Category Archives: Independents and third parties

Perot a force from the outside

Elections, Independents and third parties, Politics

By Steve Brawner, © 2019 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

A man for whom I cast two votes for president died Tuesday.

Ross Perot ran for president as an independent in 1992 and as the nominee of his Reform Party in 1996. His temperament was not a good match for the presidency. But especially in that 1992 campaign, he did something no other major candidate in my lifetime has done: He made the national debt a major campaign issue, successfully educated Americans about it, and offered real solutions to solve it and other problems.

At the time, the debt was a little more than $4 trillion, or about $16,000 for every American. Today, it’s $22 trillion, or about $66,900 for every American. It will grow roughly $1 trillion this year, and that’s in a good economy.

Perot, the billionaire businessman born to modest circumstances in Texarkana, Texas, could not abide such irresponsibility. And while other candidates try to manipulate us with slick ads, divisive rhetoric and poll-tested sound bytes, he ran substantive 30-minute television commercials where he explained problems and offered solutions.

One of those attracted 16.5 million viewers. Imagine that. A man discussing politics with hand-held charts had almost as many viewers as this year’s “Game of Thrones” series finale (19.3 million), supposedly a national event. And Perot’s were broadcast when there were 74 million fewer Americans. Continue reading Perot a force from the outside →

An interesting week for non-Republican-Democrats

Independents and third parties

By Steve Brawner, © 2019 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

There are few encouraging weeks for Americans who don’t fit into the two-party system. Last week was at least interesting.

On July 3, District Judge Kristine Baker issued a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of a new law that makes it harder for third parties to qualify for the Arkansas ballot.

The injunction means the law won’t take effect while Baker considers the case’s merits. It was brought by the Libertarian Party, the state’s only really active third party.

Under previous law, parties have qualified for the ballot if they won 3% in the preceding presidential or gubernatorial election. Otherwise, they’ve had to collect 10,000 valid signatures over a 90-day period.

The Libertarians fell just short of that 3% in the 2018 governor’s race, so they must collect signatures for 2020. A few months later, legislators and the governor passed Act 164. It increased the required number of signatures to 3% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election. The Libertarians would have to collect 26,746 valid signatures in 90 days rather than 10,000. They sued, and meanwhile on June 28 submitted 18,667 signatures to the secretary of state’s office. Continue reading An interesting week for non-Republican-Democrats →

Seeking signatures, not funnel cakes, at Toad Suck Daze

Elections, Independents and third parties, Politics
Michael Pakko
Dr. Michael Pakko, right, and Joe Swafford, left, seek signatures at Toad Suck Daze.

By Steve Brawner, © 2019 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Dr. Michael Pakko doesn’t have a problem getting people’s attention when he stands before Arkansas business leaders to give his annual state economic forecast. Last Saturday was a little harder.

On that day, he was asking voters to sign a petition qualifying his Libertarian Party for next year’s ballot while standing in front of a vendor that was selling funnel cakes and other items at Toad Suck Daze in Conway.

Pakko is chief economist and state economic forecaster at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Arkansas Economic Development Institute.

He’s also the state Libertarian Party chairman, which became harder this year with the passage of Act 164. It increased the number of signatures third parties must collect for ballot access from 10,000 to almost 26,750 in a 90-day period. Continue reading Seeking signatures, not funnel cakes, at Toad Suck Daze →

Arkansas joins call to amend the Constitution

Health care, Independents and third parties, Legislature, Politics, State government

Arkansans of the Year, Convention of States

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Steve Brawner, © 2019 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

This past week the Legislature did something either completely irrelevant or extremely significant.

It passed a resolution adding Arkansas to the slowly growing list of states calling for a convention to consider constitutional amendments to impose fiscal restraints on the federal government, limit its power, and enact term limits.

The U.S. Constitution can be amended two ways under its own Article V: Congress starts the process, or the states do. The states have never succeeded in doing it.

But Arkansas became the 13th of a necessary 34 states to approve this particular resolution. This occurred after the House said yes Wednesday, and then the Senate, which had already approved it, agreed to add the names of House sponsors Thursday. Continue reading Arkansas joins call to amend the Constitution →