Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Constitution Party National Committee PO Box 1782 Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17608 1-800-2-VetoIRS 1-800-283-8647
Message from Frank Fluckiger, National Chairman
EXTRAORDINARY NEWS!
OFFICIAL VOICE OF THE CONSTITUTION PARTY
Legislation is nearly forgotten in the Capitol but one thing is clear: it removes the threat of having to pay the costs
and attorney fees of those successfully challenging our petitions.
Jim Clymer, a Pennsylvanian and former National Chairman, told me: “In my view it is a very well written and
reasoned opinion. Hopefully this will motivate the legislature act on the bill that is languishing in committee that
will totally revamp the ballot access requirements in Pennsylvania.”
By way of background, in 2004 Ralph Nader was subject to costs of $81,102 after his petition was rejected. The
Court opinion then describes the 2006 election, when Green Party U.S. Senate nominee was ordered to pay
$80,407, after the other Green Party statewide nominees had withdrawn for fear of costs.
We beat the elitists in Pennsylvania the first round, now the challenge of garnering 20,000 signatures (unless the
legislature acts) is the next hurdle — a high one, but we have a record of beating the odds.
More news …
• The Birmingham News, Alabama’s largest newspaper, has printed an appeal from that state’s party for
candidates to run on the Constitution Party line. Of course anyone who comes forward will be properly vetted.
• The South Dakota Constitution Party is again in court citing the March 29 deadline for submitting signatures
discriminates against third parties.
• Finally, in Alaska, the minimum requirement for ballot access signature is 3,000 names. Given the history of
Democrat-Republican resistance to third parties (in every state), the standard rule is to submit 150% of the
requirement, to be safe that names disqualified do not affect success in getting on the ballot. State Chairman
reports that 4,5000 names were submitted and our state affiliate is awaiting word on being qualified.
Take heart — our Voter ’16 Project, fighting for ballot access via petitions, court action, and legislation pushes us
forward. Please invest in this momentum.
VISIT OUR WEBSITE SUBSCRIBE CONTACT YOUR STATE PARTY INVEST JOIN HPLS
Hong Kong
Who’s the Baby’s Daddy?
JULY 2015 Volume 4, Issue 06
We just received notice of a huge win in our ballot access lawsuit in Pennsylvania. The
United States District Court found two key sections of Pennsylvania’s ballot access laws
pertaining to minor parties to be unconstitutional. The Court determined that
Pennsylvania’s system of charging enormous court costs against petitioning candidates
and parties violates the U.S. Constitution, as applied to the minor parties who filed the
lawsuit. The Constitution Party was the lead plaintiff in this action, along with the
Libertarian and Green parties.
Introduced two years ago, the Howard Phillips Legacy
Society builds a solid financial foundation for the
Constitution Party, from donors committed to the
ideals and principles Howard espoused.
This year, 2015, is crucial to next year’s strategy. We
must assess the means and timing of our investments
in ballot access drives to give voters an alternative to
the elitist-controlled major parties.
Last year, over one million voters were inspired to
support our candidates and the platform we believe
in. That’s quite an achievement — one that Howard
Phillips would be proud of. He founded the
Constitution Party on a simple premise … “We stand
for what George Washington stood for: limiting the
federal government to its delegated, enumerated
functions and restoring American jurisprudence to its
biblical common-law foundations.”
Our Republic faces loud and foolish partisan slogans,
influential political power brokers, and unfair rules
and regulations for 3rd parties. Yet the Constitution
Party has survived, even grown, for 23 years.
Members of the Howard Phillips Legacy Society will
receive the exclusive VICTORY REPORT newsletter
and various gifts of appreciation for joining, including
a copy of the patriot classic book by W. Cleon
Skousen, “The 5000 Year Leap”.
Learn more about Howard Phillips here.
Join HPLS online here or by mail here.
NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Chairman: Frank Fluckiger, UT Vice-Chairman: Randall C. Stufflebeam, IL
Secretary: Cindy Redburn, MO Treasurer: Jim Headings, TN
Curtis Caine, M.D., MS James N. Clymer, PA
Joshua Cassity, AL Darrell Castle, TN Ricardo Davis, GA
Peter B. Gemma, FL Hon. Virgil Goode, VA
Janine Hansen, NV Karen Murray, WA
Sam Pew, UT Don Shrader, OH Steven Walker, IN
Wayne Zimmerschied, MN
The American Constitutionist Page 2
The Howard Phillips Legacy Society
From the Inbox . . .
New Brochure. A new brochure promoting the
Constitution Party has been printed and is now
ready for distribution from the National Office.
These are great to use for ballot access drives,
promoting the party at county fairs, gun shows,
right- to-life meetings, and at Tea Party rallies.
The following prices include shipping costs:
20 for $10
50 for $25
100 for $40
250 for $80
1000 for $275
Call or email Brenda Miller at the National Office
to order: (717)390-1993 or [email protected].
Recommended Article by Chuck Baldwin.
We highly recommend that you read Chuck Baldwin’s
16 July 2015 column, “An Open Letter to My Fellow
Pastors and Christians”. We believe it to be one of his
best and have added it to our website.
Chuck Baldwin served as the Constitution Party’s
2018 Presidential Nominee.
LI
The American Constitutionist Page 3
LOCATION:
Double Tree by Hilton, Albuquerque 201 Marquette Avenue Northwest Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102-2246 Desk: 1-505-247-3344 Reservations: 1-505-247-7000 RESERVATION INFORMATION:
Rooms o Rates available Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. o 1 or 2 persons = $109.00 per room o 3 persons = $119.00 per room o 4 persons = $129.00 per room
Deadline is October 15th! RESERVE EARLY! Parking Fee is $8.00 per day. Remember to mention the “Constitution Party” when registering.
REGISTRATION INFORMATION:
Early Bird Discount – $175.00, from now until September 15th. Regular Registration – $185.00, between September 16th and October 15th. Late Registration – $200.00, after October 15th and at the door. Student Registration – $150.00 Friday Banquet Only Registration – check on website, will be available soon.
MEETING INFORMATION:
Friday Training Sessions (8:00 am until 5:00 pm) – Agenda Coming Soon! Friday Executive Committee Meeting (8:00 am until 4:00 pm) Saturday National Committee Meeting (8:00 am until 4:00 pm) – Agenda Coming Soon!
REGISTRATION
FORMS and
INSTRUCTIONS
ONLINE
The American Constitutionist Page 4
Again, it was the consistency in message, effort and
commitment that I felt was more concrete than the
GOP.
Our party membership in general sticks to the Seven
Pillars of the party in their messages and doesn’t
change the message. I love attending meetings that
start with a simple prayer of thanks and help for
inspiration to God before meetings and feel that in
our meetings those prayers are really heart felt and
are expressed by those of commitment
Q: Is the party on the ballot? How does it maintain
ballot access?
A: The Constitution Party of Utah is has been on the
ballot for a number of years. That’s done by petition.
Currently we maintain ballet position with one or
more statewide candidates who garner least two
percent or more of the total votes cast for all
candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives in
the same regular general election. Most of this has
been done by following the example of our former
State Chairman Frank Fluckiger and never taking our
eye off the prize. However, we are now in the middle
of legal action now against the State of Utah who
legislative branch has passed a new state law that
could make future elections, caucuses, primary
elections, and party recognition/membership a
completely different ball game. Due to confidentially
issues of the case I can’t comment more on this.
Q: In your work as a party leader, what are the
positive — and negative — lessons you’ve learned.
A: Early planning on issues and workable solutions to
those issues, strategic election plans and execution is
paramount. Taking your eyes off the prize can cause
stumbles and fumbles.
Q: I understand the Utah Constitution Party has a long
success record.
A: I would estimate our growth to be up
approximately 10% - 14% compared to last year.
This is primarily due to dissatisfied Republicans who
have finally seen through the GOP, realizing that they
are not that much different than the Democratic
Party. CONTINUED ON PAGE 5
FACES OF THE
CONSTITUTION PARTY:
Sam Pew
Utah Constitution Party
Sam Pew is the Director of Sales and Marketing for a
company specializing in consumer-packaged products
primarily grocery and frozen food products. He
serves as 2nd Vice Chairman of the Utah Constitution
Party and Western States Area Co-Chairman.
Question: Sam, how did you come to the Constitution
Party for a political home?
Answer: I was involved in the GOP as a County
Delegate for several years. Like many who leave the
GOP, it was more like the GOP left me because of their
inability to stand for anything. As the Republicans
moved further to the center on social, financial, and
moral issues, the further to the right I moved. Once
they no longer protected and aggressively encouraged
need for God in our lives, I knew it was time to leave.
The GOP seems to feel no different about the
Constitution regarding its origin of being God given
verses Government given, than the Democratic Party.
The GOP seems to look for ways to work around the
Constitution verses supporting its percepts straight
up and taking action accordingly. The final straw for
me was being convinced that many of our
Congressional and Senatorial representatives in Utah
(Senator Mike Less excluded), are not supportive of
Utah and traditional US values and morals. My vote
could no longer be given to the “lessor of evils.” I
came to the conclusion that a true vote of conscience
is never a wasted vote.
I would say that I likely spent a couple of years doing
my research, attending meetings and communicating
with party members. Then I started listening to
YouTube speeches by party leadership like Howard
Phillips, Jim Clymer, and other speakers at
conventions. I must say that Jim Noorlander’s run for
Congress a few years ago was instructional and the
YouTube information still on the web from that run
also influenced me considerably. I also listened to
Scott Bradley a time or two and started to be moved
to give serious consideration of making a change.
The American Constitutionist Page 5
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4
We simply invite, invite, and then invite folks, friends,
and family to participate, encourage them to read and
study our consistent message.
Q: What do you suggest a new affiliate do to gain a
foothold and grow in size?
A: Although we are working with an entire volunteer
organization, the key is to run it as much like a
business as possible. Elect good leadership and the
leaders need to do (or take action) by example not
just direction. We all need to hold each other
accountable for commitments we make to the
organization. In Utah we inspect what we expect
from our local leaders monthly and where/when
possible we assist and support them in their activities.
I know that as a part of our state leadership this year I
have logged between 8.5K and 10K miles on my car
and given many nights to the party, out town many
times which requires overnight stays. It involves
sacrifices of time and resources. Often when speaking
to our groups I talk about “What are you willing to
give to the party and is success and survival.” I point
out what we are asked to give is nowhere close to
what our founders and past generations gave to build
this great country. This generally will then tie that
into “What are you doing to leave our country better
for your children and grandchildren.” Sometimes
many of today’s hot topic issues fly at too high of an
altitude for general discussion based on intimate
knowledge vs. a perceived knowledge of those issues.
However, personal feelings of love of God, safety,
rights and privileges are things that we can all feel
personally every day and are emotions that folks will
respond to favorably too. Love of God, Country and
Family sounds trite, but I have found that it can
generally be explained easily.
SAME-SEX MARRIAGE VIOLATES RULE OF LAW
The Constitution Party took a strong stand against the
Supreme Court ruling in favor of homosexual
marriage last month, calling for civil disobedience in
the face of growing animosity and legal retaliation
against people of conscience openly support marriage
between one man and one woman as the only
legitimate form of relationship which can be defined
as such.
Read the full statement here: Same Sex Marriage
Violates the Rule of Law.
STATE PARTY NEWS:
California. Stand Up For the Constitution Luncheon
and Rally in conjunction with the Constitution Party
of California State Executive Committee Meeting will
be held on September 19, 2015 at the Knott’s Berry
Farm Hotel in Buena Park, from 12 noon until 4:00
pm. Admission is only $49 per person and includes a
luncheon featuring Mrs. Knott's Traditional Fried
Chicken Dinner and boysenberry pie for dessert.
Darrell Castle will be the Special Guest Speaker. For
more information, contact the state party at
Florida. Constitution Party of Florida state chairman
Bill Wayland and Jerry Pangle of the Constitution
Party of Tennessee recently participated in an
episode of American Statesman Blog Talk Radio
entitled, “Take American Back Now – Time for a
Change – Constitution Party”. Host Sally Baptiste is
based in Orlando, Florida and is promoting the
Constitution Party as the new home of conservative
Republicans. Listen here: Time For a Change.
Contact Bill Wayland at: [email protected].
Alabama. The Birmingham Times blog published
an article about the Constitution Party of Alabama’s
search for Constitutionist candidates for a special
election. Read “Alabama Constitution Party
Announces Candidate Search” on Al.com.
Contact State Chairman Joshua Cassity at:
My family reads the Declaration of Independence at
our Fourth of July celebration, and I always take
advantage of this captive audience. This year, my
remarks were directed to the final words of the
Declaration: “And for the support of this Declaration,
with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine
Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our
Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”
With those final words of the Declaration before them,
the signers confirmed their belief in the principles of
liberty with a mutually pledged commitment to act
upon their commitments. Without their pledge, the
ideals would remain nothing more than lofty ideas
and words on a piece of paper. History confirms that
many did give it all; their lives and their fortunes were
sacrificed for the cause of liberty, not only for
themselves, but their posterity. And truly it was their
sacred honor that bound them to act upon their
pledge.
On the Fourth I hoped to awaken and inspire the
members of my extended family to recognize the
value of liberty, but today I am challenging the
members and supporters of the Constitution Party to
an even higher commitment to liberty.
Dissatisfaction with government and politicians is at
an all-time high. The usual partisan politics is
hopelessly bogged down, and people are beginning to
look for other solutions. Never has there been a
greater opportunity to capture the attention, and the
votes, of the American people.
There are millions of people, who remained unaware
and uninformed about our party and its mission to
restore “the principles of the Declaration of
Independence and the Constitution of the United
State, and our goal to limit the federal government to
its delegated, enumerated, Constitutional functions
and to restore American jurisprudence to its original
Biblical common-law foundations.”
The American Constitutionist Page 6
A TWELVE-MONTH FOURTH OF JULY Executive Committee Secretary Cindy Redburn
Liberty will not wait on us; decisions must be made
now to make our mission known everywhere.
Practically speaking, we need funds to help secure
ballot access in every state. Yes, that requires boots
on the ground and people sacrificing time and money
to assure our presidential candidate has the electoral
votes necessary to win the election.
Leadership is needed to build and grow state parties.
If your state doesn’t have a leader, then you step up!
If you have leadership in your state, then volunteer to
build the party in your community. This is how we
grow and make ourselves known, through the efforts
of everyone doing what they can where they are.
Doing nothing, when our liberty is almost lost, is not
acceptable.
Attend the upcoming Fall National Committee
Meeting in Albuquerque on October 30 – 31. Not only
will you meet leaders from across the country, a
unique training opportunity will be available for
attendees on Friday, October 30. Tutors from the
Center for Self-Governance will be conducting
training that will inspire, motivate, and equip you in
keeping our Republic. I can personally attest to the
value of this training.
Finally, let us return to the beginning. Examine your
heart and your commitment to liberty. Will you
embrace the ideals of liberty only, or will you fully
commit my honor, my life and my fortune to the cause
of liberty?
I cannot speak for others, but for myself, I know I am
willing to pay the price.
______
Cindy Redburn has served as Chairman of the Missouri
Constitution Party, was the party nominee for Congress
in 2008, State Representative in 2014, (garnering 20
percent of the vote), and now serves on the National
Executive Committee.
