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Pres/VP Nominations are Closed
The Boston Tea Party is holding its online nominating convention on 15 June. Nominations were closed on 10 June. The seating of state affiliates is open until 10 June.
Here are the nominees so far. Anyone wishing to nominate another candidate should do so as a comment on or reply to this topic. Each nominee will need to be seconded as a reply to the comment or reply nominating him or her.
Here are the nominees so far:
George Phillies was nominated by the New York affiliate, seconded by New Jersey and Tennessee. George Phillies subsequently declined the nomination in an e-mail message to the chair. George Phillies is not a candidate.
Alden Link was nominated by New York, seconded by Pennsylvania. He was present for the nomination and said he would contact us if there were any difficulty. Alden has been nominated and seconded on this thread. Alden has been contacted and declines for either office. Alden Link is not a candidate.
Tom Stevens was nominated by New Jersey and seconded initially by a gentleman from the New York affiliate, who later insisted that it was the booze talking, so I record for future reference that Stevens was seconded by Maker's Mark. Tom Stevens was present to accept the nomination. Tom Stevens has subsequently declined the nomination in writing on this web site. Tom Stevens is not a candidate.
Christine Smith was nominated and seconded on this thread. She declined, on this thread. Christine Smith is not a candidate.
Charles Jay was nominated and seconded on this thread. He has accepted. Charles Jay is a candidate.
Robert Milnes was nominated and seconded on this thread. Robert Milnes is a candidate.
We have Charles Jay and Robert Milnes as candidates for the Boston Tea Party nomination for president of the United States of America. Nominations are closed.
----
My good friends Chris Bennett, Tom Knapp, and Todd Andrew Barnett have been nominated and seconded for vice president on this thread. All three have accepted. We have three excellent candidates for vice president. Nominations are closed.
----
One of the things that I resolved to do when I became chair was to stay out of the races. I am not running for any of these offices. I am not seeking to influence your choice for any of these offices. I regard it as important that the national committee, national staff if we ever have any, and especially the national chair remain impartial in the matter of choosing candidates to be our nominees for various offices.
Let me take this opportunity to note that I do not like the fact that the party process in other libertarian parties has not always involved impartial staff, national committee, or chair. LP co-founder David Nolan has voiced a similar complaint on his campaign materials for his recent run for LP nat'l committee. I think we can do better.
As of this moment, there are three good candidates for president and three good candidates for vice president. Nominations are closed. May the best sentient beings win.
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Christopher Tompkins:
I just joined after reviewing the platform. It took me as quick to decide to join as it did to read it. After the Denver Debacle, I'm glad to see an outlet for libertarians. I'd like to know how we can particpate in the nomination process this coming weekend.
Thanks.
admin:
Christopher,
Welcome to the Boston Tea Party!
Participating in the nominating process will be extremely easy -- When it's time for the convention to start, a prominent link to the "convention space" will appear at the top of the front page. Click on it, and you'll be taken to the polling area with instructions on voting. The voting runs in 24-hour cycles until we have nominees (or None of the Above gets a majority). So you vote, and then check back the next day to see what happened.
Regards,
Tom Knapp
PeterOrvetti:
I am not sure what the rules of the BTP require, but I think it would make sense to create some method by which the BTP could joint-endorse Marilyn Chambers for vice president should Charles Jay be the BTP nominee and select Ms. Chambers as his Personal Choice Party running mate.
planetaryjim:
Last Charles and I spoke about this matter, Marilyn wasn't running.
I think we can rely on Charles to help coordinate with the Personal Choice party if he should win the BTP nomination.
sillysot:
Has anyone talked to Dr. Mary Ruwart about the possibility of running?
planetaryjim:
Give it a try, please.
sillysot:
Sent a note through her website. Not sure if/when she'll get it, but it doesn't hurt to ask...
I, for one, was sorely disappointed when the Libertarian Party chose a neocon instead of her to carry the Libertarian banner. Made those of us who believe that libertarianism is neither conservative nor liberal feel politically homeless all over again.
planetaryjim:
Mary is a friend of some eight years standing with me. We met at an ISIL.org event in Ontario back in 2000. I also contacted her through her Facebook presence, and have not heard back.
There is a potential difficulty in the bylaws of the Libertarian Party. Mary was elected in Denver to a seat on their national committee. Taking the nomination of another political party would violate their bylaws. So, my expectation is that she would be reluctant.
While I disagree with Mary that there is any way to salvage the LP, it is a choice she is clearly committed to. Few people are better qualified to bring clarity and sense to that party. I wish her well whatever choices she takes.
sillysot:
I heard back from her today, and you're correct that she is not comfortable taking the nomination of another party.
Too bad.
Mike_Reid:
I wish to nominate Alden Link for Vice-President. I'm aware that Alden Link has declined consideration for the presidential nomination. However, i just heard that Alden would be willing to accept our vice-presidential nomination. I therefore nominate him.
Michael Reid
President BTPPA
DrTomStevens:
I second the nomination of Alden Link for Vice-President.
Dr. Tom Stevens
Vice-Chair,
Boston Tea Party
planetaryjim:
This part of the thread is new. Has anyone asked Alden if he'll accept the nomination for VP? He withdrew his name for president on the grounds that he'd have to file some stupid FEC paperwork. Wouldn't running for VP involve the same paperwork and disclosures? I see in Dr. Tom's comment below, of 3 June, that Alden does not wish to be considered for either VP or Pres. I would ask that people who are not willing to run not be nominated, please.
cbennett:
Chris Bennett for VP. Although I could never beat Tom Knapp in anything..except perhaps basketball and tallness, I would be honored to be the VP candidate of a party that actually is focused on true pro-freedom principles.
darcyr:
I, too, am pleased that Chris Bennett has thrown his hat in the ring. If this party doesn't implode between now and next weekend, it has one hell of an impressive field for the party's vice-presidential nomination — any one of whom would do the party proud.
With best wishes,
Darcy G. Richardson
planetaryjim:
Explode, possibly. I suggest the web site owner check the equipment room for dynamite. -grin- Seriously, though, some procedural issues should not deter us from having a successful party. On the other hand, in true libertarian tradition, once we have some candidates, we can fling the feces far and wide. Can I get an oo-oo-ooo? Let's focus on having the members pick one of these fine nominees for each office.
admin:
I second the nomination of Chris Bennett, and take exception to the notion that he can't beat me. I may vote for him myself.
darcyr:
Dear BTP Members:
Needless to say, there are a number of outstanding individuals being mentioned as possible candidates on the Boston Tea Party's ticket this autumn.
As one who would like to assist the party here in Florida and nationally, I would like to nominate party founder and Libertarian activist and writer extraordinaire Thomas L. Knapp of Missouri for the party's vice-presidential nomination.
I'm not sure if Mr. Knapp, who had the foresight and savvy to launch this party two years ago, would actually accept the vice-presidential nomination, but I think his presence on the ticket would add a great deal of credibility and could make it easier --- much easier --- for radicals unhappy with the outcome in Denver to embrace this fledgling party.
Tom has few equals in the libertarian movement and would certainly be an inspiring and dynamic candidate. I'm sure he'd also work like hell to promote the party's presidential ticket. Perhaps more effectively than anyone else, Tom also knows how to use his megaphone to reach thousands of disaffected Libertarians across the country. In short, he would be a superb candidate for a party hoping to make its initial mark on the national stage.
Thank you for your kind consideration.
With best wishes,
Darcy G. Richardson
Todd Andrew Barnett:
I second the nomination for Tom Knapp for the Party's vice presidential nomination. While I am running for the same spot, I'd enjoy a great spirited debate between me and Tom on the issues, should he accept the nomination.
Yours in Liberty,
Todd Andrew Barnett
admin:
Darcy and Todd,
Thank you for your kind thoughts.
Short answer: I accept.
Long answer available at:
http://knappster.blogspot.com/2008/06/three-reasons-why.html
Best regards,
Tom Knapp
DrTomStevens:
I spoke to Alden Link this morning and he has informed me he no longer wishes to be considered for nomination as either the Presidential or Vice-Presidential nominee of the Boston Tea Party due to the amount of financial disclosure he would need to supply to the F.E.C.
Dr. Tom Stevens
Vice-Chair, BTP
President, BTPNY
planetaryjim:
We are sad to see Alden withdraw his name from the contest.
Todd Andrew Barnett:
Jim:
How long will the convention be? How many days will this convention be? Let me know so that I can correctly configure the event page of the Boston Tea Party group on Facebook.
Thanks!
Yours in Liberty,
Todd Andrew Barnett
planetaryjim:
The national committee is voting on a motion now (four votes already cast "yes" so I think it is cinched) to move the convention to 9 p.m. on Sunday the 15th of June.
I'm asking the nat-comm to move the deadline for nominations and to seat state affiliates by at least one day, as well.
Given that there are four state affiliates, and Dr. Tom Stevens's motion for the convention which seems certain to be approved calls for voting by state, only four votes need to be registered and counted for each office (president, VP). So, that should take about five minutes. How long is it going to take each state to caucus its members and generate a vote? No idea. That's an internal state matter, not subject to my review.
HEY!!! IF YOU HAVE NOT ORGANIZED YOUR STATE AFFILIATE DO SO NOW!!!
Yes, you want a state affiliate. I am prepared to urge the nat-comm to provisionally seat, for this convention, affiliates with as few as two members. But, no affiliate, no vote.
Sample bylaws for a state affiliate are here:
http://bostontea.us/node/42
The bylaws require 5 members from the state in order to seat an affiliate. NY, NJ, PA, and TN are covered.
Based on some comments I've seen here, we are close on Colorado and Michigan. I see several people here from Illinois. I've seen comments from people from Massachusetts, California, Kansas, Texas, Nevada, Missouri, North Carolina, and many other places.
I would urge each of you from a state with no Boston Tea Party affiliate to look for a forum topic for your state by hitting "more" under active forum topics and look in the state affiliates section of the topics. If there is no topic for your state, start one.
Contact friends. Recruit neighbors. Form an affiliate. The national committee is eager to hear from you!
And you should be eager, since there is no other way to cast your vote in this convention.
charlesjay:
I wsn't sure if this was the official forum for the presidential nominations, so I am posting it here in addition to the sub-section entitled "Presidential and Vice-presidential Nominations." I beg your forgiveness if you are reading this a second time:
I would certainly like to be considered for the upcoming presidential nomination in the Boston Tea Party. I am currently the nominee of the Personal Choice Party, which is headquartered in Utah. I also ran in the 2004 election as the Personal Choice nominee (actress Marilyn Chambers was my running mate), and in fact finished fourth in the Utah division of the National Mock Election, behind only Bush, Kerry and Nader. I was one of about two dozen candidates the PC Party had on the ballot. On election day, we were sixth in Utah, the only state we were on the ballot. This year I am anticipating access in at least a couple of more states.
I am doing this is the spirit of fusion and cooperation, with the objective of possibly unifying efforts between like-minded people in the pursuit of furthering liberty, as this seems to have taken a back seat to political expedience in the Libertarian Party. The Personal Choice Party was formed almost eleven years ago among LP members who left the party, or rather, departed when the party left THEM. So there is kinship with the Boston Tea Party. True parties of principle need to communicate.
I see a great coalition here. I am located in Florida and I am obviously delighted to help in the formation of an affiliate BTP chapter, as well as getting some ballot access and campaigning here in the Sunshine State.
Thanks, and I hope to be talking with everyone soon.
Charles Jay
Hollywood, FL
Todd Andrew Barnett:
I nominate Charles Jay for the BTP presidential nomination.
Yours in Liberty,
Todd Andrew Barnett
Vice Presidential Candidate, Boston Tea Party
Shoelessjoe:
From the great state of NC, I Tom Marino respectfully hereby second the nomination of Charles Jay for President of these United States of America.
Tom Marino
Wilmington, NC
admin:
... I'd also like to second the nomination of Charles Jay.
I first got to know Charles in 2004 when he was seeking the Libertarian Party's vice-presidential nomination. He subsequently dropped out of that race to accept the Personal Choice Party's nomination, and was on the ballot in Utah.
In my (admittedly limited, but actual) experience, Charles is an upstanding and dedicated individual who loves liberty and is willing to act on it. Also, in the event that I am the vice-presidential nominee, I take a certain perverse pleasure in knowing that I will be attempting to fill the spike heels of his 2004 running mate, Marilyn Chambers.
Best regards,
Tom Knapp
Todd Andrew Barnett:
Fellow Boston Tea Partyers:
I am announcing my intention to run for the vice presidential nomination on the Boston Tea Party ticket. I am elated and excited to see liberty in our lifetime, and I believe that, besides the Free State Project (of which I'm a proud member), the Boston Tea Party also holds the same principles that the Libertarian Party once had. As many of you are aware, the Libertarian Party died a very sad but expected death at the Denver convention on the weekend of May 22 through May 26. Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr was coronated as the presidential candidate the same way that the late Harry Browne was, except that Barr is not a true libertarian politically.
Because of this, I am not pleased with the LP; therefore, last week I have officially bolted from the Libertarian Party (that action having taken place on Sunday within minutes before Bob Barr got the nomination, but it became clear that he was coming out of the convention as the victor in the race). Therefore, I am proud to have left the Libertarian Party, but not only that, I have revoked the Pledge that I had originally signed when I first joined it.
Having said that, I am focusing my efforts on both the BTP and the FSP. The Boston Tea Party has become my home, although I am working to start a BTP in the state of Michigan. Therefore, for libertarians who are disaffected with the national, state, and local LP parties (particularly in my state), I hope they can contact me at ToddAndrewBarnett@gmail.com.
That said, I am proudly running as the vice presidential candidate on this ticket. I hope the delegates at the BTP convention consider me as a serious contender in this race.
BTW, I am working on a pure platform, so I hope we can work together to get this party off the ground. :)
Yours in Liberty,
Todd Andrew Barnett
Boston Tea Party, Member
Boston Tea Party of Michigan, Member and Founding Member
P.S. Let's fight for liberty together. :)
P.S.S. A website will be up in the weeks to come. :)
m3talsmith:
But thomas beat me to it. I am curious about the Michigan group. Any more information forth coming on the progress of that affiliate?
planetaryjim:
And thirds are just fine. Don't try to herd the cats, please.
There is a thread on the Michigan affiliate here:
http://bostontea.us/node/41
admin:
I second the nomination of Todd Andrew Barnett for the Boston Tea Party's 2008 vice-presidential nomination. Good luck, Todd. I hear you've got an opponent who fights dirty ;-)
Regards,
Tom Knapp
planetaryjim:
The idea has come up to possibly endorse the nominee of the Personal Choice party. This concept was also made in the context of broader cooperation with that party. I thought to mention these ideas here.
southernpatriot:
I would like to nominate Christine Smith for President.
Darryl W. Perry
planetaryjim:
Excellent! I am glad to see Christine nominated and seconded. Please contact her to let her know.
southernpatriot:
I sent Christine an e-mail letting her know that she has been nominated as a potential candidate and that she needs to respond to either accept or reject this offer.
Darryl W. Perry
planetaryjim:
That's not quite all, Darryl. Each candidate who wants the nomination also has to assent to the party platform. Should be easy to do. The easiest way to do that is to come to this site and join the party. But, I'll also accept an e-mail from the candidate to that effect, preferably repeating the platform verbatim (cut/paste is fine) so we all know what is agreed.
The point being that we cannot very well run a candidate who doesn't agree with our basic smaller government, never bigger government platform. I mean, look what that's done to the LP.
VTV:
I second the nomination of Christine Smith for President.
"People should not be afraid of their governments, governments should be afraid of their people."
c:
I have heard from several BTP members asking me if I would be agreeable to accepting your presidential nomination. Thank you for your emails. I am considering the matter, and will make my decision later.
-Christine Smith
PAID FOR BY CHRISTINE SMITH FOR PRESIDENT
planetaryjim:
Thank you! Thank you very much, Christine, for your courteous and prompt response. Please feel free to phone me up about it if you wish to speak directly to anyone.
c:
Thank you, Jim. Please call or email me the phone number to call you at. I have spoken with other BTP members, but none had your number.
Christine Smith
PAID FOR BY CHRISTINE SMITH FOR PRESIDENT
c:
I decline the BTP presidential nomination.
Thank you,
Christine Smith
PAID FOR BY CHRISTINE SMITH FOR PRESIDENT
planetaryjim:
Dear Christine,
Sorry to learn you are declining. Never did get a chance to speak to you.
I did want to thank you for the campaign you ran for the LP nomination. I think what you said at the convention was right on target.
Regards,
Jim
Robert Milnes:
Robert Milnes I hereby nominate Robert Milnes president.
Dodge_Landesman:
Hell, I may as well second the nomination for Robert Milnes. You have to respect that guy for fighting.
Robert Milnes:
Robert Milnes I thank you for the second and hereby accept. Further, I'd like to thank all of the efforts that have gone into this party. Now I come along, perhaps a johnny come lately, and propose a very practical purpose. That would be to further my independent candidacy for president. As soon as I can secure a woman for vice-president I propose to call it the Progressive Alliance ticket and obtain a display much as Ralph Nader with his Independence Party ticket, vice-president Matt Gonzalez. I point out that on politics1.com, there are 44 by my count Independent and Write-in candidates named, including me. There is also a caption that states: "none of the below independents have yet to achieve ballot status in any state." If I were nominated by BTP that ballot access could be added to subsequently. Some state ballot access is just a matter of a few hundred signatures and/or a fee by a deadline. I have asked the Native American tribes to help me with ballot access in all states including Oklahoma, which deadline is July 15. I submit that my proposals on Native American issues are the most favorable and achievable if I am elected. Full ballot access would be necessary for that I have communicated to them. In all fairness and openness to all here, I have yet to receive ANY reply from them. Also I have asked ENM ElfNinos Mom to be a vice-presidential place holder at least for this ticket. I await her reply. Pursuant to that I hereby place ENM in nomination for vice-president for BTP. Apologies to Founder Tom K. That would exclude him from the vp position, but he has a Congressional race already! I submit to all here that if full ballot access is achieved, victory by plurality in a three way race is possible PLUS various Libertarian and Green coattails downticket. There is really that much available inclusive progressive vote. So my candidacy is in effect to ask you for this use of BTP ballot access and purpose as opposed to any other purpose. This is in direct opposition to the LP and subsequent GP tickets. I tried to avoid that but have not succeeded. Again, thank you for your efforts towards this worthy goal. I look forward to further developments.
planetaryjim:
Mr. Milnes responded on my blog about his nominations. I place below a copy of his text, which is also found at node 77.
Response to Chair.
new
Submitted by Robert Milnes on Mon, 06/09/2008 - 19:42.
I believe Chair's reference to deleting comments were mine. Basically I had nominated Mary Ruwart for vice-president of Boston Tea party. I discussed reform v purism & how she wasa my second choice for vp at the Lp convention. Dr. Karen Kwiatkowski was my first. Then I wrote another comment in which I briefly nominated Dr. Kwiatkowski for vice-president of Boston Tea party! I hope I am not a nuisance to them; after all KK has politely declined my requests to her before. But on the other hand, if seconded, let them have the opportunity to decline or accept with whatever rationale they care to communicate. My working hypothesis has been for a long time that a winning progressive alliance ticket should ideally consist of a left-libertarian (which I believe Teddy Roosevelt was) or Green/leftist or other libertarian who was willing to strongly, definitively reach out to the left, man and a right or other libertarian woman vp. So, in order to comply with the deadline, I'd like to take this opportunity to nominate for vice president of Boston Tea party, Christine Smith, Tamara Millay and Angela Keaton. Also Dr. Nancy Lord Johnson and Jo Jorgensen.
admin:
Tamara Millay is not a member of the party (at the moment), but she is the mother of my children and is about three feet away from me right now. She just said "thanks, but no thanks."
Also, perhaps it needs to be clarified (I'm not sure if you're saying what you seem to be saying):
You are not running for president of the Boston Tea Party, nor would any of your desired VP nominees be running for vice-president of the Boston Tea Party. If nominated, you and they would be running for, respectively, the presidency and the vice-presidency of the United States of America.
Regards,
Tom Knapp
ElfNinosMom:
While I am flattered by Mr. Milnes' offer and nomination, I must respectfully decline.