On April 25, MySpace.com and Mark Burnett announced that they will team up to produce a new Internet/Television show, similar to other reality shows, for potential independent candidates for president. Mark Burnett produced Survivor, The Apprentice, The Contender, Rock Star INXS, among other hit “reality” TV shows.

It is thought that Wayne Allyn Root (who is seeking the Libertarian presidential nomination) has been aware of this coming development, and plans to participate.

The show will immediately begin to search for a host TV network. It expects to begin searching for applicants in September 2007. The show would air in early 2008. The winner would receive a prize of $1,000,000, but the money could only be used for political activity. The show will be interactive, meaning that viewers and MySpace users would give feedback to the contestants and together would determine the winner.

A somewhat similar attempt was tried in 2003, called “The American Candidate.” However, the producers of that show were intimidated into banning actual candidates from participating in the show, because of fear of the federal campaign finance laws. “Independent” is resolute that it will not buckle under and that it wants actual candidates to participate. “The American Candidate” was supposed to have run on the Fox TV network, but in the end Fox dropped it and it only ran on Showtime.

All three briefs have now been filed in the U.S. Supreme Court in Kidwell v City of Union, Ohio, no. 06-1226. The issue is whether government can spend public tax dollars to advertise for or against an initiative. The 6th circuit had ruled 2-1 that governments may spend such money. The next stage is that the U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether or not to take the case.

On April 23, a new party submitted enough valid signatures to qualify for the Puerto Rican ballot. It is the Puerto Ricans for Puerto Rico Party. Puerto Rico requires a petition signed by 5% of the number of registered voters, for a new party to qualify. This is the first time a new party has qualified in Puerto Rico since 1984. The party could not have succeeded, without the ballot access victory in the First Circuit in 2003. That case, called Perez Guzman v Gracia, struck down a Puerto Rico law that said no one could circulate the petition for a new party unless that person was both an attorney and a notary public. The First Circuit, based in Boston, has jurisdiction over Puerto Rico as well as over four New England states.