The Politics of Fun

Phil Davison

Back in 2010 I witnessed the future of politics. A little known councilman went before his local party and delivered the most passionate speech of this century thus far.  Though the speech concerned, of all things, the Stark County Treasurer’s office, it harkened back to the exciting and entertaining aspect of politics.   As the speech went on, I felt something special happen. Politics became fun again.

Virgil Goode Endorses Donald Trump for President

Originally published at IPR

Former Congressman Virgil Goode, the Constitution Party’s 2012 presidential nominee and member of the party’s Executive Committee wrote an editorial yesterday for Breitbart.com in which he endorsed the presidential campaign of the Republican Party’s 2016 front-runner Donald Trump.

Greg Seltzer Drops Presidential Bid & Steps Down as Prohibition Party Chair

As reported in The National Prohibitionist and at Independent Political Report, Rev. Greg Seltzer of Maryland is ending his 2016 campaign for president and is stepping down as Chairman of the Prohibition Party.  This comes as the new Governor of Maryland Larry Hogan, a Republican, named Seltzer to the state’s Election Board.

Seltzer is a retired history professor and Presbyterian Minister.  He took over as Prohibition Party Chairman early last year when Rev. Toby Davis, the 2012 vice presidential nominee, stepped down due to a busy schedule.  He  previously served on the Maryland Election Board from 2002 to 2006 during the state’s last Republican administration.

Wikinews interviews Christopher Hill, Republican Party presidential candidate

The following was originally published on Wikinews January 6, 2015.

Air Force veteran and airline pilot Christopher V. Hill of New Hampshire took some time to talk with Wikinews about his campaign for the Republican Party’s 2016 presidential nomination.

Hill served in Operation Desert Storm, flying about fifty combat missions. Shortly after the war, he returned to civilian life, working as a loader and then a pilot for the United Parcel Service. In 2010, he organized the “Pilots and Patriots Defending the Constitution” ahead of that year’s midterm elections.  Hill ran his first campaign for president in 2012, seeking the Republican nomination.

Colorful Candidate Jim Rogers Dies at 79

Jim Rogers, best remembered as a mysterious political candidate who had unlikely successes, died on Tuesday at the age of 79 in Durant, Oklahoma.

According to his obituary on the Brown’s Funeral Service website, Rogers was a professor who taught at universities, community colleges, and high schools throughout Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wyoming.  He specialized in Chemistry, Engineering, Mathematics, and Physics.  The obituary makes no mention of Rogers’s numerous political campaigns. 

Citizen Journalist Martin Olson Uploads Official Phil Davison Video to YouTube

Citizen Journalist Martin Olson, the man who videotaped Minerva Councilman Phil Davison’s inspirational 2010 speech, uploaded the full, official video of the speech to YouTube last week.

Olson, who operates the  Stark County Political Report, which covers local politics in Stark County, Ohio, recorded Davison during the September 8 meeting of the local Republican Party Executive Committee, at which Davison sought the party’s nomination for County Treasurer.  In his original posting of the video to the Huffington Post, Olson reported:

Lost Vermin Supreme Interview Uncovered

It was late December 2011.  I sat at my computer, watching the live stream of the lesser-known Republican and Democratic presidential candidates forum.  My only interest was as a citizen journalist for Wikinews,  covering the candidates the mainstream media chose to ignore. I did not expect anything out of the ordinary.

As the Democratic Party forum commenced, I noticed a bearded man dressed in green with a rubber boot on his head take the stage. I couldn’t help but laugh.  I recognized this man, having attempted earlier in the year to remove his Wikipedia entry as a frivolous candidate.  His name was Vermin Supreme, the “friendly fascist,”

RJ Harris to Run for Oklahoma Governor as Democrat

On August 3, Oklahomans For Ballot Access Reform reported attorney RJ Harris, a contender for the Libertarian Party’s 2012 presidential nomination, announced his 2014 candidacy for Governor of Oklahoma as a member of the Democratic Party.

In a Facebook posting, Harris announced his plan, appealing to the “Constitutional Conservatives” of Oklahoma, in that “it is time to put our principles for freedom ahead of party politics, it’s time to fight for LIBERTY.” He then added a link to an August 1 Washington Post editorial titled, “Libertarian Democrats: A movement in search of a leader.”

Video Released of Robert Milnes at 2012 Alternative Candidates Debate

Ken Krawchuk at the podium

Robert Milnes

Andre Barnett

Last month I contacted the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania’s two time gubernatorial nominee Ken Krawchuk about footage of a January 2012 debate he moderated in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. The debate, sponsored by Democracy Unplugged, interested me because it featured Libertarian presidential candidate Robert Milnes of New Jersey.  At the time, no publicly accessible videos of Milnes were known to exist.  Following my request, Krawchuk posted video of the two hour-long debate to YouTube, enabling me and other viewers to see footage of Milnes for the first time.