Last week when I received my absentee ballot, I was excited to vote. I tore open the envelope and expected to see the names of John McCain and Barack Obama. I was not expecting these six other candidates. As I read the list, Chuck Baldwin, Bob Barr, Charles Jay, Cynthia McKinney, Brian Moore and Ralph Nader, some of the names were familiar but many were not. I started asking myself, who are these people and why are they running?
Charles O. "Chuck" Baldwin is the nominee of the Constitution Party and the pastor for the Crossroad Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida. He was the VP nominee in 2004 for the Constitution Party. He produces a daily one-hour radio program called "Chuck Baldwin Live". Baldwin has been a long standing critic of George Bush and supporter of Ron Paul. Baldwin's platform is similar to Ron Pauls. He opposes the United Nations, U.S. income tax, the Patriot Act, gun control and basically anything that attempts to control individual liberties.
Robert Laurence "Bob" Barr is the nominee of the Libertarian Party and a former federal prosecutor and member of the US House of Representatives. He joined the Libertarian party in 2006 but was previously part of the Republican party. Bob Barr is known best as one of the leaders in the impeachment of Bill Clinton. He is considered to be one of the most conservative members of Congress. He has been described the Athens Banner-Herald in 2002 as "the idol of the gun-toting, abortion-fighting, IRS-hating hard right wing of American politics". His position of the war on drugs has flip-flopped over time, at first strongly opposing legalizing medical marijuana and now reversing his position. He opposes same-sex marriage, the Patriot Act, and the U.S. income tax.
Charles Jay is the nominee of the U.S. Boston Tea Party and a former nominee of the Personal Choice Party in 2004. His VP candidate in that election was a famous porn star Marilyn Chambers. He is on the ballot in Florida, Tennessee and Colorado for this presidential election. The Boston Tea Party's platform supports reducing the size, scope and power of government at all levels and on all issues, and opposes increasing the size, scope and power of government at any level, for any purpose.
Cynthia Ann McKinney is the nominee of the Green Party and a former member of the US House of Representatives. She was the first African-American woman to represent Georgia in the House. She is know to some because of her 2006 Capitol Hill Police incident where she confronted an officer who did not recognize her. McKinney is also know for proposing the MLK Records Act and the Tupac Shakur Records Act. These acts call for the release of documents pertaining to the deaths of these two figures.
Brian Moore is the nominee of the Socialist Party USA and the Liberty Union Party. In previous years he has run for many offices under various party affiliations. After college, Moore studied in a Franciscan seminary, joined the Peace Corps and worked for 20 years in the HMO/Managed Care industry.
Ralph Nader is the independent candidate for the Presidential election. He attended Princeton University and Harvard Law School. He is an advocate for automobile safety and a supporter of young activists known as "Nader's Raiders". He is known for his involvement in the third-party votes controversy in the 2000 presidential election, when some accused him of being a spoiler.
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