A History of Greens as Mayors

A History of Greens as Mayors

Continue Reading March 14th, 2007

The latest issue of Green Pages includes a list of the 34 Green mayors from around the United States since 1991. This includes 10 elected mayors and 24 appointed ones, usually city councilmembers who have been elevated to the position of mayor for one or two year terms. …

Libertarian Enters State Senate Race

Continue Reading March 14th, 2007

A South Carolina Libertarian is contesting a June special election for a State Senate seat. He’ll be the lone challenger to the Republican primary winner on the general election ballot.

From The Island Packet Online…

A 25-year-old Hilton Head Island resident is joining the race for the South Carolina Senate District …

Ron Paul Launches Presidential Bid

Continue Reading March 14th, 2007

Well, now it’s official.

Ron Paul is running for President as a Republican in 2008. He will launch his bid Monday while appearing as a guest on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal” call-in program.

The Dallas Morning News has the story. Props to Joey Dauben for sharing the link.

U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, …

Winona LaDuke Discusses Her Work

Continue Reading March 14th, 2007

The Oregon Daily Emerald has an interview and profile of Winona LaDuke, the 1996 and 2000 Green Party nominee for Vice-President. In the piece she discusses her motivation and work on behalf of Native Americans and other groups.

In a lecture Tuesday, two-time vice presidential candidate and founder of the …

American Heritage Party report on Chicago meeting

Continue Reading March 14th, 2007

From Susan Eby:

Dan and I returned home late Tuesday from our time spent in Chicago, where over 50 enthusiastic individuals met to hear Dan’s presentation on “Explicitly Christian Politics,” and to find out more about the possibility of forming an Illinois State AHP. We were very encouraged and pleased …

Third Party Candidates in 2008?

Continue Reading March 14th, 2007

There are many political blogs/web sites on the web dedicated to various subjects. There are some I check daily and some I stumble across every so often. One of my regular web sites to read is Ron Gunzburger’s Politics1, which reports on all political news, but mostly carries …

Mississippi Greens and CP Field Candidates

Continue Reading March 14th, 2007

Both the Green and Constitution Parties are running candidates for the Mississippi state legislature this year. From Ballot Access News…

Mississippi holds all its elections for state office in the odd years that are one year before presidential election years. State legislators in both houses have 4-year terms, and they …

William Kennedy Shearer (1931-2007)

Continue Reading March 14th, 2007

It is with great sadness and horrible grief that I announce the passing of American Independent Party founder and former Constitution Party National Chairman, William K. Shearer, who went to be with the Lord on Saturday at 4:42pm (Pacific Time). Bill was fighting cancer for over a year and finally …

RUNNING TO CENTER; CPAC NEWS; PENCE PLAYS; BLUNT PRIMARY LOOMS; MS ‘07 FILING CLOSES; AND MORE.

Continue Reading March 1st, 2007

FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE.

RUNNING TO CENTER; CPAC NEWS; PENCE PLAYS; BLUNT PRIMARY LOOMS; MS ‘07 FILING CLOSES.
P2008: National Journal has some interesting new analysis out about the ‘08 Presidential hopefuls. Here is The Hotline’s summary: “Not only are Clinton and McCain the most moderate members of Congress in the WH ‘08 race, but they’ve each made sharp swerves to the center at decisive points in the past few years. Clinton, for example, once voted solidly with the left, ranking among the most liberal sens in ‘01 and ‘02. Since ‘04, she has moved notably to the right, especially on economic and foreign issues. While her lifetime average is still slightly left of Biden, she’s now the 32nd most liberal; Obama is the 10th, even farther left than Kucinich …. Same story for McCain, who ranked among the most conservative Senators during his first 8 years. Starting with the GOP takeover in ‘95, however, and continuing through the Bush years, McCain has moved steadily to the middle (in ‘04, McCain, Chafee and Snowe were the most liberal GOPers). He now ranks as the 46th most conservative Senator.”
McCAIN: US Senator John McCain (R-AZ) is making an odd move for a GOP Presidential candidate: he’s the only major GOP contender who plans to skip the influential Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) this upcoming weekend. The event has been a key stop for years on the Republican road to the nomination. Even Rudy Giuliani, who is the most socially moderate of the GOP contenders, plans to attend the 34th annual CPAC gathering in DC of conservative activists. Former US Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) — a favorite of CPAC conservatives — took the opportunity to slam McCain. “The only one I wouldn’t support is McCain. I don’t agree with him on hardly any issues. I don’t think he has the temperament and leadership ability to move the country in the right direction,” Santorum told The Politico. If that wasn’t bad enough, McCain in the face of harsh criticism hastily retracted his Wednesday comment that the lives of 3,100 US soldiers were “wasted” in Iraq. “I should have used the word, sacrificed, as I have in the past,” said McCain.
PENCE: Congressman Mike Pence (R-IN), the former Chair of the House Republican Study Committee, is the keynote speaker featured at the CPAC convo. He’s a favorite of Club for Growth conservatives. Some fans have even launched a Draft Pence for President campaign site. When asked about it by The Hotline, Pence’s spokesman responded: “Congressman Pence has not ruled out a run in the near term or the long term.” A Pence candidacy for Prez next year is a longshot — but we’d bet a lot of Republicans would love to see Pence in the VP spot.
MISSOURI: State Treasurer Sarah Steelman (R) is acting these days like someone readying for an aggressive 2008 GOP primary challenge to Governor Matt Blunt (R). The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Steelman issued a press release this week that “blasted the Blunt Administration’s handling of the sexual harassment allegations and lawsuits revolving around Agriculture Department Director Fred Ferrell.” Steelman criticized the $70,000 check the state paid from the the State Agriculture Department to settle the matter — a payment the purported victim had rejected — and she went so far as to stop payment on the check. “I did it because it’s the right thing to do. My job as State Treasurer is to take care of the people’s money … [my job involves] pointing out that this government is flawed,” said Steelman to the newspaper, noting “no one would have known about it” if lawsuits hadn’t been filed last week. “Governor Blunt respects the opinion of Treasurer Steelman and they have a positive working relationship,” said Blunt’s spokesman. When asked if she was planning to run for Governor next year, Steelman coyly responded: “I’ve got no timetable. I haven’t even thought about it [yet].” The Dems already have an announced candidate against Blunt: Attorney General Jay Nixon (D).
MISSISSIPPI: Candidate filing for the 2007 elections closed on Thursday. Despite months of speculation, former Governor Ray Mabus (D) did not file to run against Governor Haley Barbour (R), and former Governor Ronnie Musgrave (D) likewise passed on the open race for Lieutenant Governor. Instead, Barbour’s leading challengers — both “second tier” candidates — are wealthy attorney John Arthur Eaves Jr. (D) and former State Senator Bill Renick (D). With three open statewide offices, it was no surprise that lots of candidates qualified for the ballot. Click here to view all of the Mississippi statewide filings. The primary is August 7.
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 03.02.07 | Permalink | postCount(’030207a’);

FREE SPEECH ZONE.
3,100 American lives “wasted” in Iraq … or “sacrificed”? I’m going to step on some toes here, but the difference between those words is meaningless semantics. Dead is dead. What makes this waste of brave young lives so tragic is that they died in a preemptive, unprovoked war in which no real US interests were ever at stake (except, of course, the interest of Bush family vanity). And now our troops are caught in the crossfire of a bloody religious sectarian civil war. I’m unapologetic on this issue. If we really want to support our troops, the solution doesn’t lie in the phony salve of soothing political wordsmithing. The solution is to bring our troops home from Iraq now. Let our troops concentrate on the free world’s real post-9/11 mission: defeating the terrorist al Qaeda forces based in the Afghan region.
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 03.02.07 | Permalink | postCount(’030207b’);

WANNA TRADE?
I’m interested in building up my collection of Canadian campaign buttons. If you’ve got Canadian political buttons to trade, I’m interesting in swapping with you for some great US pins. Please drop me a note!

THURSDAY NEWS UPDATE.

McCAIN MAKES IT OFFICIAL; WARNER VERSUS WARNER, ROUND 2?
McCAIN: US Senator John McCain (R-AZ) officially made his preordained transition from exploratory candidate to official Presidential candidate with his Wednesday night appearance on CBS’s Late Show with David Letterman. In an email to supporters, McCain’s campaign described the appearance as his announcement. It also said he will hold a formal announcement even in April — so he can “announce” his candidacy for the third time.
VIRGINIA: The Washington Post reports former Governor Mark Warner (D) is engaged in discussions with the DSCC about making a challenge next year against US Senator John Warner (R). Mark Warner, the wealthy Nextel company founder who aborted his Presidential run late last year, has apparently dined with Senator Chuck Schumer and remains in regular contact with him and other DSCC officials about the Senate race. The two Warners faced off for the US Senate in 1996 — a costly and competitive race won by John Warner — before Mark Warner was elected Governor in 2001.
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 03.01.07 | Permalink | postCount(’030107a’);