Willard Dean Watkins

Willard Dean Watkins, February 14, 1931 (Canton, Ohio) -

VP candidate for Prohibition Party (2000)

Running mate with nominee: Earl F. Dodge (1932-2007)
Popular vote: 208 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Earl Dodge was making his fifth run for the Prohibition Party nomination and then the Presidency in 2000. But this time he almost didn't get past Step 1.

Dodge underwent a septuple bypass operation on May 28, 1999 but a month later was active in nabbing the Party's nomination at their convention. 39 Party members were present and a growing anti-Dodge faction had nominated a challenger, Gary Van Horn, a perennial candidate from Utah who had been the American Party VP nominee in 1996 and in 2000 was associated with the Independent American Party. Dodge defeated Van Horn in a close 9-8 vote.

The VP choice was W. Dean Watkins of Tucson, Ariz., a recent Party member with an interesting story. While researching his family history, he investigated the political career of his grandfather, Aaron S. Watkins. The elder Watkins had been the Prohibition Party VP nominee in 1908 and 1912, as well as the Presidential nominee in 1920. He also ran as a Prohibition Party candidate for the US House, US Senate, and Governor of Ohio. Discovering that the Party still existed, the grandson contacted Dodge and soon became the VP choice.

Some in the anti-Dodge faction felt the selection of Watkins was a publicity gimmick and the talents of this retired aeronautical engineer were not being used to full advantage. However, Watkins' precision and thoroughness was employed in his role as the chair of the committee to redraft and overhaul the Party's platform, and he wrote position papers.

As is turned out the 2000 platform changes were mostly cosmetic and it remained as consistently Right wing and bordering on Christian nationalism as it had been for decades. A few of the changes found in the 2000 platform worth noting--

Added under Taxation and Spending: Ending useless programs funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Science Foundation -- Minimizing taxes which threaten private ownership of land and real estate -- Emphasizing excise taxes for the financing of government.

Added under Social Security: allowing workers the option of enrolling in private plans in lieu of Social Security;

At the very end The Alcohol Problem was completely rewritten and new section, Presidential Qualifications was added:

 The Alcohol Problem

Alcohol is still the number one drug problem in the United States. It is a major cause of poverty, traffic crashes, broken homes, juvenile and adult crime, physical and sexual abuse, political corruption, wasted manpower, disability, and premature death. We favor maintaining the nation-wide legal drinking age of 21.

  Historically, the Prohibition Party has led in offering programs of publicity, education, and legislation leading to the prohibition of the manufacturing, distribution, and sale of all alcoholic beverages. We continue to support this stand. Our society already practices prohibition in the form of enacting laws which promote the safety and well being of the society members. We will help Americans to realize that alcohol's harmful effects far outweigh those of all illegal drugs combined. We advocate that all tax monies collected from the sale of alcohol be used in aggressive media and educational campaigns to teach the American public the truth about alcohol. We support local option. We advocate the enactment and enforcement of strong drunk driving laws.

Presidential Qualifications

Leavening the Loaf
 "Nothing doth more hurt to a State than that cunning men pass for wise."
...Francis Bacon, statesman

The qualifications for President stated in the Constitution have to do with age and citizenship. We call attention to the fact that of greater importance are those not so stated referring to moral, intellectual, and spiritual endowments. The President of the United States in his daily life, his home and family relationships, and his official career is expected to typify the finest and best the country can produce. He is the leader of the nation. The moral force and power of his example are immeasurable.

Watkins wrote an essay entitled "Excise Taxes vs Income Taxes" and opened with the thesis statement: "The 2000 Prohibition Party platform advocates using excise taxes to pay for the operating costs of the federal government. It also advocates the abolishment of personal income taxes. Many people think this is a radical stand. However, let us examine the federal tax system ..."

On the ballot only in Dodge's home state of Colorado the Dodge/Watkins ticket placed dead last out of ten with 208 votes, 0.01% of the state total. Nationally they finished 15th out of 16 tickets on the ballot. This would be the worst result ever in the long history of the legitimate wing of America's oldest third party. 

In 2000 Dodge had faced rumblings within the Party, but it would explode into full revolution by the next election. Watkins joined the group that eventually ousted Dodge. In a 2002 article by Ernie Tucker, Watkins expressed his frustration: Concerns over fuzzy finances foamed over in 2000 ... Initially, Watkins supported Dodge's fifth presidential run, but he eventually grew frustrated with his lack of candor. "He's too secretive," Watkins says of Dodge. "His financial reports don't make sense. And there's an appearance of wrongdoing."

And this drama spilled over into the 2004 election.

Election history: none

Other occupations: US Army, Materials Testing Laboratory - Naval Avionics Center, design engineer at Hughes Aircraft Company, 

Notes:
Grew up in Canton, Ohio and Indianapolis, Ind.
Baptist.
Plays the piano and organ.

James Curtis Frazier II

James Curtis Frazier II, December 11, 1955 (Tulsa, Okla.) - 

VP candidate for Constitution Party (aka Independent aka American Independent Party aka Concerned Citzens Party aka Independent American Party aka American Constitution Party aka US Taxpayers Party aka Conservative Party) (2000)

Running mate with nominee: Howard Jay Phillips (1941-2013)
Popular vote: 97,104 (0.09%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

At their convention in Sept. 1999 the US Taxpayers Party changed their name to the Constitution Party (an alternative name that lost the vote was "American Heritage Party") and for the third time nominated Howard Phillips for President. His running-mate was Joe Sobran. US Sen. Bob Smith of New Hampshire had previously sought the US Taxpayers Party nomination for President after failing to gain much traction in the national Republican primaries. But shortly before the USTP convention he declared himself an independent candidate for President. That campaign came to an end quickly and he rejoined the Republican Party, endorsing Bush.

Phillips' chief opponent in securing the nomination was none other than his own 1996 running-mate, Herb Titus. Titus said that if he got the nod he would select (Washington State trivia alert!!!) Ellen Craswell as his VP. More on that later.

The Party platform included: anti-choice on abortion, opposed euthanasia, wanted to abolish the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Reserve, privatize Social Security, restrict legal immigration, promote states' rights, end US involvement in the United Nations-NATO-and World Bank, cutting the federal budget by 75%, eliminating Affirmative Action, and it declared a "full submission and unshakable faith" in Jesus Christ.

VP nominee Sobran was not without controversy. In 1993 he was fired from his position with the National Review by his mentor William F. Buckley with the chief charge being an anti-Semite but with assorted other unpleasantries tossed in. Although denials were made, shortly after the 2000 election Sobran was among the speakers at a Holocaust-denial group, making his earlier protestations somewhat disingenuous.

Sobran took a leave of absence from his newspaper column in order to run. In his Sept. 9, 1999 piece he quipped, "With a little luck I will be inaugurated as your vice president in January 2001. I look forward to presiding over the Senate and attending funerals of world leaders."

Sobran was back in the columns within six months. In early March he wrote: In life we sometimes do have to choose the lesser evil rather than the positive good. This is the basis of armed robbery. Forced to choose between your money and your life, you give the mugger your wallet. But though you walk away with relief that your life was spared, you'd be a fool to feel it was a profitable transaction for you. For conservatives who vote Republican, every election is like that.

By the end of March, Sobran had concluded running for office was more work than he bargained for and withdrew from the race. Sobran was eventually replaced by Dr. J. Curtis Frazier of Missouri.

In May 2000 Phillips indicated he would be willing to step aside as the Presidential nominee in favor of Alan Keyes if the latter wanted it. Keyes, an extremely Right-wing Christian, was making a remarkably resilient campaign in 2000 in the Republican Presidential primaries. But, the switch in standard bearers never took place for the Constitution Party.

In June 2000 there was another twist to the Constitution Party campaign. A group within their ranks felt the platform and leaders were not pushing the Christian angle enough and so they split and formed the Christian Liberty Party. They had their start by using the already existing American Heritage Party (the same name that had been rejected earlier by the former US Taxpayers Party now known as the Constitution Party) as a foundation.

The American Heritage Party, now called the Christian Liberty Party, spelled out their Christian nationalist origins on their website:

Establishing a National Party: Building an Ark

The vision for a national Christian Liberty Party was birthed in Washington State in the Spring of 2000 when the original Washington state American Heritage Party recognized the need for a unified national and distinctively Christian party. This would be a party unlike any other in American history, free from entanglement with secular politics-as-usual and defensive-minded conservatism. No stone was left unturned in searching for a genuine Christian alternative and the philosophy, method and approach a Christian party must take to avoid the pitfalls of secular politics.

The Washington state party envisioned a national political party with the following distinctives:

    It would develop a comprehensive, unified national vision.
    It would acknowledge the Bible as a blueprint for political action.
    It would identify Biblical principles undergirding the party platform and program.
    It would hold members accountable to their subscription and leaders to the party vision and principles.
    It would develop character, leadership and scholarship qualifications for candidates and party leaders.
    It would charter local Voter Clubs to inspire, educate and mobilize members for the work of renewal in our nation.

Now for a slight detour. Remember the earlier mention of Ellen Craswell? She had been a Republican State Legislator here in Washington and in 1996 ran for Governor in that party against Democratic King County Executive Gary Locke without any pretense of being anything other than what she was-- a member of the evangelical Right wing. She was crushed in the general election.

In 1998 Craswell's husband Bruce ran for US Congress in Washington's 1st District as a member of the American Heritage Party against Republican incumbent Rick White. Bruce Craswell's impressive 6.1% of the popular vote result was enough to derail White's re-election, handing the victory to the Democrat who is now our current Governor-- Jay Inslee.

End of detour, back to the main topic--

J. Curtis Frazier, who had run for the US Senate in Missouri two years prior under the US Taxpayers Party banner, was selected as a stand-in VP nominee after Sobran bailed. In early Sept. 2000 he was chosen as the official running-mate.

With Frazier quotes like this, it is difficult to understand why a Christian splinter group left the Constitution Party: "All life, liberty and property are protected because the Constitution is rooted in Biblical law ... There is no question whether abortion is legal or not. Abortion is illegal under Biblical law."

2000 was one of the poorer results for the Constitution Party, probably due to Patrick Buchanan's presence in the race. I count the Phillips/Frazier ticket in 40 states plus five registered write-in jurisdictions. Their strongest percentages reveal a national rather than regional appeal: Connecticut 0.66%, South Dakota 0.56%, Utah 0.35%, Mississippi-Wyoming 0.33% each, Louisiana 0.31%, Idaho-Pennsylvania 0.29% each, Montana 0.28%, Alaska 0.21%, California 0.16%, Arkansas 0.15%, Oregon 0.14%, Minnesota-North Dakota 0.13% each, Kansas-South Carolina 0.12% each, Nevada 0.10%.

Election history:
1998 - US Senate (Mo.) (US Taxpayers Party) - defeated

Other occupations: physician, Missouri State Constitution Party Chairman, editor of "These Truths" newsletter, member of Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, member of Gun Owners of America, member of The Conservative Caucus, member of Separation of School and State Alliance.

Notes:
In the 1996 election for Washington State Governor I wrote-in my father's name.

Albert B. Moore

Albert B. Moore, July, 1939 (Warrenton, Va.) -

VP candidate for American Party (2000)

Running mate with nominee (2000): Donald Augustine Rogers (1928-2018)
Running mate with nominee (2004): Diane Beall Templin (b. 1947)
Popular vote (2000): ? (0.00%)
Popular vote (2004): ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote (2000, 2004): 0/538

The campaign (2000):

Century 21 would not be kind to the American Party in terms of Electoral politics. Starting in election year 2000 they failed to gain ballot access in any state for all the subsequent Presidential elections to date. Yet they still nominated tickets 2000-2008, and 2016.

39 delegates assembled in Oklahoma City in late March 2000 and nominated controversial former Republican California legislator and oil man Don Rogers for President and Virginia Shaklee distributor Al Moore for VP.

Consistently in the hard Right and embracing numerous conspiracy theories, the group described itself in 2000: "The American Party is a political party of God-fearing people who are pro-life and revere the Constitution. The American Party recognizes that the right to keep and bear arms is the defense of the nation and that the New World Order is a world government to replace the Constitution ... The Campaign announces that its chief goal is to make each citizen safe and secure in their person and property and to reestablish the Constitution as the law of the land. The Campaign slogan is: NO MORE CLINTON-GORE! VOTE FOR ROGERS-MOORE! and REPLACE AL GORE WITH AL MOORE!"

The Party was quite transparent about who they considered to be the best and the brightest to occupy the highest levels of government--

ROGERS-MOORE CABINET NOMINATIONS!
State -- G. Edward Griffin
Treasury -- Byron Dale
Defense -- Robert Dornan or (USCG Ret) Capt. G. Russell Evans
Commerce -- Gov. Evan Mechum
Agriculture -- Tom Anderson
Justice -- John Ashcroft
HUD -- Bob Boyd
OMB -- Doris Feimer
HHS -- Kay Cole James
Interior -- Helen Chenoweth-Hage
Education -- Ezola Foster
Energy -- Walter Myers
Labor -- Linda Patterson
Transportation -- Douglas Joy
Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff -- (USAF Ret) Gen. Benton K. Partin
VA Secretary -- Elmer Vaughan
UN -- Arly Pedersen
EPA -- Diane Templin
National Security Advisor -- Pat Buchanan
FBI -- Riley Donica
Fed Chairman -- G. Edward Griffin
Surgeon General -- Dr. Leonard Horowitz
Chief Justice -- Antonin Scalia
Supreme Court Nominees -- Diane Templin; Judge Roy Moore, Alabama; Robert Bork

Not only was the Rogers/Moore ticket not on any ballot, they apparently did not register as write-in candidates as well.

The campaign (2004):

At their convention on July 11-12, 2003 the American Party nominated Robert N. Boyd of Fortville, Ind. for President and Walter C. Thompson of Culpeper, Va. for VP. Before the month was over Boyd withdrew from the race, followed a bit later by Thompson.

The Executive Committee met at a Travelodge in Kenner, La., on Jan. 10, 2004 and selected Diane Beall Templin over Albert Moore by a vote of 7-6. Moore became the VP nominee once again. Templin had been the Presidential nominee for the Party in 1996.

Once again the American Party failed to gain ballot access or become certified write-ins in any state. Templin was running for the US Senate in California at the same time under the American Independent Party, and that appears to be where her energies were directed.

A meeting called by the Clarion Call for Convergence Committee in Aug. 2004 had attendees from America First Party, Independent American Party, and American Party. The topic was the idea of merging the parties on the far Right into one organized political entity. But the largest of them all, the Constitution Party, was not present and nothing came of it.

Here are some selections from the American Party's lengthy platform for 2004-2008:

Preamble

Members of the American Party believe that the original Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights were prepared and adopted by men acting under inspiration from Almighty God, that they are solemn compacts between the people of the states of this nation which all officers of government are under oath to obey, and that the eternal moral laws expressed therein must be adhered to or individual liberty will perish.

--From the Constitution of the American party

The purpose of the American Party is to field candidates who will restore the proper role of government as defined in the Constitution of the United States and interpreted in the tradition of our Founding Fathers. We therefore call for all citizens to inform themselves and enter the political arena with time, money, and dedicated service in order that the government of the people, by the people, and for the people may not perish from the earth.

The proper role of government is limited to those spheres of activity within which the individual citizen, in the absence of government, had the right to act. By deriving its just powers from the consent of the governed, government becomes primarily a mechanism for defense against bodily harm, theft, and involuntary servitude. It cannot claim the power to redistribute money or property, nor to force citizens to perform acts of charity against their will.

The American Party offers this platform in the sincere belief that these positions on the most important issues of the day are both right and necessary for peace, prosperity, justice, and domestic tranquility.

Education

The present crisis in education must be solved in stages and at several levels. First, so that no parents need defy the law by refusing to send their children to schools of which they disapprove, compulsory attendance laws should be repealed. Second, the control of schools should be returned to the local system by congressional limitation of the jurisdiction of federal courts and by an end to busing for racial balance. Third, the federal government should be eliminated entirely from interference in local schools by putting an end to federal aid. There should be no federal government control of textbooks. The selection of textbooks and approval of their content must be the responsibility of parents and local boards of education. We oppose the federal government's role in education including, but not limited to, the Federal Department of Education, "Goals 2000", "No Child Left Behind", and the total National Education Association agenda.

Fourth, the only permanently satisfactory solution to the many problems of general education - busing, curricula, discipline, drugs, the ban on prayer in schools - is decentralization of the educational system and the adoption of free enterprise methods. The education of children is the God-given responsibility of their parents, and private schools should be available without the additional burden of public (government) school taxes. Control over school policy and subject matter must be vested in the parents. To this end the American Party applauds those parents who are courageously offering their children academically superior education in private schools or at home, and extends the grateful thanks of the nation to them for refusing to relinquish the education of their children to the state.

Executive Orders

The Constitution specifies that only Congress may enact laws and that it may not delegate its legislative powers. Therefore, though the President may issue executive orders to administer the executive branch of government, neither the President nor any other officer may create laws decreed by executive agencies such as OSHA and the IRS. All such existing so-called laws should be declared void and further executive orders forbidden.

Homosexuality/Lesbianism

Homosexuality and lesbianism are a plague sweeping the nation and creating a wave of disease and immorality. Normal sex is an intimate relation between a man and a woman. All homosexual relations are acts of sodomy. People engaging in such acts should have no special rights or privileges and those living in such relationships have no familial rights or privileges such as adoption of children and legitimacy of marriage.

Labor

Labor rates must be established by the marketplace and not by government. Union membership and dues must be entirely voluntary. We favor the repeal of the National Labor Relations Act. We support Right-to-Work laws.

The use by unions of labor, donations, equipment, and money obtained from union dues and pension funds to control the candidates of political parties is both immoral and illegal. Those guilty of giving or receiving such funds should be prosecuted just as certainly as corporations which break the laws concerning campaign contributions.

Government workers hold their jobs as a privilege, not a right, and essential government services must not be interrupted by strikes by public employees. Collective bargaining by public employees must therefore be made illegal.

Public Morality

Neither Congress nor the federal courts should infringe the rights of state and local governments to enact constitutional laws restricting public obscenity, pornography, and illicit sex acts, especially prostitution and homosexuality.

Tax dollars must not be used to finance immoral art, literature, speech or actions.

Regional Government

Regional and metro government run by appointed bureaucrats is a device to impose direct federal control on metropolitan areas and to bypass State and local sovereignty performing an end run around the Constitution and backers of such schemes themselves admit it. As such, it is a blow against local control of representative government and should be abolished. No appointed official should have authority equal to that of elected officials within the same jurisdiction. The creation of regional government is in violation of the principles of the Constitution and is a brazen act of treason against our country.

New World Order and World Government

"New World Order" means world socialist government. This great evil is promoted as a way for the United Nations to function as envisioned by its founders.

Necessary companions of world government are world taxation, centralized world regulation of commerce, international control of the production and consumption of oil, a single world currency, and a world army to enforce the above.

A casualty of implementing the "New World Order" will be national sovereignty and the Constitution of the United States. The American Party is unalterably opposed to world government and to the "New World Order."

It is for this reason we oppose such treaties as NAFTA, GATT-WTO and other UN conventions as destructive of national sovereignty and as attempts to circumvent the Constitution of the United States.

War

Our military involvements in Korea, Vietnam, Bosnia, Kosovo and the Persian Gulf were undeclared wars. We, therefore, would require that foreign military actions cannot be pursued more than 72 hours without a declaration of war by Congress. We denounce any no-win policy as treasonous. It is immoral to draft anyone to fight in an undeclared war. 

Election history:
1999 - Virginia House of Representatives (Independent) - defeated
2004 - American Party nomination for US President - defeated

Other occupations: Shaklee distributor, employee Virginia Dept. of Taxation, employee Philip Morris Tobacco, computer analyst, C.E.O. of Get Moore For Your Money Enterprises

Notes:
Virginia Tech 1963 B.S. in Mathematics and a minor in Physics.
Born in the same city as William C. Payne, VP for the National Negro Liberty Party 1904.

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.

Gary Richard Van Horn

Gary Richard Van Horn, October 12, 1935 (Spokane, Wash.) - July 27, 2018 (Sterling, Utah)

VP candidate for American Party (aka Independent American Party aka Utah Independent American Party) (1996)

Running mate with nominee: Diane Beall Templin (b. 1947)
Popular vote: 1,847 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Diane Templin was a candidate in search of a party in 1996. Templin, an attorney based in Escondido, Calif. had previously run for offices as an independent and Republican. In this election she sought the nomination of the Reform Party, and was apparently a contender for the US Taxpayers Party. In earlier elections Templin had expressed the view that land mines should be used at the border to stop illegal aliens and that the Bible be included as a document upon which all of our laws should be based.

She found a venue with two parties that year, gaining ballot access in Colorado with the American Party and in Utah with the Independent American Party. Her running-mate in both states was perennial candidate Gary Van Horn. There was brief period of time in the mid-1990s when the two parties were affiliated.

Templin felt the US troops should be recalled from Bosnia and instead used to control crime in urban areas and the border to protect Americans from "the invasion of illegal drugs, substances, diseases and aliens." She pushed for the elimination of the Federal Reserve and the IRS as well as the departments of Energy, Education, and Housing. She wanted to sell much of the federally owned lands. Templin supported ending all foreign relations with China. Van Horn told the media that the major two parties were "just different wings of the Socialist Party."

The Templin/Van Horn ticket finished 7 out of 14 in Utah with 1,290 (0.19%) and 11 out of 13 in Colorado with 557 (0.04%), 

Election history: 
1992 - Governor of Utah (American Party) - defeated
1994 - US Senate (Utah) (American Party) - defeated
1998 - US Senate (Utah) (Independent American) - defeated
1999 - Prohibition Party nomination for President - defeated
2000 - Utah State Senate (Independent American) - defeated
2004 - US Senate (Utah) (Constitution Party) - defeated
2006 - Utah State Senate (Constitution Party) - defeated
2010 - Utah State House of Representatives (Constitution Party) - defeated

Other occupations: rocket engineer, electronics engineer, sales, inventor 

Buried: Manti Cemetery (Manti, Utah)

Notes:
Washington State trivia alert! Born in Spokane and raised in Bellingham.
Scuba diver.
Held several patents.
LDS Church.
Buried in the same cemetery as Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, who I actually had a connection with as we shared the same publisher, Starhead Comix.
Moved to Utah in 1964.
One of his opponents in the 1992 race was Merrill Cook.
1994 opponents included Orrin Hatch (winner) and Lawrence Rey Topham.
Very nearly became the Prohibition Party nominee for President in 1999.

Doris E. Feimer

Doris E. Feimer, October 23, 1933 (New Leipzig, ND) - November 5, 2003 (Bismarck, ND)

VP candidate for American Party (1992)

Running mate with nominee: Robert J. Smith (b. ca1934)
Popular vote: 292 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

As the American Party subdivided itself into ballot oblivion, a number of members split off in 1990 and formed the Christian Party (which in itself went nowhere fast). The South Carolina and Rhode Island contingents of the American Party also bailed and supported Howard Phillips of the fast growing new US Taxpayers Party.

In May 1992 the American Party in Utah filed suit against the Independent American Party. The IAP had been founded by anti-porn activist Joy Beech in 1987. The AP claimed the IAP had performed trademark infringement through their name and had lifted part of the AP platform.

But it was all just fighting for scraps. The American Party, which was basically the John Birch Society Party, was quickly becoming a relic of the past and was out-spent and out-manned by other political groups who had absorbed some of the traditional supporters of the AP. The Republicans had co-opted the Christian Right, the Populists were attracting the racists, and the Libertarians had the Jeffersonian small government crowd. On top of that, the Cold War was over and the Soviet Union was extinct.

After a late start, the AP nominated Robert J. Smith, a retired physicist from Taylorsville, Utah, for President. He had experience running as an American Party candidate for the US Senate (1988) and US House (1990). His running-mate was Doris E. Feimer of Bismarck.

Feimer was a very prolific letter-to-the-editor writer. The Bismarck Tribune published this one from her on May 11, 1992. Interesting she modestly does not mention her role as VP:

As an independent candidate for president, Robert J. Smith, a businessman from Utah, heads the ticket for the American Party of the United States. As an independent candidate, he will need 4,000 signatures on petitions for the name to appear on the November ballot in North Dakota.

Robert Smith has a clear stand on the issues. He supports the Second Amendment, so that there will be no Tiananmen Square in this country. Smith believes that federal money must not be used to finance immorality. He opposes abortion and euthanasia.

He advocates that we must put our nation's interests ahead of any "New World Order." The "New World Order" was Adolf Hitler's dream -- it should not be ours.

Robert Smith, as president, will not launch undeclared, no-win wars. A war should never be waged by Americans without a congressional declaration of war.

Voters will be seeing petitions for Robert Smith for president. They can help put this man of principles on the ballot by signing.

Isn't it time we had a man of principles in the White House?

In other letters during the campaign Feimer supported the use of nuclear power, opposed sending more foreign aid, and warned of the dangers of socialized health care. But oddly she never actually identified herself as a candidate for office, or at least I couldn't find such an example.

In their lowest popular vote tally for President, the AP earned 292 votes (0.04%) in Utah, the only state where they were on the ballot.

Election history:
1976 - North Dakota State Treasurer (American Party) - defeated

Other occupations: teacher, office manager, library volunteer, Chair of North Dakota branch of the American Party

Buried: Zion Cemetery (Elgin, ND)

Notes:
Birth surname: Bierwagen.
Taught school in Alaska for several years.
Member of the John Birch Society.
Was held up by two men at gunpoint while working in a hotel office in Oct. 1988.

Eileen Mary Shearer

Below: The Utah ballot line where the AIP was known as the Independent American Party

Eileen Mary Shearer, December 24, 1920 (Detroit, Mich.) - December 20, 2003 (Lemon Grove, Calif.)

VP candidate for American Independent Party (aka Conservative Party aka American Party aka Independent aka Independent American Party aka Constitution Party) (1980)

Running mate with nominee: John Richard Rarick (1924-2009)
Popular vote: 40,906 (0.05%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

In keeping their tradition of nominating Southern politicians with a segregationist history for President the American Independent Party selected former Rep. John Rarick (D-La.) in 1980. Listed as a the second most conservative Democratic member of the House between 1937-2002, the transplanted Hoosier now in Louisiana had connections with the White Citizens' Council, John Birch Society, and Liberty Lobby.

Rarick had been an open supporter of the AIP since George Wallace's run in 1968 and easily won the 1980 nomination over Percy Greaves, who was already the Presidential candidate of the American Party. Eileen Shearer, wife of AIP founder William Kennedy Shearer, was chosen as the VP.

According to Shearer the AIP elders were gathered in the wee hours in a Sacramento hotel room trying to select a running-mate when Rarick turned to her and said, "Eileen, I want you. Let's show 'em we really believe in equal rights for women."

"I thought he was kidding," Shearer related, "I hadn't even considered running. And if he wasn't kidding, I didn't see how I could accept. Why, I hadn't in fact taken a dress to the convention. I didn't think I'd need one."

She said, "My gosh, John. I don't even have a dress for the main event." He said, "Aw, that's all right. I never saw a vice-president in a dress anyway."

Shearer recalled, "How could I refuse a vote of confidence like that?"

The AIP 1980 platform included favoring a balanced budget and high tariffs, limited federal regulations, cuts in public welfare, opposition to busing, opposition to abortion, eliminate the draft, end personal income tax, no Equal Rights Amendment, protecting unions, encouraging domestic oil production while developing alternative energy resources, supported restricting immigration, opposed the UN and SALT II and giving away the Panama Canal. Although Reagan was in line with many of their policies, they did not trust him to follow through. The AIP in 1980 went to great pains to claim their racist days were over and now they were a populist party "taking the yoke off middle-class Americans" according to Shearer.

In addressing the two-party system Shearer told the press, "No matter what the administration is, policy doesn't change. We keep floundering in the same old waters. And that's why the two-party system as we know it is going to shatter. Nothing handed down by God says we have to have two parties, the Democrats and the Republicans. I'd like to see some distinct parties where you've really got a choice. It's coming. You'll see ... John Anderson's meteoric rise shows how people are searching for a vehicle to express themselves. There's going to be a realignment in this country, and we are going to be in a strong position after that."

On the ballot in eight states they had their strongest popular vote results in Alabama 1.12%, Rarick's home state of Louisiana 0.67%, Idaho 0.24%, and South Carolina 0.20%. After this election the AIP faded away as a national party (although remained intact in California, sort of) and became absorbed into other political movements.

Election history:
1976 - American Independent Party nomination for Vice-President - defeated

Other occupations: real estate

Buried: Glen Abbey Memorial Park (Bonita, Calif.)

Notes:
Cousin to Sen. William F. Knowland.
Previously a Republican.
Came to California in 1939 to become a singer.