Taja Yvonne Iwanow

 

Taja Yvonne Iwanow, July 24, 1981 -

VP candidate for Independent (2020)

Running mate with nominee: Kyle Kenley Kopitke (b. 1957)
Popular vote: 53 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Kyle Kopitke filed with the FEC as an Independent for his second Presidential run on July 16, 2019 although on his blog he officially launched on June 4. On June 18, 2019 he announced Nathan Revo Sorenson was once again his running-mate.

In an interview in Oct. 2020, Kopitke's responses to a Vail, Colo. reporter included--

About 45 minutes after my son’s MMR vaccine, his precious mind was blasted into autism.  1 in 28 children now have autism; it is the vaccines.  My qualification is I understand our vaccines are not safe. 1 in 2 young adults have a developmental disability; it is the vaccines.  If you think injecting vaccines into your child that contain the DNA from pigs, mice, insects, dogs, and from aborted male and female fetuses; think again.  Other qualifications: United States Army; United States Peace Corps; Doctorate in Public Administration; donated kidney to my brother; Missionary 2 years in England for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  Former head of an environmental group.

Sadly, I am only on Colorado and Vermont.   I have faced a near total media blackout; I am the only Presidential candidate whose campaign website (Kyle2020.com) is banned and blacked out on “Facebook”; if you try and share Kyle2020.com on Facebook, you will be blocked.  Partly because I say the 11 words you cannot say: “One World Government”; “New World Order”; “Vaccines cause autism and SIDS.”  I also discuss the dangers of Common Core, and Chemtrails, and forced mandated dangerous vaccines, and also the need to close nuclear power plants.

This is the only earth we have; we must take care of her.  As the former head of an environmental group, I am the father of the term “Climate Pollution” which is an alternative view against “Climate Change.” “Climate Change” is a tool of the One World Government & New World Order.  The Globalists have hijacked the true environmental movement.  My theory of “Climate Pollution” addresses the pollutions of nuclear power, fracking, the need to recycle, banning Roundup and other harmful chemicals in our everyday clothing and uses.  Banning GMOs.  The policy of “Climate Change” was created by Maurice Strong who is also the father of Agenda 21 (New World Order).   

America needs to Repent. We need to Repent as a nation and turn back to Jesus; only He can heal us.  We need to stop swearing.    We need to keep the Sabbath Day Holy by going to Church, and by not shopping.  We need to read from the King James version of the Holy Bible each and every day. We need individual and family vocal kneeling prayers. I also treasure, and am inspired, by prayerfully reading over the Book of Mormon.

In other sources Kopitke expressed approval of conspiracy theories regarding 5G towers, the 9/11 attack, and "fake news." His blog included--

"As your President I will remove Fluoride from our drinking water and food; Fluoride is not safe.  We need to remove Fluoride from our drinking water and food; it is not safe.  I am the only Presidential candidate calling for the removal of Fluoride from our water and food."

"The March of the Globalists towards a One World Government of a New World Order:  This is how they enslave us and keep their perpetual power and income.  Remember, the Globalists that support a One World Government of a New World Order are counting on you not to donate, and also to be only an “arm chair Patriot” where you just sit there and do nothing. Try volunteering and collecting Signatures for Ballot Access.  Tis up to you; act as becometh an American Man or lose your America.   Please also remember that swearing and vulgarity, especially Taking The Name of God in vain are tactical tools of the Globalists and their aim of their New World Order; don’t swear."

"Mainstream News Media supports microchipping of Americans; I will fight against it as your President."

"The Environment: To me, it appears, looking at it at the surface level, that the Globalists who support World Domination by a One World Government of a New World Order, where our God Inspired Constitution is destroyed, have hijacked the true Environmental Movement as a tactical plan for their World Domination.  As a former President of an Environmental Group (see PresidentKopitke2016.info), I am so sorry to see so many actual Environmentalists being duped and manipulated by the New World Order.   Instead of focusing on the core environmental issues of our day like moving away from oil under the ground to Hemp oil above the ground, or bringing forth real clean energy, or removing gender bending and cancer causing chemicals from our everyday products and vaccines, the New World Order Manipulators have the sincere Environmentalists running in the wrong direction. Classic “disinformation Campaign”; brilliant tactics by the Globalists and the 1%; we have to turn this around if we are going to save our Beloved Earth, which Almighty God has through His Infinite Goodness, given to us as Stewards.  One in six women should not be getting breast cancer; same with prostate cancer; we can remove these cancer causing toxins from our everyday products.  (Note from Kyle:  In addition, I will do all I can to remove dangerous LED and CFL lightbulbs.)  We must stop 5G."

"Chemtrails are real; what are they spraying us with; as your President I will stop Chemtrails by Kyle Kenley Kopitke, 19 October, 2019."

He also offered a long and detailed 100-step "Kopitke Containment & Eradication Solution Plan" for battling the COVID-19 pandemic, calling for measures requiring considerable government control.

On May 2, 2020, Kopitke issued the following statement:

The Lead Story: I need a new Vice Presidential running mate. Someone who will not drop out and who will have some time to devote to saving the Constitution.  Email me at KyleKopitke@gmail.com if interested.  Please pray sincerely with Faith in Jesus that I can find a sincere Patriot.   I have absolute tragic news for you.  My Vice Presidential running mate has withdrawn. So I am looking for a new Vice Presidential running mate. All signatures collected in OH, NJ, ID, OR, FL, AR, CO are invalid. UT is still good though.  Again, Prayers I can find a Patriot.

The circumstances surrounding Sorenson's decision to drop out were never spelled out. By June 2020 Kopitke's new running-mate was Taja Yvonne Iwanow of Tennessee or Wisconsin, who seemed in agreement with him on the issue of vaccinations, chemtrails, the Deep State, and other conspiracy theories. She hit the road covering at least half the states. A sampling of her Facebook posts provides a narrative of her campaign--

June 26, 2020
ATTENTION MOTHERS:
 My name is Taja Yvonne Iwanow
I am running for vice president of the United States of America and I'm currently touring the United States by myself.
This is mothers of America standing up to say NO MORE! Stop big Pharma at to get politicians out of healthcare!
This is the people's movement and we are the revolution❗✊🏼
If any of you feel moved to protect your babies and to stand up and say no and go toe-to-toe with me I need all the help I can get if we stand together we outnumber them a million to one
It is the Kopitke-Iwanow 2020 presidential campaign
We are already on the ballot in Colorado

Aug. 8, 2020
For the lost sheep on the block list... You CAN'T run a campaign out of your pocket...bc that's Illegal. The FEC (federal elections commission) has very strict guidelines. ALL Money used for a campaign MUST solely come from DONATIONS!! So many people are only working with Half a brain cell so they CAN'T wrap their tiny mind around that fact. If You have a problem with ME running for office to save Your children and protect Your freedoms then you are already lost to the matrix so to speak. Maybe if some people weren't so SELF CENTERED they would be able to see that things are about to get real ugly if we don't Act Now!! Every one says they want Freedom but VERY FEW of us FIGHT for it✊🏼 help the People's Movement continue with your Donation at Kyle2020 . com no spaces or cash app
$TajaIwanow  #Taja2020 #ThePeoplesMovement #WeAreTheRevolution #ThePowerOfGod #ThePeoplesRevolution

Aug. 21, 2020
Jeremiah 51 verse 20 through 23
It is time to restore peace on Earth.
I'm doing everything in my power to change the narrative yet there are so many of you who have given up hope and preach me that my efforts are futile. If I believe that me and my children would be living in the wilderness right now. But I have enough hope for all of us and that is why I'm traveling the country running for the office of President of the United States of America independently along side my running mate, Kyle Kenley Kopitke.
I was robbed twice, attacked a few times. My car broke down four times. I ran out of gas in the Arizona desert. I've went days without food and only water and there were countless nights I'd slept in my car. This is the first time since my boys were born and I never been away from them for any amount of time my baby was nursing when I left and he was forced to stop cold turkey where his siblings were able to wean naturally on Their time. I have sacrificed everything to travel the United States of America state to state physically collecting signatures to gain ballot access.
 While I was on the road my mother suddenly decided the move out of the home we've lived in for 9 years and 8 months and take half of my children to the state of Michigan and leave half of my children in the state of Wisconsin! 😯😕😳😭💔 to whom have never ever ever been separated in their entire lives!!!! I am trying to rush back As my medically fragile son Tristan's birthday is just Days away and I'm tryind to find a place to call home and collect my children to restore normalcy in their world.
  Our CAMPAIGN FUNDS HAVE COMPLETELY RAN OUT and I have Exhausted my entire Savings under the guise that I would be reimburse so long as I'd tracked everything and saved my receipts to which I Have. I am out here single-handedly fighting for OUR freedom and for the future of our children and grandchildren.
  I am also the first and only vice presidential candidates in the HISTORY of the United States of America who has ever campaigned for their self and travelled state to state ALONE collecting signatures for ballot access, also the first female and first Native American.  I can NOT continue Forward without YOUR HELP! #UnitedWeStandDividedWeFall and I'll bet my Life that None of You want to Fall!!!
  I NEED SPONSORS and we NEED DONATIONS asap!!! They ARE able to be used as a Tax Write-off as well being we're a 2020 Presidential Campaign. Help me Instantly on Cashapp using code $TajaIwanow or by typing in number 608-214-8147. Or we can receive it in 3-5 days going to our campaign page Kyle2020 . com unfortunately I cannot type that out as a hyperlink as we now go against Community standards on Facebook.
   When the evil Powers that be work so hard take you down and make you quit, you know you're on the right path to defeating them❗✊🏼 thank you all for your help and support. Please share my posts to help me reach as many people as possible in this very short amount of time that we have left. I love you all,  Namaste ❤ #Taja2020 #ThePeoplesMovement #WeAreTheRevolution #ThePowerOfGod #ThePeoplesRevolution Let's Restore POWER to the PEOPLE.

Aug. 22, 2020
If even a small handful of people would Stand beside me on this mission I couldn't imagine what we could do... I mean alone I've already accomplished So much!!! #TajaArmyOfOne
I find it odd that when I had my Own funds people donated to the campaign and as soon as I posted about being Robbed then Stranded, no one has donated to the campaign since...🤔 Yet I still push forward
If you'd like to be one of the ones helping to Break that cycle you can cash app me $TajaIwanow or as of TODAY I now have Facebook pay again. Msg me 4 details

Aug. 24, 2020
People can be accused of anything and just because someone has a warrant doesn't mean that they're guilty or that they are a bad human. Due Process

Aug. 29, 2020
They're doing a great job with their divide-and-conquer tactic so many so-called woke people are falling for their dividing tactics.
They are poisoning you, me and eliminating the future of our children. While we argue over who was right and who is wrong or what was justified and what is not they're still polluting our air poisoning our Waters and making our soil infertile.
Real Eyes Realize Real Lies and only united we stand divided we fall. And right now We Are FALLING!!! Wake up and take your neighbors hand and FIGHT BACK! least you would rather let them win??
Black, White, Yellow, Brown... If THIS is YOUR Home, if THIS is YOUR Town. Stop falling for their tactics and join the hands of ONE NATION! The American People and STAND UNITED!!
#OpenYourEyesAndSeeThroughTheirLies
#RealEyesRealizeRealLies
Fight the OPPRESSORS and NOT EACH OTHER❗ollllllkiklllllll
$TajaIwanow

After Aug. 29 Iwanow's overtly electioneering posts came to an end. In late Sept. 2020 she experienced a health crisis involving her appendix. Several of her supporters lamented the fact she was the more active and motivated half of the Kopitke/Iwanow ticket and was doing the lion's share of the actual campaigning.

Apparently it was too late to remove Sorenson's name as the Vice-Presidential candidate in Colorado, where the ticket finished 11th out of 21 with 0.01% of the vote. Kopitke also was on the ballot in Vermont, but with Iwanow. They finished 19th out of 21 in the Green Mountain State.

Kopitke filed with the FEC for the 2024 Presidential election on Nov. 25, 2020.
 
Election history: none

Other occupations: mom

Notes:
Just this month (Nov. 2021) the Dodge County, Wis. Sheriff's Office just listed Iwanow on their "Most Wanted" list regarding various drug charges.

John Edmund de Graaf

 

John Edmund de Graaf, August 26, 1946 (San Francisco, Calif.) -

VP candidate for Bread and Roses Party (2020)

Running mate with nominee: Jerome Michael Segal (b. 1943)
Popular vote: 5,949 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

The Bread and Roses Party was founded in 2018 by longtime peace activist Jerome Segal. Called "Maryland's Bernie Sanders" in his marketing, Segal announced he was running for President in Aug. 2019 and the following month filed with the FEC under the auspices of the new party. He pointed out he had no wish to act as a spoiler in favor of Trump and planned to campaign only in states that were reliably in the Democratic Party column.

The Party's platform and objectives were presented in several wordy sections on different websites, revealing a classic utopian "Socialist-lite" vision. The section that seemed like the most concise summary of the Party follows--

Key Elements of the Bread and Roses Program

The Two-Fold Core

1. Level the Pyramid
 
Vision -- A more equal society, one with far less disparity between winners and losers

Task: Re-Distribute Wealth and Income

    Every household will have a Corporate Stock Ownership Account. Over 20 years these will collectively come to hold 75% of all corporate stock. This will be achieved through wealth taxes, higher estate taxes, and stock purchases funded through financial transaction taxes.

    Parameters for earnings – We need to have this conversation. Proposal: No one should earn more than 20x the minimum wage.

    Multiple policies to achieve the re-distribution of Income so that the average after-tax income of the top 20% will be no more than 3X the income required to achieve a health and decency standard for viable simple living:

    Eliminating the income cap on payment of payroll taxes.
    Increasing marginal tax rates in the upper brackets.
    Enacting a progressive consumption tax.
    Increasing both the minimum wage and the Earned Income Tax Credit.
    Tax Elimination: Eliminating all taxation on those with incomes below a health and decency standard, including sales taxes, employment taxes and property taxes.
    A 2% wealth tax on great fortunes.
    Introducing progressive property taxes.
    Higher estate taxes, and closing loop hole for transfer of capital gains.
    Consideration of a modest basic income guarantee.

Additional Revenue to fund our agenda will come from:

    Reversing the Trump corporate tax cut.
    Enacting a “no-exemptions” minimum tax on corporate profits.

2. Providing a Simple Living Option with Life-long Economic Security
 
Vision -- A Simple Living Option:

For everyone to have the life-option of a secure income sufficient, through life, to live simply, with productivity growth channeled to expanding leisure to do that which is most important in life, each to their own drummer. For each, in turn, to contribute to society at their highest potentials.

Key Objectives:

    Guaranteed employment
    Adequate income levels through all life stages and health conditions
    Lowering costs of meeting basic needs
    Expanding Leisure

Measurable Progress:

Year by year reduction in Need Required Labor Time (NRLT) at both the minimum wage and the median wage level.

Policy tools:
* To help guarantee employment:

    A major expansion of the non-profit sector.

    Jobs programs to meet needs of the least advantages, and to address the global climate change crisis.

    Job sharing in periods of recession.

* To guarantee health and decency income:

 - Integrate a rising minimum wage with a rising earned income tax credit (EITC) to enable a health and decency standard of living.  

- Raise minimum social security retirement payments from present $11,000 to $18,000/year.

- Initiate a flow of income from universal share of re-distributed corporate stock.
* To lower the costs of meeting needs in housing, health, transportation and education, taxes, retirement:

- A Unified Medicaid/Medicare national system that provides public option for all, includes long-term care, determines costs on a sliding scale, free at the bottom, with highest level of total personal costs capped at 8% of income.

- Free education for each new generation, day care through college.

- Promote home ownership for almost all families, with the objective of debt-free ownership of simple homes; reform zoning restrictions to allow tiny homes on tiny lots; build low-income condos instead of public housing.

 - Experiment with free public transportation; research into new inexpensive electric vehicles.

- Progressive payroll and property taxes

On Apr. 30, 2020, Seattle-based author John de Graaf was announced as the running-mate.

de Graaf supplied this blog with a wonderful interview, posted on May 2, 2020--

https://thirdpartysecondbananas.blogspot.com/2020/05/john-de-graaf-2020-vp-bread-and-roses.html

Segal/de Graaf were on the ballot in Maryland (0.19%) and Vermont (0.02%). They did not appear to be registered as write-ins in any state.

Election history: none

Other occupations: author, filmmaker, activist, teacher

Notes:
Full disclosure: de Graaf's film and book Affluenza had an enormous impact on accelerating my path in choosing a simpler and less consumer-based materialistic lifestyle.

William Eric Bodenstab Jr.

 

William Eric Bodenstab Jr., June 6, 1978 (San Diego County, Calif.)

VP candidate for Unity Party of America (aka United Party) (2020)

Running mate with nominee: William Robert Hammons (b. 1974)
Popular vote: 6,647 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

In their second national election the Unity Party of America nominated the same duo who ran as the Party's ticket for Governor and Lt. Governor of Colorado in 2018, Bill Hammons and Eric Bodenstab. Hammons had since changed his residency to Texas.

Describing themselves as centrist, the UPA platform for 2020 as presented by Hammons pretty much mirrored the official Party Constitution--

My 33-Point 2020 United States Presidential Platform:

    COVID-19 Response > The Cold War-era Defense Production Act should have been fully invoked at the beginning of the COVID Crisis to prioritize the manufacture and distribution of as many N95 masks, surgical masks, face shields, ventilators, and other products (all stamped prominently with the US Star logo seen on WWII-era military aircraft and the words “Made in the USA”) as are needed to keep both healthcare workers and the general public safe; any excess stock can be loaned or outright gifted to countries with less resources, both as a goodwill gesture and to prevent future waves of this germ from washing back into our own country. The use of face masks should be strongly encouraged nationwide (and mandated for flying by the FAA) until a highly effective vaccine is in production, Contact Tracers should have been hired en masse as soon as people started to lose their old jobs, and this Summer was a lost opportunity to finally begin repairing our dilapidated roads, bridges and highways with massive and labor-intensive projects (many American workers would’ve had the opportunity for new careers working the phones or working in the Great Outdoors).

    Vaccines > As Commander in Chief, I’ll be one of the first to receive a safe COVID-19 Vaccine, and cite my own example as I use the resources of the Federal Government to strongly encourage widespread use of a safe vaccine. The 1976 Swine Flu Vaccine disaster is a warning from history, so rest assured my “Operation Impulse Drive” will seek to protect the public from both COVID and vaccine side effects. Regarding vaccines generally, including for children, concerned citizens will have to proactively request exemptions.

    Freedom Tariffs > The recent Economic Stimulus payments demonstrated that the US Government can easily get money into the bank accounts of US Citizens with just routing and account numbers; as President, I will immediately impose Freedom Tariffs on Russia, China, Saudi Arabia and other Bad Actors who also happen to directly or indirectly import large volumes of Climate Change-inducing products into this country; the resulting revenues can be immediately (on a weekly basis) remitted into the bank accounts or onto the paycards of all Americans.

    Revoke the Presidential Pardon Power > The President’s unfettered Power to Pardon has been abused, and it’s become obvious that our criminal justice system has never been perfect. It’s time to Amend the Constitution to take Pardons out of Presidential hands and put this power in the hands of a Commission whose 12 members are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate for staggered six-year terms limited to no more than 12 total years.

    Federal Election Commission > The fact that the Federal Election Commission keeps losing its quorum has been perhaps the most underreported story of the last few years. As with the Supreme Court (see below), the FEC needs to be expanded to 13 members, one representative for each political party which fielded a Presidential candidate in at least 3 states in the previous Election, and Presidential/Congressional failure to appoint dedicated Commissioners who don’t quit at their earliest convenience should be answered with appointments by the Supreme Court.

    Refund the Police > Don’t “Defund” the Police; use the funded federal mandate of body cameras to encourage cities and towns across the country to revisit their police funding (Do all police need all of the military hardware they’ve been given access to since 9/11? Can social workers and other non-law-enforcement professionals be used for certain situations instead of the police?).

    Climate Change > Climate Change is real, Climate Change is a problem, and Climate Change is a problem we can solve. We should explore all solutions, for now and for the future.

    The US Global War on Terror > Regardless of places like Syria and Iraq, America is in Afghanistan for a good clear reason (9/11), and America should only leave for another good clear reason (when we can be confident Afghanistan won’t be used as a base for attacks on Americans again). Unfortunately, America’s involvement in Afghanistan is trending towards an ending similar to that in Vietnam (look for the equivalent of choppers on besieged embassy rooftops) and we shouldn’t make the mistake of trusting bad actors. And regardless of the controversies, I’ve started an online American War Memorial on this site as one small way to honor America’s fallen in our many “Forgotten Wars.”

    Impeach and Convict > Using the Power of the Presidency to coerce a foreign leader to manufacture dirt on a political rival triggers a feedback loop of power begetting more power to the point of a totalitarian dictatorship > Impeachment was the right thing to do and should be repeated as necessary.

    Mass Shootings > The FBI needs to be merged with the CIA, domestic surveillance of Social Media increased to prevent tragedies before they happen, and all sales of new firearms to people who shouldn’t own them banned while allowing law-abiding gun owners to keep the guns they already have and encouraging firearm safety training.

    D.C. Statehood > The City of Washington should be given Statehood, a Statehood perhaps balanced by a western Statehood.

    Balance the Budget > MMT = BS; let’s Balance the Federal Budget with a Balanced Budget Amendment and prevent an unnecessary financial crisis if it’s not too late.

    Term Limits > I support Term Limits for Congress (two six-year terms for Senators, four two-year terms for US Representatives), the Supreme Court and the entire Federal Judiciary (12 years for all Justices and Judges) to fight ossification.

    Supreme Court > In addition to having its power limited with Term Limits, the Supreme Court should be expanded to 13 Justices and capped at that number by Constitutional Amendment, with the Chief Justice only voting in the case of a tie of the other Justices (the Constitution never specified the number of Justices, instead leaving that to Congress, and such an Amendment will prevent future court packing schemes). The four Justices who would be added to the current nine by this process should include two from the ideological right and two from the left, or better yet, two or four Justices who have no shown no ideological bias but instead a simple reverence for Common Sense. For the record, I am a hardcore Originalist, a firm believer that the Constitution is not a “living” document but a written document.

    Border Wall > I support a Wall along the U.S.-Mexican border, not because I’m racist but because we’re already experiencing Climate Migration from Central America, and what Europe, shielded as it is by the Mediterranean, has experienced will be nothing to what the U.S. will experience in coming years. I believe in limited, legal and orderly immigration with arriving families treated humanely (no family separations). I don’t support cross-border chaos.

    Colorado Constitutional Convention > Our system of government is broken and there should be a new Constitutional Convention, as provided for by Article V of the Constitution, in Colorado (where I propose that we move the District of Columbia) to end the disturbing charade of appointing Presidential Electors but not allowing them to vote freely, end the lifetime appointments of Judges and Justices based on the 38-year life expectancy for white males in 1787 America, end the buying of re-election votes with taxpayers’ money, end the election of voters by legislators with gerrymandering and not the other way around, end the immensely ironic disenfranchisement of voters in the nation’s own capital, etc.

    Eliminate Income and Property Taxes > Federal income taxes and local property taxes (including de facto taxes in the form of vehicle registration fees) are a violation of the 4th Amendment, and should be replaced with revenues based on greenhouse gas emissions offset by weekly rebates directly back into consumers’ bank accounts or onto debit cards. Many conservatives have advocated a National Sales Tax, and an NST based on the emissions emitted in the process of production coupled with instant rebates is a fair tax which would eliminate many of the privacy issues surrounding other forms of taxation as well solve many of the problems in the American education system created by disproportionate tax bases.

    Defend America at all Costs > We should resurrect the federal “Star Wars” Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) program to fend off North Korea and other bad actors; Mutually Assured Destruction is indeed mad > crazy.

    American Spaceport Development > Since 2010, I’ve been publicly pushing for more Spaceport development in Colorado, and agree with Uniters who believe that our future (at least partly) is in the stars.

    Life and Death > I support the Right to Choose, and I also support the Death Penalty (in cases beyond all doubt, I respect the will of the voters).

    Gun Rights > As with the rest of the United States Constitution, I support the Second Amendment as it was written over 200 years ago.

    Law Enforcement > We can protect both law enforcement and the public with mandatory and Federally funded body cameras across the nation. A recent Washington Post article hit it on head: body cameras are great for law enforcement, but tough on small-town police department budgets.

    Medicare For All Americans Who Want It > I myself lost my own health insurance due to the Obamacare debacle, and support a Medicare For All Americans Who Want It system (Americans should be able to keep their private health insurance if they so choose, but also have the option of government-funded health insurance). One positive legacy of Obamacare is the inability of insurance companies to deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions, and no one should be caught in this Catch-22 situation.

    Secure Social Security > As the Obamacare debacle so aptly demonstrated, older Americans relying on younger Americans to properly fund a federal program is a dicey proposition at best. Social Security can be supplemented by revenues like Freedom Tariffs and SS recipients can get relief with the reduction of property and income taxes.

    Cannabis > It’s time to recognize the medical benefits of Cannabis, allow its recreational use on a live-and-let-live basis, and use the resulting revenues to help fund devastated local government budgets.

    Net Neutrality > If you can still read this over the Internet, there’s still hope. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are Common Carriers and should be treated as such. Just as your phone company, back in the days when landline use was common, couldn’t block calls from a political party or candidates which didn’t toe the phone company’s line, ISPs shouldn’t be able to play referee as to what information a consumer receives over the Internet and how (or how fast) they receive it. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) should take the lead from the states and once again make the Internet (and thus the World) safe for ingenuity, including ingenuity of the political variety.

    Federal Life Insurance > As a former Life Producer licensed in several states, I’m a firm believer in the societal benefits of insurance, and support Federal funding to promote societal stability. Federally-funded life insurance can be funded with a modest Estate Tax (a modest percentage on inherited wealth above a hefty exemption); Estate Taxes also have the additional benefit of keeping the term “American Aristocracy” an oxymoron.

    Make 16 Minimum Voting and Donating Age > When Americans are old enough to drive at 16, they should be old enough to make political donations and vote in elections; conversely, Americans should not be able to make political donations if they’re not allowed to vote in the first place (note that the current minimum age to make a Federal campaign contribution is zero).

    Right to Run > The barriers in some States to ballot access for non-established parties and their candidates are beyond unreasonable (in my home State of Texas, an Independent candidate for President has two months to gather 89,693 signatures from Texas voters who didn’t vote in either major party primary). As the man who made history in Colorado by being the first 3rd party candidate to petition onto the General Election ballot, and being the only one to ever do so single-handedly, and having repeated that feat in multiple other States, I can speak on this issue as no one else can. The States should be held accountable to the First Amendment rights of Assembly and Petition, and no State should require more than 100 signatures and $100 per Congressional District for ballot access in Federal races (e.g., the State of Texas shouldn’t be allowed to require more than 3,600 signatures and $3,600 of any candidate who wishes to appear on the State’s Presidential ballot, regardless of party affiliation, Wyoming 100 signatures and $100, etc.). For those party leaders who will whine that this would lead to Presidential Elections being thrown to the House on a regular basis, I say “Get Over It” and tell them to start forming Shadow Cabinets ready to start running the Federal Government at a moment’s notice.

    Approval Voting > Counting over-votes on ballots encourages competition between more than two mutually-canceling parties and better expresses the will of the American voter.

    Redistricting Gerrymandered Districts > We need to outlaw Gerrymandering (the drawing of legislative districts along partisan lines), and enforce the drawing of all legislative districts along competitive lines in terms of gender, age, race, socioeconomics, urban vs. rural and other factors, with those lines being drawn by four-judge panels of retired judges in each state to ensure that the resulting district lines are the result of compromise.

    Rename Columbus Day “Discovery Day” > The controversies swirling around Columbus Day can easily be resolved by renaming the anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s landing “Discovery Day”. That exact title was used for this holiday by the Bahamas until 2012 and is still used in the nation of Colombia (and Colombia was named after Columbus).

    Cloth Flags for Fallen Veterans > When my father Rich passed away due to Agent Orange exposure from the Vietnam War, I was dismayed when the hospice nurses laid a nylon flag over his body > there should be a Federal law mandating that only cloth flags can be used for such a purpose.

Bodenstab made his own additions--

    Balance the Budget to a surplus to pay down the National Debt
    Reduce the size and scope of the Federal Government over the next 30 years
    Eliminate several non-productive Federal departments
    Limit foreign intervention and reduce favored nation statuses
    Absolutely Unqualified Assertion of the Second Amendment > 2A protects 1A
    Extend the Presidency to one 6-year term with no re-election

I was fortunate enough to be granted an interview with Bodenstab in Apr. 2020, who discussed the UPA and the 2020 election at this link--

https://thirdpartysecondbananas.blogspot.com/2020/04/eric-bodenstab-2020-vp-unity-party-of.html

On the ballot in three states, the Hammons/Bodenstab results were: Colorado 0.08%, New Jersey 0.07%, and Louisiana 0.03%.

Hammons is running for the 2024 UPA Presidential nomination.

Election history:
2009 - Boulder City Council, Colo. - defeated
2018 - Lt. Governor of Colorado (Unity Party) - defeated

Other occupations: transportation engineering, construction, Unity Party of Colorado Chair

Notes:

Bodenstab grew up in La Jolla, Calif.

Malcolm Maynard Jarrett

 

Malcolm Maynard Jarrett, May 9, 1970 (Missouri) -

VP candidate for Socialist Workers Party (2020)

Running mate with nominee: Alyson Kennedy (b. 1950)
Popular vote: 6,805 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

The Socialist Workers Party nominated Alyson Kennedy for President for a second time. Her running-mate for 2020 was Malcolm Jarrett, who had been a SWP candidate for Pittsburgh City Council the year before.

Jarrett's biography was provided online by The Militant--

Malcolm Jarrett

Malcolm Jarrett, Socialist Workers Party candidate for vice president, 49, works as a cook at a catering company in Pittsburgh. He was attracted to working-class struggle as an African American youth in eastern Missouri, as his family joined in the defense of the Black community in Cairo, Illinois, from assaults by cops and vigilantes. In these struggles, he gained a real appreciation of the support from farmers in the area. Jarrett was also influenced by the popular revolutionary movement that overthrew the apartheid regime in South Africa.

He joined the SWP while organizing protests at Southeast Missouri State University to oppose Washington’s war against Iraq in 1991. Today he stands in solidarity with protests by workers and youth against wars promoted by both Washington and Tehran in Iran and Iraq.

Jarrett has built solidarity with union battles, including the wave of strikes and protests by teachers and school workers in 2018, traveling to join actions in their support in West Virginia, Oklahoma, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

During last year’s strike by United Auto Workers members at GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler, Jarrett joined picket lines in Indiana, Texas and Minnesota. On a national speaking tour last fall he and Alyson Kennedy brought solidarity to coal miners fighting to get back pay stolen from them by coal bosses at the Blackjewel mine in Kentucky. The two met Uber and Lyft taxi drivers in Atlanta to discuss the exploitation they face and the need to fight for one union for all app-based, limousine and yellow cab drivers.

Jarrett has participated in fights against cop brutality and murders from the 1997 killing of Jonny Gammage to the actions of thousands of young people who marched in Pittsburgh last spring to protest the acquittal of the cop who murdered Antwon Rose II. He points out that police violence and capitalist “justice” is aimed at intimidating and punishing working people.

On Oct. 27, 2018, when an anti-Semitic killer shot down 11 Jews at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Jarrett joined 3,000 people protesting that night. He explains that Jew-hatred is endemic to capitalism and how the ruling boss class turns to anti-Semitic thug forces in times of deep crisis to divide and crush the working class. Working people have to be educated in what this question is all about.

Jarrett has traveled to Cuba on a number of occasions, including as part of last year’s International May Day Brigade, to offer solidarity with the Cuban peoples’ six-decade-long fight against the U.S. embargo and to be able to speak out more effectively in defense of the socialist revolution. He is now on his way to participate in the 2020 International Havana Book Fair — a major cultural and political event in Cuba, and urges others to join this year’s May Day Brigade.

Jarrett was the SWP candidate for Pittsburgh City Council last year, speaking out at a public hearing attended by 200 residents of Allegheny County against U.S. Steel’s willful pollution in the area and to call for workers control of production. Jarrett says health care in the U.S. is a disaster caused by the for-profit capitalist system. The SWP fights for universal, government-guaranteed cradle-to-grave health care, and retirement income for all.

The 2020 SWP platform was consistent with their past stance on the issues. It was interesting that mention of the COVID-19 virus was absent--

THE SOCIALIST WORKERS PARTY PRESENTS A FIGHTING WORKING-CLASS PROGRAM. WE NEED TO ORGANIZE TO FIGHT GROWING EMPLOYER ATTACKS ON OUR JOBS, WAGES AND WORKING CONDITIONS. Build solidarity with workers’ struggles to organize and defend themselves. On this course, we can build and use union power on our own behalf, and for all those suffering blows by the bosses and their government. One union for all drivers — taxi, Uber, Lyft and other app-based and car service drivers!

MILLIONS NEED JOBS TODAY! Our unions need to fight for a federal government-financed public works program to put millions to work at union-scale wages building hospitals, schools, housing, mass transportation and much more that workers need. Fight for a sliding scale of hours and wages to stop layoffs and the effects of runaway prices. Cut the workweek with no cut in pay! For cost-of-living clauses in every contract that raise pay and retirement benefits to offset every rise in prices!

Demand immediate national government unemployment benefits at union scale for all those thrown out of work as long as they need it.

WORKERS NEED THEIR OWN PARTY, A LABOR PARTY. For our unions to lead a class break from the parties of the bosses, the Democrats and Republicans. A labor party can organize workers in our millions to fight in our own interest and in the interests of all those exploited and oppressed by capital. It can chart a course to take political power out of the hands of the capitalist rulers and establish a workers and farmers government.

WORKERS CONTROL OF PRODUCTION. Workers need to fight to wrest control of production out of the hands of the bosses. Employers care about profits, not the dangerous conditions we’re forced to work under. This is the only road to take control of and enforce safety and health on the job. Demand the bosses open their books for inspection by workers and consumers. Workers control of production is a school for learning to run the economy ourselves, in the interests of all producers, a crucial step alongside building a labor party to fight to take political power.

FARMERS — WORKERS’ ALLIES ON THE LAND. Fight for immediate government relief to fully cover farmers’ production costs, including living expenses for themselves and their families.

No more foreclosures! Nationalize the land, guaranteeing its use by those who live on and till it, not “repo” seizures by absentee bankers, landowners, or capitalist farmers.

AMNESTY FOR ALL UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS in the US, a life-and-death question for the unions to unite workers and cut across divisions the bosses use to drive down wages. For access to driver’s licenses for all.

OPPOSE WASHINGTON’S WARS. US hands off Iran, Venezuela and Cuba. US troops out of Afghanistan, Korea, the Middle East. End US colonial rule in Puerto Rico.

FOR RECOGNITION OF ISRAEL AND OF A CONTIGUOUS PALESTINIAN STATE. The leaders of Arab states, of Israel and Palestinian leaders need to meet and recognize both the state of Israel and an independent Palestinian state. For the right of Jews to return to Israel as a refuge in the face of capitalist crisis, Jew-hatred and murderous violence.

CUBA’S REVOLUTION — AN EXAMPLE. The Cuban Revolution in 1959 showed it is possible for workers and farmers to transform themselves in struggle, to take political power and uproot capitalist exploitation. End the US rulers’ economic war against Cuba; US out of Guantánamo.

FIGHT POLICE BRUTALITY! Demand that cops who kill and brutalize people be prosecuted. Fight racist discrimination and the entire capitalist injustice system, with its frame-ups, “plea bargains,” onerous bail and “three strike” prison sentences, all of which disproportionately hit workers who are Black. For the right to vote for ex-prisoners and all workers behind bars.

HEALTH CARE FOR ALL. Fight for universal, government-guaranteed cradle-to-grave health care, and retirement income for all.

WOMEN’S RIGHT TO ABORTION. Defend women’s right to unrestricted access to family planning services, including the right to safe, secure abortions.

DEFEND POLITICAL RIGHTS. Defend the right to vote, to free speech and assembly and to bear arms, under attack from Democrats and Republicans alike. Defend freedom of worship. Stop FBI and other government spying, harassment and disruption. No to reactionary “cancel culture” and efforts to shut up people by public lynching through social media.

DEFEND RIGHTS OF PRISONERS. End solitary confinement. End suppression of the Militant, books and other newspapers by prison authorities. Abolish the death penalty, an anti-working-class weapon in the hands of the rulers.

One of America's more enduring third parties, the SWP had dropped to the third tier and was now competing with and in some cases eclipsed by other parties and activists on the Left that had originally splintered or were purged from/by them. Some critics charged the SWP with being a cult sitting on the shelf beyond their expiration date.

The Kennedy/Jarrett ticket finished 12th place nationally, earning roughly only half the number of votes they won in 2016. They were on the ballot in 6 states: Tennessee 0.08%, Washington 0.06%, Vermont 0.05%, Louisiana and Minnesota 0.02% each, and Colorado 0.01%.

Election history:
2019 - Pittsburgh City County (Penn.) (Socialist Workers) - defeated

Other occupations: cook

Notes:
Washington State trivia alert!!! Kennedy personally came to Olympia to be on hand when the petition to place her name on the ballot with Jarrett was submitted to the Washington Secretary of State.

Melissa J. Nixon

 

Melissa J. Nixon

VP candidate for Unaffiliated (aka Operation Restoration) (2020)

Running mate with nominee: Jade S. Simmons (b. 1977)
Popular vote: 181 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Jade Simmons, based in Kingwood, Tex., filed as an Unaffiliated candidate for President with the FEC on Feb. 21, 2020.

Simmons' varied career included being a concert pianist, motivational speaker, author, and Miss Illinois (1999).

Dubbing her campaign "Operation Restoration," Simmons took a centrist leaning Left approach and felt that as an outsider with communication skills she could end the hyper-partisanship that was dominating public discussion of all things political and cultural. She told one reporter, "I feel like what we're watching is the nation, especially culturally, spiritually and racially, being ripped to shreds. So I feel like what we're restoring is our original identity. I look back at the concept of us really being one nation, under God and indivisible."

One press release summarized the platform: "Operation Restoration - The mission of Operation Restoration, the campaign of Jade Simmons, is to 1) to restore the United States of America to its' God-given identity of being a unified nation, that honors God and serves ALL people, 2) to strip away the dysfunctional practices of divisive politics and bring forth a new lane of leadership that prioritizes people over profit, political games, and personal agendas and 3) to give voice to the voiceless and the "muted middle" – those individuals that don't fully agree with the left side or the right side but believe there is a place in the middle where we can honorably meet and find common ground on the issues that matter to our country."

Claudeliah J. Roze was announced as the running-mate on Sept. 20, 2020. However in Florida, perhaps as a stand-in VP, Melissa Nixon was the running-mate. Nixon was something of a professional colleague in the field of motivational speakers, operating out of Charlotte, N.C.

Simmons/Roze finished 11th in the national election, at the top of what I would consider the third tier of third party results, actually outpolling the Socialist Workers Party. They were on the ballot in Oklahoma (0.23%) and Louisiana (0.08%). They were also registered write-ins in over two dozen additional states. In Florida, where they were write-ins, the Simmons/Nixon ticket garnered 181 votes.

Election history: none

Other occupations: business coach, motivational speaker, author, founder of Courageous Life Academy

Notes:
“I’m not afraid of failure, I’m afraid of regret”--Melissa Nixon

Claudeliah J. Roze

 

Claudeliah J. Roze, February 18, 1980 -

VP candidate for Unaffiliated (aka Non Affiliated aka Independent aka Becoming One Nation aka Operation Restoration) (2020)

Running mate with nominee: Jade S. Simmons (b. 1977)
Popular vote: 7,092 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Jade Simmons, based in Kingwood, Tex., filed as an Unaffiliated candidate for President with the FEC on Feb. 21, 2020.

Simmons' varied career included being a concert pianist, motivational speaker, author, and Miss Illinois (1999).

Dubbing her campaign "Operation Restoration," Simmons took a centrist leaning Left approach and felt that as an outsider with communication skills she could end the hyper-partisanship that was dominating public discussion of all things political and cultural. She told one reporter, "I feel like what we're watching is the nation, especially culturally, spiritually and racially, being ripped to shreds. So I feel like what we're restoring is our original identity. I look back at the concept of us really being one nation, under God and indivisible."

One press release summarized the platform: "Operation Restoration - The mission of Operation Restoration, the campaign of Jade Simmons, is to 1) to restore the United States of America to its' God-given identity of being a unified nation, that honors God and serves ALL people, 2) to strip away the dysfunctional practices of divisive politics and bring forth a new lane of leadership that prioritizes people over profit, political games, and personal agendas and 3) to give voice to the voiceless and the "muted middle" – those individuals that don't fully agree with the left side or the right side but believe there is a place in the middle where we can honorably meet and find common ground on the issues that matter to our country."

Claudeliah J. Roze was announced as the running-mate on Sept. 20, 2020. Her biography was presented on the campaign website--

Claudeliah J. Roze has an accomplished 20+ year career serving in positions of trust in the aerospace, defense, and intelligence communities. She is a naturally strategic and dynamic team leader who effectively navigates politically-charged environments to create alliances and solutions that benefit those at stake. Roze is regularly consulted by senior and executive leadership within her company on critical matters that affect both the business bottom line and the culture of the organization.  Claudeliah is currently the first African-American female Technology Director with a large aerospace and defense company.

She is the daughter of two United States Army Veterans.  A father who achieved his high school diploma during his first of 2 Vietnam war deployments and a mother who also served in the United States Army and later became the first of her 12 siblings to graduate with her bachelor’s and master’s degree.  A product of a strong military family, Claudeliah is passionate about providing full support to United States service women and men throughout and after their military careers.

In her work, Ms. Roze leads a team of senior engineers and engineering fellows in developing transformational and cutting-edge technologies in the interest of national security.  With a focus on strategic investments and timely, coordinated execution, she guides teams in considering customer's current and future needs, evaluating partnerships in the commercial market, and building the company’s capabilities and strengths.

Throughout her 20+ year career, she has supported key defense and intelligence programs, serving in both the customer’s and her company’s best interest.  Claudeliah is deeply passionate about building diverse and high-functioning teams that serve people.

As Vice President, Claudeliah will cast a vision for revitalizing the United State's position as the most technologically-advanced nation in the world, developing a hybrid model of manufacturing, services, and financial sectors to create more jobs, economic stability, and regain our independence as a producer and exporter of goods, services, and policy.

An awardee of the Mae Jemison Engineering Scholarship, she graduated with an Electrical Engineering degree from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.

Claudeliah’s history of professional excellence has earned her national recognition as a Black Engineer of the Year (BEYA) Modern Day Technologist in 2019, which recognizes an individual’s commitment to shaping the future of engineering, science, and technology. In addition to highlighting Claudeliah’s accomplished technical career, the prestigious award focused on her passion for developing diverse leaders that will evolve the face of technology.

In her corporate role, she is successfully implementing a business-wide initiative with partnerships from their Women’s Network and their Black Employees Network to increase innovation and develop and mentor a diverse pipeline of senior technologists, scientists, and fellows, highlighting women and people of color.

During a time when our nation is facing an increasingly complex security environment defined by rapid technological change, Claudeliah supports United States readiness by empowering innovation and delivering new capabilities to our Defense & Intelligence forces.

Simmons/Roze finished 11th in the national election, at the top of what I would consider the third tier of third party results, actually outpolling the Socialist Workers Party. They were on the ballot in Oklahoma (0.23%) and Louisiana (0.08%). They were also registered write-ins in over two dozen additional states. In Florida the running-mate was Melissa Nixon.

Since both candidates were residents of Texas, there would have been a potential Constitutional problem in the event of their victory.

Election history: none

Other occupations: engineer, technology director in aerospace and defense industry

Notes:
Roze was listed in the Dallas Business Journal "2019 40 Under 40."

Amar Manil Patel

 

Amar Manil Patel, December 7, 1973 -

VP candidate for American Solidarity Party (aka Independent) (2020)

Running mate with nominee: Brian Thomas Carroll (b. 1949)
Popular vote: 40,652 (0.03%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

For their second Presidential campaign, the new American Solidarity Party nominated two teachers, Brian Carroll of California and Amar Patel of Illinois.

In my observations this appears to be one of the under-the-radar political parties that is rising fast. Based on Catholic Social Teaching and spinning off a bit from the Christian Democratic parties of Europe, the ASP embraces a "whole life" philosophy, or "consistent life ethic."

Patel's biography was supplied on the ASP webpage-- 

Amar Patel was born to Indian immigrants who came to this country in the late 1960s. His father worked as a civil engineer for the city of Chicago and his mother worked as a union laborer in cleaning supply factory. His parents sponsored the immigration of many family members during his childhood and he grew up with several aunts, uncles, and cousins in his family home at once. He received Bachelor’s Degrees in Math, Chemistry, and Psychology and a Master’s in Education from the University of Illinois. After meeting his wife at the Newman Center during college they moved to the Chicago suburbs where they have been teachers for the last 20 years. They have two children in high school.

Amar has spent years on many committees for school and curriculum development, given talks at state conferences, worked on several church councils, and organized major speech competitions. He has coached speech team, math team, tennis, golf, soccer and basketball. He serves his community through the Knights of Columbus and other local organizations. He is a published novelist, lead singer for a band, member of a competitive softball team, but his passion is in building community and bringing people together.

The VP nominee was the subject of an interview here in Oct. 2019, providing this blog with an excellent overview of the 2020 ASP platform--

https://thirdpartysecondbananas.blogspot.com/2019/10/amar-patel-2020-vp-american-solidarity.html

By Election Day, the interview with Patel had accounted for nearly a quarter of the hits on this blog. The ASP had been energetic in linking it to various social media platforms as part of their political marketing. It was the most striking case of networking and mobilizing I witnessed of the 11 candidates who graciously contributed their interview answers to this blog.

The Carroll/Patel ticket finished in 10th place nationally, at the end of what I would consider the second tier of third parties in the 2020 election. They were on the ballot in 8 states and registered write-ins in at least 26 others. Their ballot results in the popular vote: Illinois and Wisconsin 0.16% each, Rhode Island 0.15%, Arkansas 0.14%, Louisiana 0.12%, Mississippi 0.09%, Colorado 0.08%, and Vermont 0.06%. One could possibly pose the thesis they were spoilers in handing Wisconsin to Biden. Of course the same could be said for the Libertarian and Constitution parties. The ticket's write-in vote was impressive, revealing a growing base of support hovering in various states in the 0.01%-0.04% range.

Election history: none

Other occupations: high school math teacher, novelist, musician

Notes:
Patel is a former Republican.

Eric D. Decker

 

Eric D. Decker, January 12, 1997 (California) -

VP candidate for Socialist Labor Party (2020)

Running mate with nominee: Mack William Kitchel (b. 1978)
Popular vote: 0 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Mack Kitchel of Georgia, or someone claiming to be him, filed with the FEC for US President under the banner of the Socialist Labor Party on Aug. 14, 2019. His Vice-President was listed as Eric Decker of Atlanta.

The SLP apparently still exists but they have not run a Presidential candidate since 1976 and pretty much shut down all operations in 2008-2011. But don't get too excited, the electioneering was a hoax. There exists a video on Youtube by Decker that chronicles the origin of the campaign as a prank.

The Youtube, posted by "Airrack" on Aug. 23, 2019 follows Decker as he initially thought about running for President himself, only to discover he was below the Constitutionally mandated age of 35. So then he decided to file the name of his friend, Mack Kitchel, as a prank. In the following order, Decker took these steps as he rode around on his skateboard--

Invented a slogan: Vote for Mack or Get Your Money Back (Decker exclaimed, "It doesn't even make sense.")
Repaired a brochure rack he found in the trash.
Ordered campaign t-shirts.
Created campaign pamphlets.
Created campaign wristbands.
Registered Kitchel with the FEC.
Hired actors to be an adoring campaign throng.
Create yard signs and placed them around town.
Surprised Kitchel with a rally and faux news reporter (Decker).

When faced with the final step, Kitchel rolled with it seamlessly as he went out on the street offering to buy votes for as low as 5 bucks a head. My favorite quote from Kitchel in these exchanges, "Be careful to balance the trickiness of how tricky it is to balance," clearly demonstrating that he has a future in politics should he decide to follow that path.

As it was the Kitchel/Decker campaigned appeared to have evaporated rather quickly. Decker's age would have been an obstacle in attaining office in the event of their victory.

Election history: none

Other occupations: video creator, comedian, Youtube personality

Notes:
I miss the presence of the Socialist Labor Party. They were still on the ballot in my early years of voting.

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.