22 thoughts on “Jim Duensing is the New Boston Tea Party Presidential Nominee”

1. Jill Pyeatt April 4, 2012 at 17:31

   Good job, Jim, and good luck!
2. Chuck Moulton April 4, 2012 at 17:43

   Congrats, Jim!
3. Jim Duensing April 4, 2012 at 18:31

   Thanks Jill and Chuck. Hope you can make the Fire and Ice Brigade Conference Call tomorrow.

   In Liberty, with Eternal Vigilance,

   Jim
   http://www.VoteForAChange.US – Time to Party Like it’s 1773!
4. Steven Wilson April 4, 2012 at 18:39

   I wish you and Kim the best of luck.
5. Andy April 4, 2012 at 23:13

   Congratulations, Jim. I don’t know why you choose this route rather than running on the LP ticket or supporting a candidate for the LP ticket, but good luck to you anyway.
6. Jim Duensing April 5, 2012 at 02:04

   @ Andy – I tried working within the LP for several years. The problems in it are systemic. It would take multiple conventions to throw the bums out – the Starr’s, Mattson’s Carling’s Redpath’s etc that are trying to implement their top down central plan for liberty. Our country doesn’t have the time for the liberty movement to be mired down in Roberts Rules of Order or to engage in political half measures or bad measures like the fraud tax. We must face the real issues head on and build an informed base of grassroots political support around solving those issues. The Neo Libertarian idea of watering down the founding principles of our nation and trying to sell Israel First Republicans as Libertarians is bound to fail. Either the Republicans get elected and implement non-libertarian policy – in which case we haven’t won anything – or more likely the neo-libertarians continue to lose while destroying the core principles of the LP and leave a broken shell behind that is afraid to -and incapable of – fighting for all our freedoms all the time. The real libertarians will end up in the BTP before the end of this election cycle. Thanks for the well wishes.

   In Liberty, with Eternal Vigilance,

   Jim Duensing
   http://www.VoteForAChange.US
7. paulie April 5, 2012 at 06:44

   Congrats Jim,

   I hope you can make a decent showing as the BTP nominee.

   I realize you want to do ballot access all volunteer. I wish you good luck in that endeavor, although in my many years of petitioning for many parties and initiatives in many states I have rarely ever seen volunteer petitions succeed. I hope yours will be the exception rather than the rule.

   Should you change your mind, or, should someone else decide they want to pay to get the BTP on any state ballots, we would be interested in adding BTP to our stack of parties. It looks like our next stop will be a state which requires 1,500 valid. That would cost 4k minus any volunteer signatures that are collected. If anyone would like to help donate or raise money on behalf of such an effort give me a call. Number below in next paragraph.

   I am not willing at this time to volunteer large numbers of signatures to the BTP, but if I see efforts start taking off in more states than I expect and good media coverage above and beyond what I currently expect I could change my mind. In the meantime, I am available for free consulting (up to a point) if anyone is interested in my help with that. 415-690-6352.

   I understand that you will also be working on getting NV on. I read recently there will be 1,000 Ron Paul supporters from NV in Sparks on May 5 (coincidentally – at least as far as I know – the same day the LP chooses a presidential nominee). That would probably be a good event to find supporters at.

   When I last worked NV ballot access (Vegas 2004), what I found to work best were DMVs, the Flamingo library, UNLV, the community college, monthly art walk, election day (not sure if you get any elections during the petition window), some festivals/events, some hit and run in walmart and grocery store parking lots (none gave us permission that I can remember)….that’s about it off the top of my head.

   The DMVs were the steadiest locations, with a pretty constant flow of new people there every day. UNLV was very good as well, but I’ve read that they have once again cracked down on free speech since then.

   Paulie
   415-690-6352
8. paulie April 5, 2012 at 06:51

   And from an email from Andy

   Off the top of my head, these are the easiest states for ballot access (for placing a Presidential ticket on the ballot):

   Tennessee: 275 valid petition signatures

   Arkansas: 1,000 valid petition signatures

   Mississippi: 1,000 valid petition signatures

   New Jersey: 800 valid petition signatures

   Rhode Island: 1,000 valid petition signatures

   Vermont: 1,000 valid petition signatures

   Iowa: 1,500 valid petition signatures

   Minnesota: 2,000 valid petition signatures

   Wisconsin: 2,000 valid petition signatures

   Utah: 2,000 valid petition signatures

   Idaho: 1,000 valid petition signatures

   Washington: 1,000 valid petition signatures

   Note that it is necessary to gather more than the required number of signatures to make up for any that could be disqualified by state election officials for various reasons.

   Also note that every state has different deadlines by which signatures have to be submitted to the Secretary of State’s office, and also note that there can be other requirements such as Declarations of Candidacy, a list of candidates for the Electoral College, etc…

   There are some other states which are relatively easy for getting a Presidential ticket on the ballot (such as North Dakota, which requires 4,000 valid petition signatures, and Alabama which requires 5,000 valid petition signatures), but some of these may be out of reach for the Boston Tea Party.

   A lot of states are so difficult that they are definitely going to be out of reach for the Boston Tea Party, such as California (177,000 valid petition signatures for an independent Presidential ticket), or North Carolina (85,000 valid petition signatures), or Georgia (57,000 valid petition signatures), or Indiana (34,000 valid petition signatures), and quite a few other states. So unless some kind of miracle happens, you might as well write states like these off for ballot access.

   Reality is that the majority of petitions that make the ballot had to hire petition circulators or else they would not have qualified for the ballot. The fact of the matter is that most people do not have the time and/or inclination to go out and gather lots of petition signatures, and this includes the majority of the most enthusiastic political activists.

   People have often asked me, “Why do you get paid to do this?” I answer with something like, “Because most people don’t have the time to do this, and if I was just an unpaid volunteer I’d have to work another job to make a living and therefore I wouldn’t have much time to devote to gathering petition signatures.”

   I’ve been a libertarian activist since 1996, and I’ve been working in ballot access since 2000. I’ve worked in 31 states (so far).

   I’ve worked by myself as well as with a lot of other people throughout the last 12 years, and Paul is one of the people that I’ve worked with the most. It looks like Paul and I are going to be working on a ballot access project [..] soon (probably within the next week), so let us know if you want us to get your ticket on the ballot there since […] is one of the easiest states for ballot access.
9. Andy April 5, 2012 at 11:30

   “Jim Duensing // Apr 5, 2012 at 2:04 am

   @ Andy – I tried working within the LP for several years. The problems in it are systemic. It would take multiple conventions to throw the bums out”

   It seems to me that there hasn’t been much of an effort for there to be a more hardcore Libertarian candidate for President who really has got their “act” together (as in somebody who is running a real campaign and that is actually growing the party). If there were somebody like this I think that they’d win the nomination.
10. Jim Duensing April 5, 2012 at 12:55

    I think the LP is going to be stuck with a neo-Libertarian Johnson / WAR ticket – making sure Michael Badnarik still holds the title of the Last Libertarian Presidential Candidate.

    The LP is rotten at its LNC core. This new floor fee is just another in a series of moves by the usual suspects on the LNC to restrict access of regular people to the process. In 2006, they limited the number of delegates who could show up, in 08 they tried to prevent the convention delegates from nominating Presidential candidates from the floor, in 2010 they tried to put in electronic voting machines, they’ve tried to make conventions as expensive for delegates to attend as possible, and now they are adding a floor fee.

    The same faction, through professional spokesmodel Wayne Allyn Root, was part of abolishing all of the local affiliates of the Nevada LP. With leadership like that, who needs better funded opponents. The LP cannot afford for these people to keep failing upward. And the liberty movement doesn’t have time for the LP to get its act together.

    By the end of this convention, I predict the LNC will look substantially like it does now and the party will be in a worse state in 2013 than it is now. This will be true no matter how many times the Republicans got on Fox News. It’s easier and more efficient to start with a blank sheet of paper – and some principle.

    BTW, if you want to be part of our volunteer effort to take back this country join me on the First Fire and Ice Brigade National Conference Call for the campaign. It’s tonight at 5:30 p.m. Pacific / 8:30 Eastern. Details at

    http://www.voteforachange.us/fireandicebrigade.php

    In Liberty, with Eternal Vigilance,

    Jim Duensing
    http://www.VoteForAChange.US – Time to Party Like its 1773!
11. Let the T-Rex of Talk Radio Entertain U2day April 5, 2012 at 14:25

    “Wasted days and wasted nights”….that should be the theme song!

    None of you are young enough or rich enough to see this succeed. MARK IT DOWN.

    Ls need to keep their investments in the LP. You can run for office and run any kind of L message you choose. This worry about the POTUS race is foolish talk about splitting the LP. Look at the 80 to 90% we can agree upon and run for office and promote the other 10 to 20% in your campaign if you want. Leave the Party, that’s nuts! Continue to build locally on your LP investment!

    Place Gary Johnson’s resume against any other current candidate (Romney and Obama included). Johnson is the most qualified for the Job ! Point, set, MATCH !!!

    If memory serves me GJ was a dues paying member of the LP in 1993. So there could be some discussion on this calling him “neo”.

    BTW-Will Duensing call for a new 9-11 investigation this week or next? Are the “dead” jet passengers living in the Bahamas, Gitmo or caves in the middle east now? It’s 9 to 5 on a next week call ………….
12. ad hoc April 5, 2012 at 15:27

    Obama’s job resume is “sitting president” and none of the wannabes can match that.
13. William Saturn April 5, 2012 at 16:00

    Executive experience of all the current presidential candidates:

    Gary Johnson, 8 years as Governor of New Mexico
    Rocky Anderson, 8 years as Mayor of Salt Lake City
    Mitt Romney, 4 years as Governor of Massachusetts
    Buddy Roemer, 4 years as Governor of Louisiana
    Barack Obama, 3.5 years as President of the U.S.
14. Common Tater April 5, 2012 at 16:03

    1 year POTUS > 1 year anything else
15. William Saturn April 5, 2012 at 16:08

    Job performance is the most important factor of executive experience.
16. Common Tater April 5, 2012 at 16:11

    Exactly.
17. Thomas L. Knapp April 5, 2012 at 16:11

    @11,

    “This worry about the POTUS race is foolish talk about splitting the LP.”

    Bullshit.

    Some BTP members were once LP members who left for reasons of their own before the BTP ever existed.

    Some BTP members were never LP members.

    Some BTP members are STILL LP members.

    The LP is not automagically entitled to anyone’s support or loyalty.
18. Common Tater April 5, 2012 at 16:12

    Competition is a good thing.
19. Robert Capozzi April 5, 2012 at 17:34

    17 tk: The LP is not automagically entitled to anyone’s support or loyalty.

    me: Cannot disagree with this.

    18 CT: Competition is a good thing.

    me: Perhaps yes, perhaps no. There are maybe 5 “major” schools of thought in the LP tent. Certainly even within these tiny schools there are differences of opinion. The socialists schismed into various socialist political parties and remained tiny and largely electorally inconsequential. Socialist ideas have been incorporated into the Rs and Ds, but the socialist parties have been of no consequence in that process for at least 50 years.

    The LP can schism like the socialists did, but that doesn’t sound like a good idea IF there’s desire to be influential electorally OR policy-wise.
20. Miro April 5, 2012 at 20:42

    How frustrating.
    I told myself that I was going to sit-in on the conference call so I could do a little write-up of the new BTP ticket following my older interview with Briscoe from before, and 8 turned into 8:30 turned into 9 turned into 9:30 and I’ve missed it.
21. Nick April 6, 2012 at 08:42

    Congrats to Jim Duensing
22. Root's Teeth Are Awesome April 6, 2012 at 09:18

    Socialist ideas have been incorporated into the Rs and Ds, but the socialist parties have been of no consequence in that process for at least 50 years.

    Sounds like the socialists lost their army, but won the war.

    Perhaps if the LP fractures into a dozen tiny parties, then many libertarian activists will shift their energies from the LP black hole, into activism that will advance libertarian policies and actually achieve something.