A candidate that I can support

The Constitution Party has nominated a candidate that I can support at their convention this weekend in Kansas City. The party selected pastor, radio host and columnist Chuck Baldwin over party newcomer Alan Keyes. Baldwin ran on the party ticket in 2004 as Michael Peroutka's vice presidential candidate. Keyes, on the other hand, left the GOP and joined the Constitution Party 10 days prior to the convention. Judging from comments by Keyes' national political director, Keyes affiliation with the Constitution Party ended with his defeat.

I have become familiar with Baldwin through his columns on VDare.com. Chuck Baldwin embodies the 7 principals of the Constitution Party, which are:

1. Life: For all human beings, from conception to natural death;
2. Liberty: Freedom of conscience and actions for the self-governed individual;
3. Family: One husband and one wife with their children as divinely instituted;
4. Property: Each individual's right to own and steward personal property without government burden;
5. Constitution: and Bill of Rights interpreted according to the actual intent of the Founding Fathers;
6. States' Rights: Everything not specifically delegated by the Constitution to the federal government is reserved for the state and local jurisdictions;
7. American Sovereignty: American government committed to the protection of the borders, trade, and common defense of Americans, and not entangled in foreign alliances.

Here is an archive of Chuck Baldwin columns dating back to 2001.

Unfortunately for voters in Texas who would support Baldwin, ballot access for third parties in Texas is difficult (if not impossible) to obtain. Texas requires petition signatures numbering 1% of the votes cast in the 2004 presidential election submitted by May 12. That is 74,000 signatures of persons who did not vote in either the Democrat or Republican party primaries. I voted for Ron Paul in the Republican primary so I am not even eligible to sign a petition. I am sure that when the Republican party was established in 1856, they were held to equally rigorous standard to achieve ballot access (jn).

So although Chuck Baldwin is a candidate whose beliefs mirror my own, Texas ballot access law (written by Democrats and Republicans for the benefit of Democrats and Republicans) will likely not allow me to cast my vote for him come November.

Update: As I suspected, Alan Keyes brief flirtation with the Constitution Party was all about Alan Keyes' vanity. He announced that would not support party nominee Chuck Baldwin, saying, "His policies of appeasement and non-involvement (in foreign affairs) are irresponsible and unsustainable." Keyes apparently couldn't be bothered to even read the party platform before running for the party nomination. The party's stance on foreign policy is pretty clear.

Keyes' high opinion of himself was evident when he suggested that the party merely used him to attract new supporters. I personally don't see the appeal of a candidate that has run three failed senate campaigns and failed to register 1% support in any 2008 Republican state primary. I liked Alan Keyes when he was a fresh face in the conservative movement, but the perennial candidate shtick has become somewhat embarrassing.