Score in 'battle of the ballot': Badnarik 48, Nader 39

[Libertarian Toker]

Score in 'battle of the ballot': Badnarik 48, Nader 39

WASHINGTON -- Libertarian presidential candidate Michael Badnarik is soundly defeating Ralph Nader and all other third-party candidates in the "the battle of the ballot," as his name currently appears on 48 state ballots, compared to just 39 for Nader.

"Later, Nader!" said Badnarik campaign chairman Fred Collins. "Even if this publicity hound wins all of his legal challenges, he will be on 43 ballots at the most. Voters may see more of Ralph Nader on television, but they'll see more of Michael Badnarik on their ballot, where it really matters."

Badnarik is now confirmed on 48 state ballots plus the District of Columbia, compared to just 39 for Nader, 37 for the Constitution Party's Michael Peroutka and 27 for the Green Party's David Cobb.

Nader's name will be absent from ballots in vote-rich states such as California, Georgia, Indiana and Virginia. He could also be excluded in Texas, Illinois and Ohio if he loses his legal challenges, according to Ballot Access News, which tracks third-party election issues.

Libertarian Michael Badnarik passed the 48-state milestone last week when petition signatures were verified in Alabama. Badnarik narrowly missed qualifying for the New Hampshire ballot, though a challenge is under way. In Oklahoma, which has some of the most restrictive ballot access laws in the nation, the party is awaiting the outcome of a lawsuit.

Collins calculates that by getting on 48 ballots, 98.4 percent of voters will see Badnarik's name when they go to the polls.

"Americans who are fed up with tax-and-spend Democrat John Kerry and borrow-and-spend Republican George Bush will have a meaningful choice on Election Day," he says. "Anyone who wants a smaller, less expensive government is wasting their vote on Bush or Kerry."

The Libertarian Party, which is widely considered to be America's largest and most successful third party, has gotten its presidential candidate on all 50 state ballots for the past three presidential elections in a row; no other third party has done so twice.

The Libertarian Party has approximately 600 local officeholders nationwide, which is more than all other third parties combined. Together they save taxpayers an estimated $1 billion per year.

The party expects to run more than 1,000 candidates for federal, state and local office in the November election.

http://www.lp.org/press/archive.php?function=view&record=674

[Libertarian Toker]

BADNARIK IN NH â?? COME ON DEMS, HELP HIM OUT!
September 22

The Concord Monitor reports:

Not so free

It seems New Hampshire, the destination for the Free State Project, may not be the promised land for Libertarians after all. For the first time since 1972, Novemberâ??s presidential ballot wonâ??t be graced with a Libertarian candidateâ??s name.

Michael Badnarik, the Libertariansâ?? pick for the White House, made it on every other ballot in the nation (although the campaign is fending off a court challenge in Okalahoma), but the New Hampshire party had a tough time collecting the necessary 1,500 signatures from each congressional district.

Secretary of State Bill Gardnersaid the local Libs got just 929 signatures in the First District and 1,263 in the Second. Even the Constitution Party came closer, getting around 2,900 people to sign their petition in both districts.

To which there is a response at Daily Kos:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/9/22/201552/458

According to an article today in the concord monitor Badnarik (LP) didnâ??t make it on the NH ballot, the only state the LP failed to qualify.

Apparently, the LP petitions have been challenged & delayed by local Democratic party officials.

This is a really stupid thing to do. Badnarik is more likely to get Bush votes than Kerry votes. So why not help him get on the ballot?

OK, Democrats, thanks for the offer of assistance - we greatly appreciate it. Now will you kindly convince Mr. Kerry to quit supporting what was once called Bushâ??s War?

http://www.badnarik.org/newsfromthetrail.php?p=1116

[Sedater18]

badnarik won't win, its stupid that only 2 parties really have the chance to win most year. If badnarik had more money and political connections, media coverage (and I mean like real media coverage, not being interveiwed by bill mahr or conan obrien even tho its good to see a candidate have a sense of humor), fame he would probably have a good chance at victory. If you ask alot of 18 year old kids around here how they feel on badnarik in the campain, they will usually say "who's Badnarik?" ralph nader is a known candidate but he is known as a prick and a media gadfly. It's annoying when a third candidate is recognized and draws a significant amout of votes he/she is thought of as causing one of the 2 major candidates to loose instead of as another candidate.
the democrats did that to nader last election but I actually agree with them because nader is a douche. More candidates in other parties should be tracked and covered by the media, a good deal more. maybe the reason most of the votes go to the democrats and the republicans is because they are the ones that most people know about. I think it would be right if there was at least 8 candidates from seperate parties that were likely to be elected rather then just 2.

[Ed Ward MD]

http://thepriceofliberty.org tonight. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. It will be on the Front Page for 2 days. Hope it helps. More will come. (battle of the ballot)

Ed Ward, MD :(

[Libertarian Toker]

Thats cool! Mike needs all the help he get at this point.

Toker

[Ed Ward MD]

Founding Father's Plea: :eek:
Return America to What It Is Supossed to Be! :cool:

Very Rough Draft which will follow the Press Release: (won't you make my purple :( eyes ;) blue)

What person claims to know more about the Constitution, it's intentions, interpretations, subtleties, inner workings, etc., and etal, than The Father of The Constitution and The Framers of The Constitution. There are many that claim to be able to interpret and have many titles for just that. Fancy Law Degrees and PhD's, they all claim to know the Constitution. But, any person that claims to tell me that they know more about "this Constitution" than The Father of The Constitution and The Framers of The Constitution, I have to thank. It's nice to be able to know a liar and thief of Rights during the introduction. For All these Learned Law Degrees and PhDs have studied anything but The Constitution. If they have not studied the Historical Background Constitution and Only The Historical Background Constitution, they have not studied "this Constitution" and are ignorant of The Facts. The Father of The Constitution says: "Do not separate text from historical background. If you do, you will have perverted and subverted the Constitution, which can only end in a distorted, bastardized form of illegitimate government." -- James Madison, Primary Author of the Constitution <http://www.barefootsworld.net/constit1.html>

No one will ever be able to explain to me more clearly How "this Constitution" Is To Be Interpreted, or, what "this government" was created to be, better than the man integral to it's conception. As an American, I know beyond a shadow of doubt, That Is My heritage. Those Are My Rights. Those Are The People's Rights. Yet "this government" has more than 50 interpretations of the Constitution. And out of that, there is only one that "this government" has taken an oath or affirmation to support during present and past Oaths of Office. It is hardly used by "this government" or "past governments" in several decades, currently called Originalism or Original Intent. But, it is more appropriately named by The Father of The Constitution as The Historical Background Constitutional Interpretation.

This Is The Historical Background of The Constitution According to Thomas Jefferson. (My apologies for these are not the most appropriate of all of TJ's quotes. Nor is TJ the only source of significant quotes. From just 2 sources, there are over 400 quotes dealing with what the government should be, the tyrannical government that might follow, Unalienable Rights, Liberty, Justice, Government, The Constitution, etc., et al. They all need to be catagorized for appropriate usage in a Historical Background Interpretation. Until then, they remain hidden from The People, just as the Rights they espouse are hidden from all, but, those who look to find them wherever they can.. Add to that almost 200 quotes dealing with the same aspects from James Madison. Add to that John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, George Washingtion, and several others and there are probably close to 1000 insights into Exactly what is meant by "this Constitution" and what this government should be and should not be. All will need to be catagorized to be used effectively. This does not include any papers, notes, or writing by any of these individuals that strived so hard to keep us free from tyranny. This is a fairly large undertaking and will not be finished in 40 days. In 40 days, this country will elect another president. The People, if informed of what has been stolen from them by government over decades, Can Be Returned to The People. One of the Presidential Candidates has affirmed his alliance to The Historical Background Constitution. In 40 days "super supreme one" could be Alot Less super supreme. In 4 years and 40 days, the entire representation of this country could be Returned to The People. It will not take any firearms, or violence. All it will take is for the 100 million or so that have gotten so tired of a Rigged System that they no longer vote, To Vote for Return of "this government" to The People. It can start in 40 days and be finished in 4 years and 40 days. It does not matter who the president is, as long as his hands are bound by the chains of The Historical Background Constitution. The man with the bound hands is Michael Badnarik of the Libertarian Party. The man with the bound hands is eligible in 48 states. The man with the bound hands is a viable 3rd Party Candidate with exposure. The choice is up to the voters and those who have foresakin voting.)
"In questions of power let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the constitution."

"I think we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious." There were more than 45 million parasites government employees in 2000 and TJ thought he had it bad before his tenure was over.
Liberty:
I would rather be exposed to the inconveniencies attending too much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it.
But rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law,' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the right of an individual."
"Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations; entangling alliances with none."
"Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God, because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of a blind faith."
"It is not only vain, but wicked, in a legislator to frame laws in opposition to the laws of nature, and to arm them with the terrors of death. This is truly creating in order to punish them."
"Equal rights for all, special privileges for none."
The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time.
Liberty is to the collective body, what health is to every individual body. Without health no pleasure can be tasted by man; without liberty, no happiness can be enjoyed by society.
Taxes:
To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.
"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical."
There is not a truth existing which I fear... or would wish unknown to the whole world.
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.

Rights:

A Bill of Rights is what the people are entitled to against every government, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference.
That peace, safety, and concord may be the portion of our native land, and be long enjoyed by our fellow-citizens, is the most ardent wish of my heart, and if I can be instrumental in procuring or preserving them, I shall think I have not lived in vain.
We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men. We â?¦ solemnly publish and declare, that these colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent states â?¦ and for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honour.
Nothing is more certainly written in the book of fate, than that these people are to be free;

Government:

The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive those papers and be capable of reading them.
Peace, commerce, and honest friendship, with all nations-entangling alliances with none.
"A wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement."
The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.
The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive.
Whenever a man has cast a longing eye on offices, a rottenness begins in his conduct.
When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe.
Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government.
"I think we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious." There were more than 45 million parasites government employees in 2000 and TJ thought he had it bad before his tenure was over.
The world is indebted for all triumphs which have been gained by reason and humanity over error and oppression.
My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.
Our country is now taking so steady a course as to show by what road it will pass to destruction, to wit: by consolidation of power first, and then corruption, its necessary consequence.
That government is the strongest of which every man feels himself a part.
The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government.
The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as they are injurious to others.
Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.
That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves.
A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor and bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government.

God who gave us life gave us liberty. 1 Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever. 2 Commerce between master and slave is despotism. 3 Nothing is more certainly written in the book of fate than that these people are to be free. 4 Establish the law for educating the common people. 5 This it is the business of the State to effect and on a general plan.
Almighty God hath created the mind free. All attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burthens â?¦ are a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion â?¦ No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship or ministry or shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief, but all men shall be free to profess and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion. 1 I know but one code of morality for men whether acting singly or collectively.
"The policy of the American government is to leave their citizens free, neither restraining nor aiding them in their pursuits."

Laws:
A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the high duties of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation. To lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to written law, would be to lose the law itself, with life, liberty, property and all those who are enjoying them with us; thus absurdly sacrificing the end to the means.
The judiciary of the United States is the subtle corps of sappers and miners constantly working under ground to undermine the foundations of our confederated fabricâ?¦. A judiciary independent of a king or executive alone, is a good thing; but independence of the will of the nation is a solecism, at least in a republican government.
The germ of dissolution of our federal government is in the constitution of the federal judiciary; an irresponsible body, (for impeachment is scarcely a scare-crow,) working like gravity by night and by day, gaining a little to-day and a little to-morrow, and advancing its noiseless step like a thief, over the field of jurisdiction, until all shall be usurped from the States, and the government of all be consolidated into one.
At the establishment of our constitutions, the judiciary bodies were supposed to be the most helpless and harmless members of the government. Experience, however, soon showed in what way they were to become the most dangerous; that the insufficiency of the means provided for their removal gave them a freehold and irresponsibility in office; that their decisions, seeming to concern individual suitors only, pass silent and unheeded by the public at large; that these decisions, nevertheless, become law by precedent, sapping, by little and little, the foundations of the constitution, and working its change by construction, before any one has perceived that that invisible and helpless worm has been busily employed in consuming its substance. In truth, man is not made to be trusted for life, if secured against all liability to account.
Press:
If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.
A sense of this necessity, and a submission to it, is to me a new and consolatory proof that wherever the people are well informed they can be trusted with their own government; that whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights.
Where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe.
Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.
The advertisement is the most truthful part of a newspaper.

The People's Duty:
We may consider each generation as a distinct nation, with a right, by the will of its majority, to bind themselves, but none to bind the succeeding generation, more than the inhabitants of another country.
When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.
We are not to expect to be translated from despotism to liberty in a featherbed.
Yet where does this anarchy exist? Where did it ever exist, except in the single instance of Massachusets? And can history produce an instance of a rebellion so honourably conducted?â?¦ God forbid we should ever be 20. years without such a rebellion. The people can not be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions it is a lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty.
There is not a truth existing which I fear... or would wish unknown to the whole world.
Truth is certainly a branch of morality and a very important one to society.
Constitution:
I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.
The constitution, on this hypothesis, is a mere thing of wax in the hands of the judiciary, which they may twist and shape into any form they please.
I wish it were possible to obtain a single amendment to our constitution. I would be willing to depend on that alone for the reduction of the administration of our government to the genuine principles of itâ??s constitution; I mean an additional article, taking from the federal government the power of borrowing.
Every constitution..., and every law, naturally expires at the end of 19 years [a generation]. If it be enforced longer, it is an act of force, and not of right.
In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.
The mobs of great cities add just so much to the support of pure government, as sores do to the strength of the human body. It is the manners and spirit of a people which preserve a republic in vigor. A degeneracy in these is a canker which soon eats to the heart of its laws and constitution.

I own that I am not a friend to a very energetic government. It is always oppressive.
I sincerely believe that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies, and that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale.
I was bold in the pursuit of knowledge, never fearing to follow truth and reason to whatever results they led, and bearding every authority which stood in their way.
War:
War is an instrument entirely inefficient toward redressing wrong; and multiplies, instead of indemnifying losses.
It is our duty still to endeavor to avoid war; but if it shall actually take place, no matter by whom brought on, we must defend ourselves. If our house be on fire, without inquiring whether it was fired from within or without, we must try to extinguish it.
Firearms:
No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.
The beauty of the second amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it.

Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains.
Money, not morality, is the principle commerce of civilized nations.
Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.
Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances.
One man with courage is a majority.
The good opinion of mankind, like the lever of Archimedes, with the given fulcrum, moves the world.
E-Publishers?
The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers.



http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/interp.html
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/about/constitutional.pdf
http://www.constitution.org/cons/prin_cons.htm
http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_intr.html
http://faculty.ncwc.edu/toconnor/410/410lect02.htm