Dr. Benjamin Spock, the famous pediatrician and antiwar activist, was nominated for the presidency by the People’s Party on July 29, 1972.
Organized around opposition to the Vietnam War and originally co-chaired by novelist Gore Vidal and Spock himself, the People’s Party was a loose coalition of state and local parties, including California’s Peace & Freedom Party and Zolton Ferency’s Human Rights Party in Michigan, a party that enjoyed considerable electoral success in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti.
The 69-year-old Spock, who had been actively campaigning for more than eight months, acknowledged that he had no chance of winning the presidency. “But that’s not our purpose,” he told the more than 100 delegates attending the party’s national convention at the Gateway Hotel in St. Louis. “We’re out to build a grassroots movement.”
Spock, who had been chosen as the left-wing party’s “provisional” candidate for president at an organizing convention in Dallas the previous November, was joined on the People’s Party ticket by 50-year-old Julius Hobson, a civil rights activist and former member of the Washington, D.C., Board of Education.
Spock’s nomination — or ratification, to be more precise — was briefly covered that Sunday night on the CBS Evening News.
Waging a particularly frugal campaign that included carrying his own luggage at airports and staying at the homes of supporters, the wealthy baby doctor was provided Secret Service protection during the autumn campaign. Working in shifts, some 25 agents watched over him day and night.
Maintaining throughout the campaign that he was more interested in building a radical independent political movement at the local level than in winning votes, Spock conceded that he wasn’t going to poll any significant number of votes against President Nixon and Democratic challenger George McGovern. “They’re just trying to win office,” the dissident candidate said of his major-party rivals. “We’re trying to save the country.”
Spock, who campaigned in 36 states and the District of Columbia during his long-shot quest for the Oval Office, appeared on the ballot in ten states that autumn. He and his running mate polled nearly 79,000 votes nationally, including 55,167 votes on the Peace & Freedom line in California.
NF,
I originally preferred the J&J also, but for practical reasons. It was one shot and needed reasonable refrigeration, not supercold. But Pfizer is what Rite Aid had, so that is what I got.
But now the J&J is recommended booster at 2 months.
And there was some sort of unfortunate problem with a manufacture contractor.
Temporary. Nobody has said humans will be condemned to mask wearing forever.
If there was not mask and vaxx resistance masking may very well be mostly done with by now.
But NOOOOOOOO. Variants, passage of time decrease in effectiveness, failure to achieve herd immunity, masking continues to be recommended.
My distrust in government is not total. When I go into the National Forest, I do not believe the USFS has politicized or weaponized the forests! No. It is the criminal justice system and the elections system that I have come to distrust.
I believe that government policies are the solution to our problems. The failure, so far, is there. And of course the USSR tried and failed. Progressive policies, balanced by libertarian policies, seems most promising. Not radical left policies. Certainly not most ultra right policies. And we see the disparities, polarization and gridlock of the reactionary -dems and reps- policies.
“…it is a PANDEMIC! The rules of science and medicine and public health must prevail.
Get vaxxed. Put on your mask! It is safe and temporary.” – Robert Milnes
Temporary? Really? I guess it’s all in how one defines temporary. Safe? No mRNA vaccine had been approved by the FDA for over 30 years until COVID-19. I got the Janssen jab because it’s NOT an mRNA experimental shot. Even now the Modena is still not approved for other than emergency use. For someone who who usually has little trust in government you seem to have really drunk the Kool-Aid on this issue.
NN aka maybe paulie,
LOL! Yes, something like that.
Commenting is some kind of obstacle course with mine fields/IEDs.
You have the right to anonymity. You have the right to mask or vaxx-or NOT!
!!!??? WTF!
It is the Wild, Wild West!
People talk about their freedom.
No, it is a PANDEMIC! The rules of science and medicine and public health must prevail.
Get vaxxed. Put on your mask! It is safe and temporary.
If you do not, you make it worse for yourself AND everybody else!
And PROLONG it!
Jared seems to be patronizing me.
How old are you, Jared? I’ve been involved in non red/blue politics since the 70’s.
How can YOU lecture ME?
Andy and I have a rapport of sorts.
He is perfectly able to speak for himself.
Banned? Been there, done that.
You got the arrogance, go ahead.
Lol. Now he’s going to think Jared is paulie.
Robert,
Are you trying to get banned? Perhaps your comment was removed (if in fact it was) because all it did was express disapproval and assign a negative character trait to another commenter. That adds nothing—less than nothing—to the conversation.
IPR is a non-partisan platform for non-mainstream parties, candidates, and agendas to get coverage they aren’t getting elsewhere, certainly not in one place. It stands for ideological openness, good faith dialogue, and giving fair treatment to independent-minded people who want to be politically involved without joining up with/bending over for Team Red or Team Blue.
That you have the nerve to demand that Austin and IPR make a public announcement in support of masking leads me to believe you must be a troll. I mean, Shirley, you can’t be serious. Get over yourself.
Austin,
There is a comment of mine missing.
After Andy commented on Jan 22 at 01:17,
I replied “Stubborn! Stubborn!”
Do you know what happened to that comment?
Was it deleted-trash bin?
If so, who?
Was it an anti-vaxx moron?
I personally am sick of anti-vaxx. Throwing garbage at doctors and nurses, reportedly?
And threats to Boards of Education?
I formally propose that IPR announce it supports vax and masking.
Is IPR going to stand up for something or not?
“Who did you vote for in 2016 instead of Johnson/Weld? The Constitution Party’s ticket of Darrell Castle/Scott Bradley did qualify for the ballot in Pennsylvania in 2016, so if you voted in PA that year you could have voted for them.” – Andy
Yes I did.
“Robert Milnes
January 21, 2022 at 23:37
Andy,
Sounds like you had something in July 2021.
If covid delta, and you were not vaccinated, you are lucky to be alive.
Just ask Robert David Steele.”
Robert David Steele was older and probably had pre-existing health problems.
I actually feel bad about Steele.
Along with all the other anti vaxx mostly right wing mostly nuts.
They are dropping like flies and it is so unnecessary.
Got the doctors and nurses in the intensive care ward crying out loud.
In the nuts and bolts of real practical politics, we need right wing nuts as much as left wing nuts.
I had a few email encounters with Steele. He reminded me of G. Gordon Liddy.
He eventually told me to not contact him again.
I thought to myself, sure thing scary CIA tough guy.
I do need that in my life.
Andy,
Sounds like you had something in July 2021.
If covid delta, and you were not vaccinated, you are lucky to be alive.
Just ask Robert David Steele.
Oops! Nevermind.
“Robert Milnes
January 19, 2022 at 11:54
Andy,
I think Trad. is paulie operating a supercomputer portal with a persona/conversation program.
The operator supervises the final message to weed out ant absurd words or phrases or meanings that the computer might have let slip.
Very sophisticated. Probably a direct portal to Israel.”
It does not sound like Paul’s writing style.
NewFederalist
January 21, 2022 at 15:28
Interesting voting history, Andy. Mine is very similar. I did vote for Barr in 2008 although I much preferred Baldwin but I was voting in PA at the time and Baldwin did not make the ballot.”
I may have voted for the Chuck Baldwin/Darrell Castle ticket in 2008, as they were more libertarian than the Libertarian Party’s ticket of Bob Barr/Wayne Root, however, I voted in California in 2008, and they were not on my ballot, as that was the year that Alan Keyes had run for the Constitution Party’s presidential nomination, and lost to Chuck Baldwin, but a rogue faction of neo-cons had hijacked the then Constitution Party’s California affiliate, the American Independent Party, and put Alan Keyes on the ballot instead of Chuck Baldwin, so Baldwin was not an option for me unless I cast a write in vote for him, and since some Ron Paul supporters in CA had registered Ron Paul/Gail Lightfoot as an official write in ticket, I wrote them in instead. I would guess that Chuck Baldwin/Darrell Castle were probably also registered in CA as an official write in ticket, but there was no reason for me to write in Chuck Baldwin when I could write in Ron Paul.
“As you know write-in votes are seldom tallied in PA so I held my nose and voted for Barr. I also voted for Johnson in 2012 but not 2016 because of Weld.”
Who did you vote for in 2016 instead of Johnson/Weld? The Constitution Party’s ticket of Darrell Castle/Scott Bradley did qualify for the ballot in Pennsylvania in 2016, so if you voted in PA that year you could have voted for them.
Robert, I got sick for 4 days in July of last year. That was the first time I had been sick since February of 2018. I do not know if I had COVID or not, but I had the same symptoms in February of 2018. I did not go to a doctor or take any medicine. I just laid around for 4 days and did not eat much.
NF,
What do you think is going on at IPR?
Are you still anti-vaxx?
I will be very-pleasantly – surprised if Andy does not get Omicron.
Interesting voting history, Andy. Mine is very similar. I did vote for Barr in 2008 although I much preferred Baldwin but I was voting in PA at the time and Baldwin did not make the ballot. As you know write-in votes are seldom tallied in PA so I held my nose and voted for Barr. I also voted for Johnson in 2012 but not 2016 because of Weld.
Andy,
I think Trad. is paulie operating a supercomputer portal with a persona/conversation program.
The operator supervises the final message to weed out ant absurd words or phrases or meanings that the computer might have let slip.
Very sophisticated. Probably a direct portal to Israel.
I think Israel “owns” IPR.
“Traditionalist
January 18, 2022 at 17:49
Andy,
I have never been active in the Constitution Party. I did vote for their Presidential candidate once, in 2012.”
Virgil Goode was probably the worst presidential candidate the Constitution Party had, although their last one did not appear to be very good either. Darrell Castle, Chuck Baldwin, Michael Peroutka, and Howard Phillips, were all better candidates, and more worthy of receiving votes.
“Had we had ranked choice voting, I would have ranked them second in every other Presidential election since they were formed as the Taxpayers Party. In 1992, 1996, and 2000 I saw the Reform Party as the more significant protest vote.”
Ross Perot as an independent in 1992, and Ross Perot as the Reform Party candidate for President in 1996 was certainly much higher profile than Howard Phillips and the US Taxpayers Party (this was before it changed its name to the Constitution Party) was better on the issues. I suppose if you were just looking to make a statement then I can see going with the more high profile choice.
In 2004, I saw that the Constitution Party nominated someone that very few people I knew ever heard of, so I wrote in Pat Buchanan again,”
Pat Buchanan’s 2000 campaign as the Reform Party candidate for President did not go very well. He did not do that much better than Libertarian Party candidate, Harry Browne, did in that election, in spite of the fact that he had far more public name recognition that Harry Browne, and his campaign has more money, including that the Reform Party got something like $12 million in matching funds from the federal government, which got spent on Buchanan’s campaign.
Considering how badly Pat Buchanan’s campaign underperformed in 2000, I don’t think that there were much demand for him to be a candidate in 2004, and I don’t recall any write in Pat Buchanan movement.
Your protest vote in 2004 would have made a louder statement if you had voted for Constitution Party candidate, Michael Peroutka, or for that matter, you could have voted for Libertarian Party candidate Michael Badnarik. You said that you voted for Ron Paul in 1988 when he was the Libertarian Party’s candidate. Michael Badnarik had a lot in common with Ron Paul. Were you familiar with Michael Badnarik at the time?
” In 2008, after some thought, I decided Bob Barr was the better known protest candidate, and decided he was good enough to vote for .”
Bob Barr was one of the worst Libertarian Party candidates to vote for. You do know that he voted for the Patriot Act, and in favor of military intervention in Iraq, right? His record in Congress was not the worst, but it was far from good either, as he had a lot of bad votes. He was also a former government prosecutor, and he had also worked for the CIA at one time, and some suspected he was still with the CIA. Bob Barr’s running mate, Wayne Allyn Root, was (and still is) a Republican jock strap rider, and a hardcore Israel first guy. I will give Wayne Root credit now for coming out against the COVID mandates, but he was not a good candidate when he was in the Libertarian Party.
I am a member of the Libertarian Party, and I was during that time, and I did NOT vote for the Bob Barr/Wayne Root ticket.
Here are my presidential votes:
Harry Browne (Libertarian Party) in 1996.
Harry Browne (Libertarian Party) in 2000.
Michael Badnarik (Libertarian Party) in 2004.
Write in vote for Ron Paul in the general election in 2008 (I voted in California in that election, and some Ron Paul supporters in CA had filed the necessary paperwork, as required in California to have write in votes for President get counted, so my write in vote for Ron Paul did get tallied and announced.)
Write in vote for None Of The Above for President in the 2012 general election (I literally printed None Of The Above on the ballot).
Darrell Castle (Constitution Party) in 2016 (Darrell Castle was on the ballot in the state where I voted in 2016 (not California, and I voted for him because he, and his running mate, Scott Bradley, were more libertarian, and better candidates, than goofy Gary Johnson and his CFR buddy running mate, Bill Weld.).
Jo Jorgensen (Libertarian Party) in 2020.
Note that in the above races where I did not vote for the Libertarian Party’s presidential ticket, I did vote for Libertarian Party candidates who were on my ballots in down ticket races.
“My interest in third parties was rekindled about a year ago when there was a lot of talk about the rhinos taking back the GOP and Trump supporters starting a Patriot Party. :
I heard that there was recently an attempt by some Trump supporters in Arizona to place a new party, I think it was called the Patriot Party, on the ballot in that state, but they started their petition drive with not much time left before the deadline (AZ apparently has moved the deadline to qualify a new party to November of the odd year, which is crazy early, and which I had thought it had been declared unconstitutional to have a deadline this early, but this is apparently what it is now), and although I heard they paid out a high pay rate per signature to paid petition signature gatherers (no, I was NOT there, I only heard about it after it was over), they FAILED to qualify for the ballot. The main reason they failed was because they waited until a few weeks before the deadline to get started, like maybe 3 or 4 weeks, which was insane. They could have started in January, maybe even earlier than that, but I know by January for sure. Why they waited to the last minute to start I do not know. Bad decision.
” While that didn’t happen, I recalled that I used to have interesting conversations with third party supporters in decades past. Those conversations were not on this forum, but when conversations here picked up in the last few months I thought I would give it a try.”
When, and how, did you find Indepedent Political Report?
Mr. Milnes continues to discredit himself by insisting that I’m someone I never heard of without any evidence whatsoever for his bizarre claim. Sammy likewise discredits himself by claiming I’m Richard Spencer. I have heard of him, and I’m not him. I think they are obsessed with these guesses because they are suffering cognitive dissonance, due to being unable to refute my points with logic or evidence, provide any for their own positions, or even answer very simple questions.
Andy,
I have never been active in the Constitution Party. I did vote for their Presidential candidate once, in 2012. Had we had ranked choice voting, I would have ranked them second in every other Presidential election since they were formed as the Taxpayers Party. In 1992, 1996, and 2000 I saw the Reform Party as the more significant protest vote. In 2004, I saw that the Constitution Party nominated someone that very few people I knew ever heard of, so I wrote in Pat Buchanan again, even though he didn’t run. In 2008, after some thought, I decided Bob Barr was the better known protest candidate, and decided he was good enough to vote for . In 2016 and 2020 I voted for Trump.
I voted for the Constitution Party presidential nominee once, libertarian party presidential nominees twice (1988 and 2008), and was never active in either party. I voted for Reform Party presidential nominees three times, American Independent Party presidential nominees three times, and GOP presidential nominees 5 times – Goldwater, Reagan twice, and Trump twice.
My interest in third parties was rekindled about a year ago when there was a lot of talk about the rhinos taking back the GOP and Trump supporters starting a Patriot Party. While that didn’t happen, I recalled that I used to have interesting conversations with third party supporters in decades past. Those conversations were not on this forum, but when conversations here picked up in the last few months I thought I would give it a try.
I’ve used computer discussion forums for almost 40 years, starting with Usenet in late 1982 or early 1983, and have never used a name on any of them. Back then, it was widely understood and accepted that it was best to not use a real name in computer discussion for many different reasons. I’ve continued to stick with that tradition ever since, and will continue to do so.
New Federalist,
I voted for Goldwater in 1964. I was just barely too young to vote in 1960. Had I been old enough in 1960, I’m not sure whom I would have voted for. I didn’t have a strong preference that year, and looking back on it, still don’t.
Richard Spencer is now a Biden-supporting Democrat.
Traditionalist is Richard Spencer wearing an old man wig !!
“Robert Milnes
January 18, 2022 at 14:47
Andy.
It is paulie.
Traditionalist is paulie.
It is always paulie under the couch.”
I don’t think so. The writing style does not sound the same. If it is him, he has improved his acting skills.
Andy.
It is paulie.
Traditionalist is paulie.
It is always paulie under the couch.
“NewFederalist
January 18, 2022 at 12:57
‘…whom I also voted for in 1968…” – Traditionalist’
I guess that makes you at least 74/75 years old. Did you vote in 1964?”
“Traditionalist” claims to remember when Franklin Delano Roosevelt was President, so this would mean he’d have to be in his 80’s.
I know that there were a couple of Constitution Party members who used to post here under their real names, or at least one of them used a real name, I’m not sure about this other, but I think it was a real name, a long time ago. I wonder if “Traditionalist” is one of them.
“…whom I also voted for in 1968…” – Traditionalist
I guess that makes you at least 74/75 years old. Did you vote in 1964?
Also, as previously mentioned elsewhere, Mr. Milnes, if you are going to go around accusing me of being someone else I never heard of,please post your evidence for your claim, or stop making it. It doesn’t speak well of you, or your thinking abilities, if you’re going to repeatedly make claims for which you have no evidence whatsoever.
Good morning Mr. Milnes. You are mistaken. I’m not your nemesis, and I don’t know anything about the other people you mentioned. I’m here to discuss issues, not gossip about you, your friends, or your nemesis, real or imagined. My comment had nothing at all to do with you; it had to do with the subjects discussed in the article, namely the quack doctor Benjamin Spock and the US presidential election of 1972.
I’ve seen no evidence that several article authors you habitually address read these comments, much less wish to address them. Whereas I did not address you in my prior comment, or even have you or your comments in mind at all, I do have various questions for you in other threads which you have failed to address. To take two examples :
1) What type of “leftist revolution” are you pushing?
2) Are you saying South Africa is better off since it ended Apartheid, and if so, why (if you are, I disagree strongly)?!
There are others. These questions don’t make me your nemesis. I don’t know you, and have nothing against you personally.
Darcy,
You are getting pretty lame comment response.
My two addressed to you directly trying to get a response from you directly should not really even count.
Neither should the one from my nemesis, Traditionalist aka paulie.
He is just commenting to dog me.
This was an interesting election year. George Wallace, whom I also voted for in 1968, looked poised to won both the Democratic nomination and the Presidency before a would be assassin maimed him. He was never the same again since. In the fall, I once again supported the American Independent nominee, this time Congressman John Schmitz of California.
Benjamin Spock, for his part, is best remembered for his evil, wrong, and misguided child rearing advice, which led to many children born after the war being coddled. This created a societal pathology which has now metastasized over the course of several additional generations.
Darcy,
I would like to clarify a few things between us. Would you be so kind?
We are friends on Facebook. But what does that mean?
I rarely visit my page anymore, let alone others.
I did receive a message of condolence from you about my father.
Do you know much about me and my politics (third party) and my Strategy to win?
If not, where have you been?
Are you aware that I have proposed that you lead a fusion ticket? Richardson/Jorgensen?
You would probably have to join the Green party.
And it would probably be best if I were the Chief Campaign Advisor.
I could sure use a job so I would like to get on with it asap.
Are you aware of any of this?