2008 National Convention Schedule: One Per Month, April-September

The 2008 set of national presidential nominating conventions (of the parties whose nominee could theoretically be elected) happens to work out on a schedule of one convention per month.

The Constitution Party meets April 22-27 in Kansas City.
The Libertarian Party meets May 23-26 in Denver.
Unity08 will choose its nominee in June (dates not set yet).
The Green Party meets July 10-13 in Chicago.
The Democratic Party meets August 25-28 in Denver.
The Republican Party meets Sept. 1-4 in Twin Cities, Minnesota

Both Sides Have Now Filed U.S. Supreme Court Briefs in Modesto Case

The city of Modesto, California, is trying to persuade the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate a California election law that will force Modesto to elect its city councilmembers by district. The California law is somewhat like the federal voting rights act, only it is stronger. Modesto will be forced to use districts to elect its city council because under the at-large system, virtually no Hispanics have ever been elected. Here is the brief of the organization opposed to the city. The case is City of Modesto v Sanchez, no. 07-88.

Kennedy Faction of Reform Party Files Motion to Re-Open Tallahassee Jury Determination

On September 17, the faction of the national Reform Party that lost the earlier jury trial in Tallahassee (the lawsuit called Reform Party of the USA v O’Hara) filed a motion for a new trial. The motion contains an affidavit of Lee Dilworth, saying he did not participate in the 2005 vote of the national executive committee that rescinded the call to the Tampa national convention. Since 6 votes were needed for a quorum, and since only 6 members of the national executive committee (including Dilworth) are recorded as having voted, if the recent Dilworth affidavit is accurate, the party records are in error and the Tampa convention wasn’t properly cancelled. The Tampa convention voted to name Charles Foster as national chair.

Any reporting done about internal Reform Party conflicts is very difficult. Passions run high on all sides. The author of this web page is no expert on internal Reform Party disputes and is not motivated to become an expert on that subject.

Unity08 Web Page Gives First Details of Ballot Access Efforts

Unity08’s web page, www.unity08.com, has a blog section on the right-hand column. On September 14 the group posted its first detailed message about qualifying as a party. The posting shows that the group will concentrate first on Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Utah. The party has already completed the necessary work in Florida.

Unity08’s web page also changes each day, to show how many voters have signed up as members. The total seems to increase by about 100 per day, and as of September 17, is at 104,735.

Former Republican Senator Changes His Registration to "Independent"

Lincoln Chafee, who was elected to the U.S. Senate from Rhode Island as a Republican in 2000 and who was defeated for re-election in 2006, changed his registration from “Republican” to “Independent” back in June or July 2007. No one noticed until a few days ago. Here is one article about the reasons for his action. This year has seen at least three news-worthy Republicans change their registration from “Republican” to either independent voter status, or to a minor party; the others are Mayor Michael Bloomberg and John Frohnmayer.