On December 4, U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Bianco heard oral arguments in MacKay v Crews, a lawsuit involving the identity of the national Reform Party officers. The case was heard in Central Islip, Long Island, New York. He will accept further written evidence and arguments, which must be submitted by December 8. He promised to rule by December 11.
I am so glad this is FINALLY going to all be over. David Collison will be found to be the (rightful) Chairman, McKay can go back to his Independence Party, and the Reform Party can finally start to move forward.
It will be “too little, too late,” I fear – even if you are correct in your prediction. It is very sad that the Reform Party of the United States split into so many little factions. It is not an unusual fate, though, for a new political party. It has happened all too often in the past.
The Reform Party of California no longer has ballot access. The really smart thing for the party to do would be to disband as a party and form a Reform Caucus. Then they could join, en masse, the American Independent Party of California – and take over the party apparatus next year – or 2012, at the latest.
Responsibility for the demise of the Reform Party of California lies mostly upon the shoulders of John Blare. If the party REALLY wanted to advance, they would somehow expel him; so long as he is involved, any activities the party attempts to undertake will be prone to failure.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the California affiliate went with the Independence Party; Frank McKay has been trying to establish a confederation of Independence Parties across the country. He tried to draft Donald Trump for a presidential run in previous elections…the irony there is that when the Independence Party of NY was part of the Reform Party, Trump was a member. He only fled after the drama of the rival factions…drama McKay continues to fuel.
The Reform Party isn’t the problem…McKay and Blare are.
That being said, I believe the RPUSA will be able to rebuild at least to the same level as the Constitution Party, which will be, in my eyes, a success.
The problem the Reform Party has had is that Ross Perot and Jesse Ventura had two of the SMALLER egos in the Reform Party. Unfortunately too many in Party Leadership positions across all factions thought that party building consisted less of bringing in new members and more of driving out all those who did not agree with 100% of their ideas. Until that attitude changes, it won’t matter whose names are on the stationary.
Well, Dennis, I generally do not get involved in personality conflicts and (for the most part) I try to get along with everyone. While I do think that personalities certainly played a part in the destruction process, I also think that circumstances made more important contributions.
The Reform Party of California lost its ballot status after the 2002 General Election. In early October of 2003, I changed my registration from the Reform Party to the American Independent Party of California. (I have been through many political changes since then and on November 6th of this year, I changed my registration from “I Decline to State a Political Party” to the Democratic Party.)
Although I am a native Californian and I think very highly of my Golden State, I am not a person of hubris. I will not say that losing California was the determining factor in the fate of the Reform Party of the United States; however, I will say that it was a very major blow. It would be nice to think that the Reform Party can come back to vibrancy. I don’t see any objective indications that that will happen. I hope that I am wrong about that. If the Reform Party can come back, I think that many (currently very misguided) people in the Republican Party would see a really good lifeboat and get off the Titantic.
Hello everyone,
To learn more about me check-out http://freedomfromthepress.net and click the Reform Party page.
Sound Independent leadership has plagued the Reform Party from day one. I base this comment on what happened in 1994 and 1998. Looking at those election years what do you see? Was there ever any interest or leadership from Dallas that was bottom up? When Dallas had the opportunity to provide bottom up leadership in 1998 what did they do? If you answered, nothing you’d be 100% correct.
Under Perot/Verney, the Reform Party was used as a tool. For what purpose has never been disclosed.
Ventura/Gargan had a window of opportunity to grow and build the RP into a major political force. For whatever reason, Jesse bailed.
Bay and Pat Buchanan entered the RP fray in 2000. Were either committed over the long haul to build and grow the RP?
In 1994, RP leadership endorsed the GOP’s Contract For America that Perot developed in 1992. Without Perot’s direct support (flew all over the country stumping for GOP candidates) the 1994 republican revolution wouldn’t happen.
Those of us who’ve been around since the UWSA era of 1992 have witnessed plenty of GOP meddling with Reform Party affairs, candidates and elections. This must stop! Future Reform leaders must be focused from the bottom up not top down. This means we identify and run candidates for all partisan positions at the local, state and federal level.
Steven Thompson
Ford, Washington