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Constitution Party Makes a Play For the Values Voters

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on June 3, 2009 - 4:31pm

For years, whenever the Religious Right felt it was being under appreciated by the Republican Party, leaders would start hinting, and even sometimes openly threatening, that the socially conservative grassroots voters would utterly abandon the GOP for a third party during the next election cycle. 

Of course, that never happened and every time an election came around, the Right did what it could to mobilize in support of the Republican Party, despite all its earlier threats and whining. 

The one exception that I am aware of what back in 1996 when James Dobson cast a "protest vote" against the Bob Dole, the GOP's nominee, by voting for  Howard Phillips, the nominee of the U.S. Taxpayer’s Party (now known as the Constitution Party).

Since the Religious Right is always threatening to leave the GOP for a third party , it only makes sense that the Constitution Party would try to capitalize on the current discontent and start trying to woo disaffected "values voters" into its camp:

The fastest-growing third party in America, the Constitution Party, will discuss a nationwide effort to encourage Christians to vote "like their faith depended on it." The CP will host a number of notable values-oriented speakers at its Spring National Committee meeting June 12th and 13th at the Renaissance Newark Airport Hotel . The party will gather to discuss its unprecedented growth which coincides with widespread voter dissatisfaction with the Republican and Democratic parties. The Constitution Party, the only political party in America which is 100% pro-life is challenging all Believers to put an end to the "lesser of two evils" approach to voting.

"Christians must vote their values and leave the results to God," noted Constitution Party National Committee Chairman Jim Clymer adding, "Our country was founded on Biblical principles, that's why it was so blessed. Without returning to God's law, we cannot expect America to change for the better."

Outside of former Congressman/crackpot Virgil Goode, and professional conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi, the event doesn't have any big name draws to speak of. 

Nonetheless, it'll be interesting to see if the Constitution Party's efforts to win over Christian voters will pay off, especially in light of the on-going tension between the GOP and its right-wing base.

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Alan Keyes's Martyrdom Aborted

Submitted by Anonymous on July 22, 2008 - 3:44pm

It appears we spoke too soon when we declared Alan Keyes’s presidential hopes over in April. Keyes had failed to make any headway in the Republican primary, and when he quit the GOP to become the nominee of the Constitution Party—the Howard Phillips fringe group that won James Dobson’s protest vote in 1996—he discovered that the activists at the Constitution Party convention didn’t care for him too much, rejecting him 3-to-1 in favor of Chuck Baldwin.

Keyes is no stranger to political failure, having lost (by similar margins) three Senate races in two states, along with two previous presidential runs. This year he waxed philosophical: “I kind of represent, in political terms, the abortion. You're invited in, but they kill you. You're invited in, but they kill you.”

But somehow, Keyes has found a way to continue his quixotic race. An article in FrontPage magazine (which described Keyes as “the Energizer Loser”) detailed how disgruntled members of California’s Constitution Party delegation (known there as the American Independent Party) broke away from the national party after it rejected Keyes.

And now it seems that the California Secretary of State is recognizing the breakaway faction. So, barring any further legal action, Keyes is going to be a real presidential candidate in November. At least in California. Why, Keyes’s presence on the ballot may even siphon enough far-right votes from John McCain to tip the state’s electoral votes to Barack Obama.

While this must be an exciting moment for the Keyes camp, one has to wonder: If Keyes “represent[ed], in political terms, the abortion” before, what does he metaphorically represent now?

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Keyes Makes It Official

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on April 16, 2008 - 3:59pm

Alan Keyes has officially left the Republican Party: "Former Republican presidential candidate Alan Keyes announced Tuesday night that he has left the GOP and is considering joining the Constitution Party. Keyes, who also ran as a Republican to challenge Barack Obama's U.S. Senate bid in Illinois in 2004, says he is talking with leaders and rank-and-file members of the Constitution Party."

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Who Will This Third-Party Savior Be?

Submitted by Anonymous on October 10, 2007 - 8:26am

With some on the Religious Right threatening to divorce the GOP and support a third-party candidate—as a way to punish Republicans if they nominate Rudy Giuliani—one has to wonder who exactly they would be endorsing. Pat Robertson and Pat Buchanan captured the far-right imagination in 1988 and 1992, respectively, but there don’t appear to be any big-name spoilers waiting in the wings this year. Even Alan Keyes, a perennial-favorite losing candidate, has thrown his lot in with the Republican field.

The third-party posturing has been led by Focus on the Family’s James Dobson, and his own love-hate past with the GOP gives us a clue. In 1996, unwilling to support Bob Dole, Dobson cast a “protest vote” for Howard Phillips, the nominee of the extreme-right U.S. Taxpayer’s Party (a.k.a. the Constitution Party). Phillips was also present by telephone at the Council for National Policy meeting that discussed the third-party strategy.

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