Posted on 04/27/2008 2:09:43 PM PDT by TheEaglehasLanded
Constitution Party stunner: Chuck Baldwin KOs firebrand Alan Keyes
Convening its national convention in Kansas City today, the Constitution Party picked radio talk-show host Chuck Baldwin over former Ambassador Alan Keyes as its 2008 presidential candidate.
The pick was seen as something of an upset, given Keyes' higher national profile. Known for his fiery stem-winders, Keyes is a two-time GOP presidential candidate who abandoned the Republican Party this month to join the Constitution Party, which believes in limited government and is committed to ending abortion and bringing American troops home from Iraq.
But Baldwin's roots in the Constitution Party run deeper. He was the party's 2004 vice-presidential candidate, and party members said his stands were more in line with party thinking.
"Chuck is the real deal," said Jim Clymer, the party's national chairman.
Still, the two waged a fierce battle described as the most contentious in the party's 16-year history. Baldwin wound up winning easily on a 384-126 vote. The Missouri and Kansas delegations basically split their votes between the two.
"They just rejected the most qualified man to be president," said Tom Hoefling of Lohrville, Iowa, Keyes' national political director. "Chuck Baldwin will have no impact on this election whatsoever."
The party's immediate tasks, Clymer said, are raising money and gaining ballot access in each state. The party now has qualified to be on the ballots of 21 states. He expects the eventual total to top 40 and include Kansas and Missouri.
"We're always short on money," Clymer said.
In his acceptance speech, Baldwin said his presidency would result in the ending of illegal immigration, abortion, the streamlining of the federal government, the tapping of oil reserves in Alaska and withdrawal from Iraq.
"We will stop the international meddling...this international empire-building," Baldwin said.
When he takes office, Baldwin said, "The new world order comes crashing down!"
He pledged not only to pull out of the United Nations, but to push the international organization out of New York.
"The U.N. is going to have to find themselves another (home) because their rent is up in New York City," he said.
He said he would phase out the Internal Revenue Service and end the paying of personal income taxes. He said the country should return to the gold standard.
Home schoolers, he said, would have the best friend they ever had in the White House.
Submitted by Steve Kraske on April 26, 2008 - 12:15pm.
He had me until the “empire-building” idiocy.
But we sure must be near what the now defunct British Empire attained.
They spanned every continent, no one else came close.
What do you think we are doing in Afganistan and Iraq? Most established Democracys are friendly to the United States. Look at Japan and Germany before and after WWII. Its freedom, but it is empire building.
so is Germany and Japan part of our ‘empire’. If not, we are not empire builders.
Hey now, don’t try to reason with the Paulites.
An empire (from the Latin "imperium", denoting military command within the ancient Roman government) is a state that extends dominion over populations distinct culturally and ethnically from the culture/ethnicity at the center of power. Scholars still debate about what exactly constitutes an empire, and other definitions may emphasize economic or political factors.
Will Keyes now leave this party and seek another one?
I agree that they should have nominated someone who has held an office. I read that Bob Smith, who was a republican U.S. senator, 1991-2003, sought the Constitution Party’s presidential nomination. He would have been a better choice than Baldwin.
Only got this far here...
bringing American troops home from Iraq
Bob Smith lost it too when he endorsed John F. Kerry in 2004.
"We will stop the international meddling...this international empire-building," Baldwin said.
When he takes office, Baldwin said, "The new world order comes crashing down!"
He pledged not only to pull out of the United Nations, but to push the international organization out of New York.
"The U.N. is going to have to find themselves another (home) because their rent is up in New York City," he said.
He said he would phase out the Internal Revenue Service and end the paying of personal income taxes. He said the country should return to the gold standard.
Just like that, he's going to accomplish this all by himself. He obviously doesn't understand how the government works. The RATS are in control of the House and the Senate. HOW, praytell is he going to pass anything as controversial as what he proposes to do here?
Disappointing.
Baldwin is on the wrong side of Iraq (he’s on the populist side).
I would have preferred Keyes.
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