AIP official Mark] Seidenberg earlier today. “I’ve spent my entire adult life battling the duopoly and certainly DO NOT want my name associated with a candidacy that peripherally includes a Trump/GOP plant like the unhinged rapper….Bill Shearer must be rolling over in his grave.”

It should be noted that Richardson did remain in the race, or at that was my impression when I posted our interview Oct. 6, 2020. In it he said--

Rocky and I are on the ballot in Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vermont.  We also hope to be official write-in candidates in a couple of dozen states.

Rocky is also on the ballot in populous California where --- much to my chagrin --- he's paired with unhinged, pro-Trump rapper Kanye West on the American Independent Party ticket, a remnant of segregationist George Wallace's 1968 presidential campaign.

https://thirdpartysecondbananas.blogspot.com/2020/10/darcy-richardson-2020-vp-alliance-party.html

West was also not pleased with being nominated VP, calling the AIP "deceitful" and issued a statement that included, "I am campaigning to be the next president of our great country — not vice president ... The political party in California that listed my name as its VP candidate has done so without my knowledge ... Californians, I ask for your vote for president and urge you to write in ‘Kanye West.’"

The De La Fuente/West ticket placed 5th out of the 6 positions on the California ballot with 0.34% of the vote in that state. It was by far De La Fuente's largest bloc of votes nationally.

The ticket with Richardson as the VP made the ballot in 14 states and registered write-ins in at least 5 more. The strongest results (with party listing) were in Rhode Island 0.18% (Alliance) -- Minnesota 0.17% (Independence/Alliance) -- Idaho 0.17% (Independent) -- Maine 0.14% (Alliance) -- Arkansas 0.11% (Independent).

Election history:
1979 - Cheltenham Township Commission, Montgomery County, Penn. (Democrat) - defeated
1980 - Pennsylavania State Auditor General (Consumer Party) - defeated
1983 - Cheltenham Township Commission, Montgomery County, Penn. (Democrat) - defeated
1985 - Cheltenham Township Finance Officer, Montgomery County, Penn. (Democrat) - defeated
1988 - US Senate (Penn.) (Consumer Party) - defeated
1990 - US House of Representatives (Penn.) (Democratic) - primary - withdrew
1990 - US House of Representatives (Penn.) (Independent) - defeated
1991 - US House of Representatives (Penn.) (Consumer Party) - special election - replaced by party
1992 - Independent Voters Primary (Mass.) - defeated
2010 - Lt. Governor of Florida (No Party Affiliation) - defeated
2012 - Democratic nomination for US President - defeated
2012 - Reform Party of the United States of America nomination for US President - defeated
2016 - Reform Party of the United States of America nomination for US President - defeated
2018 - Florida House of Representatives (Reform Party of the United States of America) - withdrew
2018 - Governor of Florida (Reform Party of the United States of America) - defeated
2020 - Reform Party of the United States of America nomination for US President - withdrew

Other occupations: steamship industry worker, manufacturing manager for an industrial heat treating equipment firm, financial analyst and operations manager, historian, author, campaign manager, political party executive

Notes:
Winner of the 1988 election was H. John Heinz III.

Kanye Omari West

 

Kanye Omari West, June 8, 1977 (Atlanta, Ga.) -

VP candidate for Independent (2016)
VP candidate for American Independent Party (2020)
VP candidate for Independent (2020)

Running mate with nominee (2016): Ryan Higa (b. 1990)
Running mate with nominee (2020): Roque De La Fuente Guerra (b. 1954)
Running mate with nominee (2020): Sammy Kenyatte Belton (b. 1979)
Popular vote (2016): ? (0.00%)
Popular vote (2020 : AIP): 60,160 (0.04%)
Popular vote (2020 : Independent): 0 (0.00%)
Electoral vote (2016, 2020): 0/538

The campaign (2016):

Comedian Ryan Higa, a major personality on Youtube, had run for President in 2012 in a mock campaign. He repeated the joke in 2016 ("Vote for me and all of your wildest dreams will be dreams") but this time named a running-mate, Kanye West. Well, the only clue to that is a brief mention in a video where Higa refers to West as "my future Vice-President."

No disrespect is intended here, but I am not in West's target demographic as far as his entertainment career goes. My first real exposure to him was in 2005 when, while standing beside comedian Mike Myers, he stated "George Bush doesn't care about black people" in the course of raising funds for relief of Hurricane Katrina victims.

Other than that I am dimly aware he is connected with the Kardashians (who I also know almost nothing about), my main source of information being the covers of gossip tabloids on display while I wait in line at the grocery store. Also that he has been struggling with mental health challenges and is prone to making controversial statements. And, I can see he has large following and is considered a gifted, brilliant musical artist.

West the politician has been erratic. Over time he has supported Democrats and Republicans, changing alliances in a dramatic fashion. In Sept. 2015 West announced he was planning to run for President in 2020. In an interview with Vanity Fair, West stated--

    "I sit in clubs and I’m like, Wow, I’ve got five years before I go and run for office and I’ve got a lot of research to do, I’ve got a lot of growing up to do. My dad has two masters degrees. My mom has a PhD, she used to work at Operation PUSH. Somehow the more and more creative I get, the closer and closer I get to who I was as a child. When I was a child, I was holding my mom’s hand at Operation PUSH. I think it’s time. Rap is great. It’s fun. It’s fun to be a rock star, and I’ll never not be one I guess, but there’ll be a point where I become my mother’s child. With all the things I’ve done that people would consider to be accomplishments, what’s the point where I become the person that Donda and Raymond West raised? My parents’ child."

The campaign (2020 : AIP):

As good as his word, West did indeed run for President in 2020. I'll cover that campaign when I profile his running-mate. Meanwhile--

Perennial candidate Rocky De La Fuente had an interesting year in 2020. He initially ran for the Republican Presidential nomination and at the same time entered the Republican primary for the 21st congressional district in California. In the latter race, his son was running in the primary as a Democrat. In all of these cases, victory proved elusive.

De La Fuente went on to gain the Presidential nomination of the Alliance Party on Apr. 25, 2020. On June 20, 2020, the Reform Party also nominated De La Fuente, just as they had in 2016. His 2020 running-mate was Darcy Richardson.

Then something unexpected happened on Aug. 15, 2020.  

The far Right and Christian-based American Independent Party in California, which had nominated Trump/Pence in 2016, chose De La Fuente as their nominee. But Richardson was bumped as the VP and replaced with Kanye West. Apparently this VP choice was accomplished without input from any of the nominees. De La Fuente said, "I was not consulted to see if I wanted Mr. West as my running mate ... Obviously, we're a weird—and I wanted Mr. Richardson as my running mate—but it was their decision and their decision only."

De La Fuente had entered the AIP primary in Mar. 2020, but came in second to Phil Collins, who was also the Prohibition Party nominee for President.

The Independent Political Report quoted Darcy Richardson--

“Please let Rocky know that if he runs with the unstable, bi-polar Trump-loving Kanye West in California that I will withdraw as his vice-presidential running mate nationally,” Richardson declared in a text message to [AIP official Mark] Seidenberg earlier today. “I’ve spent my entire adult life battling the duopoly and certainly DO NOT want my name associated with a candidacy that peripherally includes a Trump/GOP plant like the unhinged rapper….Bill Shearer must be rolling over in his grave.”

It should be noted that Richardson did remain in the race, or at that was my impression when I posted our interview Oct. 6, 2020. In it he said--

Rocky and I are on the ballot in Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vermont.  We also hope to be official write-in candidates in a couple of dozen states.

Rocky is also on the ballot in populous California where --- much to my chagrin --- he's paired with unhinged, pro-Trump rapper Kanye West on the American Independent Party ticket, a remnant of segregationist George Wallace's 1968 presidential campaign.

https://thirdpartysecondbananas.blogspot.com/2020/10/darcy-richardson-2020-vp-alliance-party.html

West was also not pleased with being nominated VP, calling the AIP "deceitful" and issued a statement that included, "I am campaigning to be the next president of our great country — not vice president ... The political party in California that listed my name as its VP candidate has done so without my knowledge ... Californians, I ask for your vote for president and urge you to write in ‘Kanye West.’"

The De La Fuente/West ticket placed 5th out of the 6 positions on the California ballot with 0.34% of the vote in that state. It was by far De La Fuente's largest bloc of votes nationally.

The campaign (2020 : Independent):

Sammy Belton, a hair stylist and musician of Milwaukee, Wis. filed as an Independent for US President with the FEC on July 25, 2020. An online petition he created provided a thesis statement for his campaign--

I Sammy K. Belton must be President of United States of America in order to bring justice to the families of African American men and women who lost their lives due to unethical conduct of law enforcement while yet honoring the noble officers who uphold the code of conduct with a significant raise in salary for upright law enforcement with more severe repercussions for infractions. I'd declare reparations and free healthcare for African Americans. Most importantly the constitution will reflect the biblical constitution of God.

His electioneering was chiefly on social media. In October he included Kanye West as his VP, although it is doubtful West himself knew about the honor or would have agreed to it. Some samples from Facebook (in many cases accompanied by a video presentation)--

July 20, 2020
We don’t own the music
The First Black President to follow God’s Laws
Vote Sammy Belton for President 2020
Sign the petition Now
Words of Wisdom & Warning
Conquering Corona Through Submission To Jesus Christ the Son of God & Savior to All Mankind

Oct. 10, 2020
We don’t own the music
Presidential Address
Make Sure You Write -In Sammy K. Belton for President of The United States
In Jesus Name
Supernatural Energy Aligning All Mankind Unto Christ

Oct. 11, 2020
We don’t own the music and video in background
Presidential Address
African American Jewish Reparation Foundation - $6 Trillion+Owed to African Americans
Celebrity Status Gospel Live
Fall of Man
Syncretic Deification -Taoism Wu Wei The Way 10 Precepts
Forbidden Fruit
Covid 19 In relation to This Election and God speaking to Wisconsin & America Through Me
Our Requirement to Establish The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth
Vote Sammy K. Belton for President of The United States In Jesus Name!
Kanye West for Vice President
“Don’t keep blaming white people and police for our disobedience to God as Black People “
As we unite in Christ as African Americans the world will follow God!

Oct. 13, 2020
We don’t own the music and video in background
True Birth of Jesus Christ 3/19
COVID-19- March 19, 2020
Therefore you are experiencing the coming of Jesus Christ
Use wisdom and follow Me as I Am being lead By The Holy Spirit to save our nation world and universe alike in Jesus Name Amen!
Forgiveness for our universal ignorance of who we are as mankind!
Vote Sammy K. Belton for President of The United States
Vice Presidential Elect-Kanye West

Oct. 30, 2020
We don’t own the music and video in background
Presidential Address
Attention Wisconsin & America Alike
Especially Local Christian Leaders & Assemblies
Judgement to those who don’t accept God’s Messenger to liberate His People
Warning ⚠️ to The Church ⛪️
Vote Sammy K. Belton for President of The United States 🇺🇸
VP CANDIDATE KANYE WEST
IN JESUS NAME NAME AMEN 🙏
VIDEO RELEASE TONIGHT ALL SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKS

Nov. 2, 2020
We don’t own the music and video in background
Presidential Address
Apocalyptic Potentials - Preparedness for Kingdom Citizens
The necessity of Believers in Christ to United and Trained to protect each other
Vote Sammy K. Belton for President of The United States VP CANDIDATE KANYE WEST
IF YOU BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST YOU MUST VOTE FOR Sammy Belton TRUST GOD!
Shalom

Nov. 3, 2020
We don’t own the music and video in background
Presidential Address
Polygyny-Kingdom Marriage
Purification of Our Family Lifestyle
Benefits for our children men and women to break the cycle of disfunction
Restoring our African Edenic Kingdom Lifestyle
Importance of Unity Upon Armageddon
Planning Our Return Back to Africa- Dual Citizenship
Donate to cash app $Pastorkash100
Vote Sammy K. Belton for President ofThe United States 🇺🇸 VP CANDIDATE KANYE WEST
Shalom

Belton did not appear to be a registered write-in in any state, so no votes were reported.

Election history:
2020 - US President (Birthday Party) - defeated

Other occupations: musical artist, producer, fashion design, Fatburger restaurants, philanthropist, actor

Notes:
West has been teasing a run for President in 2024.

Election Day 2020!

 

The long slog is almost over and tomorrow will be Election Day 2020.

I very much want to express my appreciation for the third party VP candidates who honored this blog with their willingness to take part in informational interviews. Especially I would like to single out Mr. Enrique Ramos of the American Free Soil Party who was the first to agree to an interview and helped get the ball rolling. Also Heather Bradford (Socialist Action), Phil Collins (Prohibition Party), Rudy Reyes (Legal Marijuana Now Party), Amar Patel (American Solidarity Party), Eric Bodenstab (Unity Party of America), Blake Huber and Frank Atwood (Approval Voting Party), John de Graaf (Bread and Roses Party), Henry Jackson (Real Democracy Party), and Darcy Richardson (Alliance Party).  I hope you all found the 2020 campaign to be a positive and enlightening experience.

Not pictured is Edward Leamer, 2016 Independent VP who sat out 2020 but also provided an excellent interview.

Stewart Alexis Alexander

 

Stewart Alexis Alexander, October 1, 1951 (Newport News, Va.) -

VP candidate for Socialist Party of the United States of America (aka Liberty Union Party aka Independent aka Socialist Party USA) (2008)

Running mate with nominee: Brian Patrick Moore (b. 1943)
Popular vote: 6,582 (0.01%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

The top three contenders for the Presidential nomination of the Socialist Party at the 2007 convention were Brian P. Moore, Eric Chester (1996 VP nominee), and Stewart Alexander. The Florida-based Moore won the prize on the third ballot, with Alexander of California granted the running-mate position. Moore and Alexander were also competitors on the California ballot for the Peace and Freedom Party nomination (along with Gloria La Riva and Cynthia McKinney among others) but Ralph Nader emerged as the victor in that one.

Darcy Richardson served as Moore's campaign advisor.

The Moore/Alexander ticket won the coveted ballot line for the Liberty Union Party in Vermont.

The platform was long and cumbersome as per usual. There was special emphasis on ending the military adventures started by the George W. Bush administration as well as the resulting social, civic, and economic negative ripple effect throughout the country.   

In the course of his early campaign for the Presidential nomination, Alexander provided an almost too-much-information mini-biography that included among his struggles the fact he had been briefly jailed in a domestic dispute 2003-2004 in a case where the charges were eventually dropped.

The Party was largely ignored by Big Media until the McCain/Palin ticket bestowed them with a gift. Using tried and true Red-baiting tactics, the Republicans attempted to paint Obama as a "socialist." Suddenly the press wanted to know what a real Socialist thought about this and Moore had a last minute surge of unusually broad coverage for a Left wing third party. This provided him with an opportunity to clearly delineate the differences between the Socialists and the Democrats to a wider audience than usual.

In spite of the media coverage, the popular vote for the SPUSA had declined by more than 4,000 since the previous election. On the ballot in 8 states and registered write-ins in several more, the Moore/Alexander ticket had their best percentages in Ohio and Tennessee (0.05% each), Vermont (0.04%), New Jersey and Wisconsin (0.02% each), Colorado and Iowa (0.01% each).

Election history:
1989 - Mayor of Los Angeles, Calif. (Nonpartisan) - defeated
2006 - Lt. Governor of California (Peace and Freedom Party) - defeated
2007 - Socialist Party of the United States of America nomination for US President - defeated
2008 - Peace and Freedom Party nomination for US President - defeated
2010 - Governor of California (Peace and Freedom Party) - primary - defeated
2012 - Peace and Freedom Party nomination for US President - defeated
2012 - Green Party of the United States nomination for US President - withdrew
2012 - US President (Socialist Party of the United States of America) - defeated

Other occupations: US Air Force Reserve, grocery clerk, contractor, radio talk show host, auto sales, activist with the Florida Consumer Action Network,

Notes:
1989 opponents included Tom Bradley (winner), Maria Elizabeth Munoz.

Darcy Richardson, 2020 VP Alliance Party

 

Darcy Richardson was selected as the 2020 running-mate for Alliance Party nominee Roque "Rocky" De La Fuente. Richardson has a long history with third parties, both as a candidate and political historian. He is the author of A Nation Divided: The 1968 Presidential Campaign (2002) as well as several works on the history of third parties in US politics. I must say I have consulted his research several times this year in the course of constructing this blog.

Richardson's fascinating career has included working with Eugene McCarthy during the former US Senator's final two runs for the Presidency in 1988 and 1992. Darcy was the National Chair of The New Democrats during that same time period. He has been a consistent champion and activist for challenging the Republican/Democratic duopoly. In 2018 he was the Reform Party's nominee for Governor of Florida.

Darcy's blog, Uncovered Politics, is another go-to place for third party and even mainstream coverage. I've consulted his "Time Capsule" section there several times http://www.uncoveredpolitics.com/

The Alliance Party is still fairly new but has a foundation and network from older political parties that have merged. Check out their webpage at: https://www.theallianceparty.com/

[Note: The interview questions were originally posed on May 6, 2020. That was a lifetime ago but rather than start over I am going to proceed because in a weird way it is more interesting by accident]
 
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: Darcy, you and I are almost exactly the same age. I have long regarded the assassination of JFK on Nov. 22, 1963 and the resignation of Nixon on Aug. 9, 1974 to be dramatic event bookends of an unusually volatile era. It is also the range of time where we both politically came of age. How did life in 1963-1974 shape your current world view?

I was only seven years old the day JFK was murdered in Dallas, but I vividly remember watching our black-and-white television set that entire dark and dreary weekend.  My parents were distraught.  It all seemed so unreal, but --- as you mentioned --- the period from Kennedy's assassination on Nov. 22, 1963, to Richard M. Nixon's resignation during the Watergate scandal in Aug. 1974 had a profound impact on many in our generation.  The country lost its innocence during that tragic and tumultuous period, which included the unjust and immoral War in Vietnam, and has never really recovered.  Up 'til then, most Americans respected, if not revered, the presidency, regardless of which party occupied the Oval Office.  That's clearly no longer the case today,.

Q: Your association with former Sen. Eugene McCarthy began when you met him during his independent campaign for President in 1976. I count no less than 28 people who were identified as his running-mates that year, almost all considered stand-ins state by state. That just might be a record. He had a very low regard for the second position on a ticket, quoted in the '76 campaign as saying, "Vice-presidential candidates just clutter up the campaign. We should not ask the country to make two judgments. Everyone knows vice presidents have no influence on presidents once elected. Presidents' wives have much more influence. Perhaps we should have candidates' wives debate."  Now that you are a VP nominee yourself, would you care to comment on McCarthy's statement?

Gene was right.  That's one of the reasons I've consciously played such a low-key role in Rocky De La Fuente's campaign.  It's Rocky's campaign.  

Of course, McCarthy was separated from his wife, Abigail, when he made that crack about President's wives having more influence than the Vice President.  I'm not sure who would have had the most influence on Gene himself if he had been elected as an independent in the year of America's Bicentennial since he had also joked during that campaign that he'd probably have a different First Lady every week.  I miss him.

Q: McCarthy shocked the political world when he endorsed Reagan in 1980. When you later worked for Sen. McCarthy in 1988 and 1992, did that 1980 decision prove to be a campaign liability?

The Reagan endorsement came up a few times in 1988 when I was managing Gene's quixotic third-party bid for the White House on the Philadelphia-based Consumer Party ticket, but it was felt most profoundly when McCarthy, mounting an improbable political comeback, sought his old Senate seat from Minnesota six years earlier, in 1982.  Former Vice President Fritz Mondale's folks brought it up time and again during that year's DFL primary --- a race in which Gene was outspent by a nearly 100-1 margin.  They were relentless and unforgiving, still blaming McCarthy for Hubert Humphrey's narrow loss to Richard Nixon some fourteen years earlier.  They never forgave McCarthy, who had risked his own political career by courageously opposing LBJ and the Vietnam War during the 1968 Democratic primaries, for his belated and tepid endorsement of Humphrey, his former friend and Senate colleague, on the eve of that election.  Unlike McCarthy, Humphrey lusted after the presidency and was even willing to sell his soul by supporting Johnson's illegal war in Vietnam in pursuit of the elusive brass ring.

Q: You have been connected with a variety of political parties over the decades: the Democratic Party, Citizens Party, Consumer Party, Boston Tea Party, Reform Party, Peace and Freedom Party, just plain independent, perhaps others and now the Alliance Party. From what I can ascertain it seems like you have been pretty consistent with your progressive views through all this. Why the political party musical chairs?

My support for the above-mentioned parties --- and a few not listed here --- reflect my commitment to the idea of open politics in this country.  While the Consumer Party will always hold a special place in my heart, I haven't really been excited about a new party until now with the emergence of the centrist-oriented Alliance Party.  If we're ever going to end the hyper-partisanship and extreme polarization that's literally destroying this country and its institutions, it will have to come from an entirely new entity such as the Alliance Party.

Q: And speaking of multiple political parties, it appears the Alliance Party is just that, an alliance of numerous third parties. Can you give us the elevator speech on what the Alliance Party is all about?

The Alliance Party is the most promising new party movement to emerge in this country in decades, perhaps in my lifetime.  One and all, they’re a pretty impressive group and they certainly have the country’s best interests at heart.

Led by national chairman Jim Rex, a former college president and the last Democrat to win a statewide office in South Carolina when he was elected State Superintendent of Education in 2006, the Alliance Party is committed to restoring civility in American politics and governance.

The party's Manifesto should be required reading for every American who intends to cast a ballot in this year's presidential election.

Q: You and Alliance Party Presidential candidate Rocky De La Fuente have considerable experience running for public office and you have also been in the role of campaign manager in the past as well. What challenges and opportunities are there that distinguish the 2020 election season compared to past campaigns?

Well, first and foremost, the COVID-19 pandemic changed everything, making in-person campaigning extremely difficult and dangerous and petition drives virtually impossible.  Rocky and I initially hoped to qualify for the ballot in 35-40 states, but ended up qualifying in fewer than half that number.

Given that this election is rightfully a referendum on the reckless megalomaniac in the White House --- if he's still with us on Nov. 3rd, of course --- this is probably going to be a very lean year for America's nationally-organized third parties.  I don't think anyone, not even the anti-government Libertarian candidate, who is on the ballot in all fifty states and the District of Columbia, will come close to cracking one percent of the vote nationally.   

Hell, Steve, to be perfectly honest, I've seriously considered voting for Biden myself...this nation probably won't survive four more years of Trump.  I mean, he's already responsible for 210,000 deaths --- and counting.

As a nation, we deserve better than a self-obsessed narcissist who is willing to callously sacrifice American lives for his own re-election.  That's precisely what's happening.

Q: In terms of ballot access, where are you hoping the Rocky/Darcy ticket will appear in print, as well as being placed as certified write-ins? Looks like the Alliance Party might also have several other candidates for state and local offices?

Rocky and I are on the ballot in Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vermont.  We also hope to be official write-in candidates in a couple of dozen states.

Rocky is also on the ballot in populous California where --- much to my chagrin --- he's paired with unhinged, pro-Trump rapper Kanye West on the American Independent Party ticket, a remnant of segregationist George Wallace's 1968 presidential campaign.

Q: How would you characterize the demographics of the Alliance Party? Who are the members and where are they coming from?

The party is arguably best organized in South Carolina and Minnesota.  I think the Alliance Party membership reflects the changing nation at-large.  We're thrilled , for instance, to have nominated a first-generation Mexican-American candidate for the presidency.  We're a nation divided and most members --- at least those in leadership positions within the party--- are ex-Democrats or former Republicans who grew sick and tired of the dysfunction in Washington and believe that we can do a better, much better, job in bringing this country together.

Let's face it, we're facing twin crises --- a deadly health pandemic and a deepening economic recession that's threatening to become a full-blown depression --- and nothing is being done to alleviate the widespread suffering in our land.  Nothing is being accomplished.  Millions of our fellow citizens have lost their jobs during this pandemic and are on the verge of being evicted from their apartments or losing their homes to foreclosure and neither party is acting with any sense of urgency.

For starters, where is the promised second stimulus?  That's something every voter should ask themselves when casting their ballots between now and Election Day.

Q: What is going on with the Reform Party these days? I see you dropped the idea of pursuing their Presidential nomination.

While I have many friends in the Reform Party and was enormously proud to be the party's standard-bearer in Florida's hotly-contested 2018 gubernatorial campaign, I'm hoping the party, which admittedly has seen better days, will consider formally merging with the Alliance Party following the current campaign.

Q: Two part question--

1. Do you favor any sort of alternative voting methods of selecting people for public office such as approval voting, range voting, ranked choice voting, or sortition?

I'm a strong proponent of Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV), or what used to be called Instant Runoff Voting.  I advocated Instant Runoff Voting while briefly running for Supervisor of Elections in Duval County in a 2005 special election and Rocky and I will be among five choices on the ballot in Maine, which is instituting Ranked Choice Voting in a presidential election for the first time in American history.  It's time has come.

2. Also, would you favor having the office of Vice-President be offered on the ballot as an individual position not tied to a ticket, so we could maybe vote for a President and Vice-President from two different parties?

You mean, I could vote for Joe Biden and myself?  Hmmm.

Q: In the last three years we have seen a spike in activity of Americans denying their own humanity and rejecting the whole concept of civility, tolerance, and respect as they insult, bash, and deflect blame on others in order to elevate themselves. We see this on Twitter, Facebook, and the highest levels of government. How did we get here and how can we turn that around?

Donald Trump.  Plain and simple.  We're so polarized at this point, I'm not sure we can turn it around anytime soon.  Even if he loses, perhaps especially if he loses, Trump will continue to be a divisive and mean-spirited force in this country for the foreseeable future.

Q: Many thanks for taking part in this project. If you'd like to address any issues my questions did not cover, please feel to add your thoughts here--

Thank you, Steve.  It was my pleasure.

In closing, here are the folks I've supported at the ballot box for Vice President during my lifetime: Sally Wheaton (Eugene McCarthy, 1976); Patrick Lucey (John Anderson, 1980); Geraldine Ferraro (Walter Mondale, 1984); Florence Rice (Eugene McCarthy, 1988); James Stockdale (Ross Perot, 1992); Jo Jorgenson (Harry Browne, 1996); Winona LaDuke (Ralph Nader, 2000); Mary Alice Herbert  (Walt Brown, 2004); Thomas Knapp (Charles Jay, 2008); Cindy Sheehan (Roseanne Barr, 2012); Michael Steinberg (Rocky De La Fuente, 2016).

Many of those names, of course, are as obscure as my own.  Thanks again, Steve.