Bill Kristol said recently, “I do think an independent candidate might be able to win the presidency (assuming the major party nominees are Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton) if they just get some decent, calm, soft spoken guy or woman who wants to do the right thing for the country.” He was then asked if that is realistic. He said, in response, “It’s very unlikely, but I don’t think it’s quite as out of the question as everyone else thinks.” See this story.
On December 23, the Michigan Secretary of State’s office determined that Rocky De La Fuente has enough valid signatures to be on the Michigan Democratic presidential primary ballot. He needed 12,823 signatures. He submitted 20,166, and 16,470 were valid. The other candidates on Michigan’s presidential primary ballots did not need to submit petitions, because the Secretary of State put them on the ballot automatically because they are mentioned in news media. Thanks to John Anthony LaPietra for this news.
De La Fuente has probably collected more signatures on presidential primary petitions this year, around the nation, than any other candidate.
Recently, Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham and head of the Billy Graham organization, said he has left the Republican Party and re-registered as an independent. He recommends that other Christians run for office outside of the two major parties. In 2012 Franklin Graham and Billy Graham had endorsed Mitt Romney for President. The Graham organization is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. North Carolina has very severe petition requirements for candidates who run outside the two major parties.
The cause of the decision was the recent action of Congress in passing the omnibus spending bill which retained funding for Planned Parenthood, and generally increased federal spending. See this story. Thanks to several people for this news.
On December 22, incoming Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin retracted an executive order issued November 24 by his prededessor, Steve Beshear. The order eased the ability of most ex-felons to register to vote. See this story. Bevin is a Republican and Beshear is a Democrat. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
Tony Quinn, a well-known California political consultant and commentator on politics, here argues that Ted Cruz does not meet the constitutional qualifications to be President.
Quinn is wrong when he says Cruz is the first person to run for President who is not a natural-born citizen. Socialist Workers Party presidential candidate Roger Calero was born in Nicaragua and when he ran for President in 2004 and 2008, was not a citizen. Thanks to AroundtheCapitol for the link.
