Email from Wayne Root to [email protected]:
Wayne Root Profiled by AOL News today as 2012 Presidential Contender
Excerpt:
Sports Handicapper Gambles on Becoming President
Now that the Democrats have suffered a historic defeat on election day, a sports handicapper is doubling down on his goal of becoming President in 2012.
Wayne Allyn Root is a well-known Vegas sports handicapper and the current front runner to be the Libertarian Party’s nominee for the 2012 presidential race after being the running mate to 2008 nominee Bob Barr.
He may seem a long shot, but Root believes that enough Americans would embrace the Libertarian philosophy if they were exposed to it — and to him.
“The system is tilted toward two parties,” he told AOL News. “Especially when you have to spend so much time and money just for ballot access. During 2008, around July and August, we had 6 to 7 percent of the vote. For some reason, we weren’t included in the presidential debates, and if we had been, I think things would have tilted in our direction.”
Root points to England, where a third-party candidate was able to make an impact in the most recent election based on a great debate performance.
Read more here.
Shanghai….best typo ever
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghaiing
1000 times sexier that the elephants from 2008
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=16557278021&ref=mf
I think the Keaton/Shanghai ticket is worth looking at!
Wayne Allen is sounding better. I hope he has competition. It brings the best out of everyone.
Name recognition does NOT always = votes
I’m sure Milnes will “run” again & lose the nomination on the first ballot.
It is obvious that Wayne Root is the best person to run as President for 2012. All others is a waste of money. Wayne already has been notice, gets invited for shows. The others. Thrrp
2000
Didn’t Hess run before? I thought I remembered him from the 2004 campaign.
I’m not sure about Nolan, he looked to be doing well Tuesday night. I did pitch the idea to Barry Hess – he didn’t dismiss the idea, though he didn’t embrace it either.
23, 27 I read the article. Sounds pretty good, actually.
Quoth Steve Kubby:
http://www.tnr.com/article/magazine/78543/Gary-johnson-2012-republican-candidate-new-mexico?page=0%2C0&passthru=MWFjY2RkZDlmYWRlY2U5YmIyYTk1N2NhZDczMzA2ZDc
One of the minor downsides to not voting is that I no longer get to vote against Republicans.
Ruwart and Kubby are business partners of Lee Wrights, so I would expect that they are supporting him.
Does anyone know if David Nolan or Mary Ruwart are interested in running for president?
Steve Kubby? I hope they’re not too burned out from the recent (awful) election to consider it.
NewFederalist at 10, now we finally have a nice short definition of “new federalism.” I don’t agree with this; I want world government, but now we have a better idea of where you come from.
http://www.tnr.com/article/magazine/78543/Gary-johnson-2012-republican-candidate-new-mexico?page=0%2C0&passthru=MWFjY2RkZDlmYWRlY2U5YmIyYTk1N2NhZDczMzA2ZDc
Like I said…just as long as he stays dead.
Paulie, I guess you aren’t a fan of Futurma – Richard Nixon’s head is re-animated and gets elected President of Earth in the year 3000
Jefferson?
Grover Cleveland, Martin Van Buren may have been the best.
But really, I’d even take Nixon, just as long as he stays dead.
The nice thing about the LP nominating process is that Myers and Wrights can both run, and just wait to see who gets the most votes, and then drop out and endorse that one. They don’t have to worry that they’ll take votes away from one another and allow Root to win. Hooray for runoff voting!
“If you’re going to run an ex-president, at least run one who’s already dead.”
I’m okay with that. Jefferson?
I think the LP should run Jimmy Carter. He still has a term left and he doesn’t know anything anyway. He is so messed up now he couldn’t find his ass with both hands and a scoop shovel in a well lit room. He’d be perfect!
This must be a recent development, if so. He seemed spry just recently.
If you’re going to run an ex-president, at least run one who’s already dead.
I plan to email Mr. Myers this weekend and urge him to run. I believe he’d be an excellent presidential candidate.
Tell him I second that. But he better start getting interviews like Wayne does if he runs!
Wayne tells you what you want to hear.
This was an interview directed at a general audience, not a libertarian one.
If this is what the public at large wants to hear, I’m very, very happy to know that.
@8
I e-mailed him and asked him if he thought
“states rights” means the US Supreme Court was wrong when it invalidated Virginia’s law against interracial marriage in 1967. It’s been 6 hours and he hasn’t answered me yet. When the Court issued its opinion in 1967, there were 19 states that banned interracial marriages.
Richard, Wayne actually addressed this issue in his book. I don’t have his book in front of me, but I recall that he disagreed with the Supreme Court and thought that the right decision would have been for the court to state that there was no state interest in licensing marriage at all.
I think the LP should run Jimmy Carter. He still has a term left and he doesn’t know anything anyway. He is so messed up now he couldn’t find his ass with both hands and a scoop shovel in a well lit room. He’d be perfect!
JJM or R. Lee Wrights would be good – though the Keaton/Shinghal 2012 team would be the sexiest Presidential ticket of all time!!!
I plan to email Mr. Myers this weekend and urge him to run. I believe he’d be an excellent presidential candidate.
States Rights means lots of things and most of them are good. Some states get it wrong but what the hell… better one (or more) state(s) get( s) it wrong then the entire empire… er, republic.
Wayne tells you what you want to hear. I hope John Jay Myers runs in 2012.
I e-mailed him and asked him if he thought
“states rights” means the US Supreme Court was wrong when it invalidated Virginia’s law against interracial marriage in 1967. It’s been 6 hours and he hasn’t answered me yet. When the Court issued its opinion in 1967, there were 19 states that banned interracial marriages.
@newfederalist – it’s NOT just you… he reminds me of a greasy used car salesman
His bleached teeth and salesman slime still make me want to puke but hey… that’s probably just me.
I agree with # 4. Encouraged with this approach.
His immigration and foreign policy positions are looking more and more ready for prime time.
It’s time to retire the schtick about nobody at Columbia knowing Obama. It might have worked somewhat in 2007, but once someone’s been elected president and been in office for two years, trying to sell him as an ‘unknown” ain’t gonna fly.
Good analysis, Paulie.
We need to start getting press now on other candidates for the presidential nomination.
Stuff I liked…
*America is the biggest gambling nation in the world — especially when it comes to gambling on small-business creation. It’s the risk-taking entrepreneurs that made America great.
*Root also believes that cutting down on spending — including defense — would be a must in his administration.
“Wars bankrupt this country,” he said. “[..] Iraq could have been avoided. On top of that, we need to cut down on foreign aid. Rather than the government sending money to Haiti, we should ask our citizens to donate privately.
“Also, the money we sent in foreign aid to Japan, South Korea and Germany allowed them to prop up their economy while we paid to defend them.”
In addition, he would take steps to promote legal immigration.
“[..] much of our success is due to legal immigration,”
* As a true Libertarian, Root also wants to legalize marijuana and, to a certain extent, gay marriage and prostitution.
I also liked that he made the following points:
*I don’t gamble myself.
*I’ve never smoked or drank, but I have plenty of friends who have
p] Support for freedom is more credible to people on the edge when it comes from someone who doesn’t want the freedom in question for themselves.
I liked the emphasis on small business.
Bring troops home from Europe, Korea, Japan.
What I didn’t like:
-End birthright citizenship.
-Station troops at the border instead of overseas. No, decrease troop levels overall.
-Afghanistan could not be avoided. Yes it could.
-The stuff about not seeing Obama in college. Regardless of whether it’s true, it’s just a terrible talking point.
Mixed emotions
“States rights.” I too would like more local control, but the term States Rights has negative connotations to many people. Better to find other ways of phrasing that.
Also, while it would be a step in the right direction to allow “states rights” on gay marriage by getting rid of DoMA, ultimately states should have to honor gay marriages across state lines, just as they have to honor “interracial” marriages.
Raising quotas on immigration. Again, a step in the right direction, but why do we need quotas at all?
One year moratorium on income taxes. Again a good start, but why not end them permanently?
If we can do without the income tax for a year, we can keep doing without it.
Overall: mostly a good positive libertarian message that doesn’t sound extreme to mainstream audiences. I can understand the hedging on some of the issues, so as to address concerns non-libertarians have about us intending on going too far too fast.
I liked the broad scope of issues addressed.
Even the issues where we disagree were part of a package deal that had positives as well.
Biggest thing is that Wayne is getting these interviews, potential rivals for the nomination are not.
Due to the Righthaven lawsuit I am only posting an excerpt, but I recommend people here read the full article.
While there are still some things I disagree with Wayne on, a good chunk of his message as conveyed in the article is about peace and civil liberties issues. This is great progress.
If he keeps stressing all these issues, I think a lot of people who object to Mr. Root as a Libertarian candidate now will become a lot less opposed as time goes by.