independentsforkerry.org

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein has won the Illinois primary, which was held online and open to all residents of Illinois 13 and older.  From the Green Party of Illinois:

Results are in from the Illinois Green Party’s first ever online primary. With a total of 153 ballots cast, Harvard-educated physician Jill Stein of Massachusetts has won the primary with 71% of the vote. Legendary sitcom actress Roseanne Barr, whose name was not on the official ballot but became an officially recognized candidate by the GPUS after the ILGP’s registration deadline, earned 18% of the vote as a write in. San Diego air quality inspector Kent Mesplay received 5% of the vote. Nearly 5% of the votes were cast as “Undecided” and three unrecognized write-in candidates received less than 1%.

Unlike the taxpayer-funded Republican and Democratic primaries, the Illinois Green Party cost very little and allowed any Illinois resident age 13 years or older to participate. Participants were allowed to join the party and cast their vote at the same time. Caucuses were held throughout the state to serve as a polling place for those without Internet access, and mail-in ballots were available by request.

Dr. Stein, a native of Highland Park, Ill., established a strong campaign presence in her home state. Following her campaign kick-off, Stein made several appearances in the Chicago area and at a mock election at Western Illinois University in Macomb. Her campaign also sent out several e-blasts to supporters during the course of the voting, including an e-mail endorsement from Rich Whitney, a two-time Illinois gubernatorial candidate who is well-respected within the party.

The Barr campaigned was helped by a media splash from her campaign kick-off, which happened at the beginning of the ILGP’s primary voting period. Though still in its early stages, her campaign has already brought in several members who are new to the Illinois Green Party.

“From the standpoint of party building, the primary was very successful,” said Election Administrator Patrick Kelly. “Thanks to the efforts of our candidates to reach voters, were able to grow our membership and by giving any Illinoisan who wanted to participate a chance.”

Playing off Stein’s success in the WIU mock election, the Illinois Green Party will convene it state membership meeting, March 2-4, at WIU in Macomb to select delegates to the Green Party’s Presidential Nominating Convention in Baltimore, Md. in July. If an apportionment plan is approved by the Green Party of the United States, Illinois would be awarded 31 delegates to the national convention who would be pledged accordingly: Stein would receive 22 delegates, Barr 5, Mesplay 2, and 2 would be unbound.

These results are unofficial pending approval of the Illinois Green Party Executive Committee.

FULL RESULTS

Independent Political Report

Roseanne Barr’s presidential bid has penetrated the veil of media silence so deeply that North Carolina based national polling firm Public Policy Polling has included her in a head to head to head comparison with Mitt Romney and Barack Obama.
Obama wins with 47%, while Romney draws 42% and Barr stands at 6%, with [...]
Green Party Watch

On February 6th, in the afternoon, “Green Party” is trending on Yahoo.

Also, a New Jersey media outlet is reporting that in the poll of TMZ (a celebrity gossip website), Roseanne Barr for President is trailing Obama by only 3%. And, the news story also lists by name Green Party Watch, and the other nominees for Green Party President 2012 (Jill Stein, Kent Mesplay and Harley Mikkelson).

(excerpt from) newjerseynewsroom.com
Comedian Roseanne Barr seeking Green Party presidential nomination
Monday, 06 February 2012 07:16

An informal TMZ opinion poll has Roseanne trailing President Barack Obama by only three percent, 39 percent to 36 percent, with Mitt Romney coming in at 25 percent…*

*Note: Some sites are reporting the poll as Barack Obama 38% to Roseanne Barr 35%.

Independent Political Report

Bob Barr was the Presidential candidate of the Libertarian Party in 2008, as well as a former member of the House of Representatives as a Republican. Barr now writes a regular column in The Daily Caller–in this article he urges readers to actively oppose SOPA.

Congress has been in a constitutionally feisty mood lately. Shortly before taking off for its traditional Christmas recess, for example, it passed the annual defense authorization bill, which included a troubling provision that apparently permits the U.S. military to indefinitely detain anyone — including American citizens — it suspects of having even remote ties to any group it has determined to be linked to terrorism.

Now, in what would be another serious blow to our liberties, which are supposed to be protected against government intrusion, some members of Congress are pushing legislation that would greatly impede our freedom to communicate over the Internet. The inaptly named “Stop Online Privacy Act” (SOPA) would supposedly protect intellectual property rights, but in effect would dramatically enhance the power of the federal government to block websites it suspects infringe intellectual property rights or simply promote the distribution of copyrighted content.

While Bob Barr’s byline biography notes his time in the House of Representatives, it does not mention his presidential candidacy with the Libertarian Party.

Independent Political Report

Bob Barr was the Presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party in 2008, having recently switched from the GOP. It was recently rumored that he was considering a Republican run for Congress in Georgia, but this still came as quite a shock. Bob Barr is one member of a large slate of public officials and former officeholders who endorsed Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign today.

Among the state and local officials announcing they are endorsing Newt Gingrich today are:

Georgia Congressmen Austin Scott, Lynn Westmoreland, Tom Price, Jack Kingston and Phil Gingrey. Former Georgia Congressmen Mac Collins and Bob Barr.

Many other names follow–in fact the list is quite extensive. One of Newt Gingrich’s primary opponents is former Libertarian Party presidential nominee Ron Paul, who ran for President as a Libertarian in 1988, but is now running as a Republican.

Independent Political Report

From an article posted on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution blog, June 8, 2011, by Bob Barr:

The definition of “overreaching” in the next edition of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary could be a single sentence — “Over•reaching: see June 3, 2011 indictment of former presidential candidate and United States Senator John Edwards for alleged campaign finance violations.”

Every current and future candidate for federal office ought to file an amicus brief in behalf of Edwards. If the federal government succeeds in securing a conviction of Edwards in this case, the precedent will have been set for future administrations to employ federal campaign finance laws to reach and criminalize virtually any monies used by a candidate’s supporter(s) that even indirectly have the effect of protecting the “image” of the candidate.

Read the rest of the article here.

Comments on the above article also at Ballot Access News.

Bob Barr was the 2008 nominee for President of the Libertarian Party.

Independent Political Report

Bob Barr in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

For the past year, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and its parent, the Department of Homeland Security, along with Members of Congress from both parties and the Obama Administration, have been demanding Americans give up our basic civil liberties and our fundamental right to privacy, by submitting to a full-body scan — amounting to a virtual strip search – simply because we need to fly on a commercial airliner. At least one American hero – Express Jet pilot Michael Roberts – has said “enough is enough,” and refused to participate any longer in this demeaning security charade.

Read more…

Independent Political Report