Alternative candidates: who are they, and what do they stand for?
Missy Brinks
Issue date: 10/24/08 Section: News
With the hype surrounding Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain, voters nationwide are paying little attention to alternative presidential candidates.
This race started out with about 300 announced candidates. Over 30 of these candidates were women. Yet, only a few of these 300 candidates could be named by the 20 EVCC voters whom the Clipper asked.
Out of 20 students only 3 named more than the two major candidates, the third candidate named by those 3 students, was Ralph Nader.
There are 6 major candidates remaining. These candidates include Sen. Barack
Obama (Democratic), Sen. John McCain (Republican), Robert L. 'Bob' Barr Jr.
(Libertarian), Cynthia Ann McKinney (Green), Ralph Nader (Independent) and Charles
(Chuck) O. Baldwin (Constitution). Many voters are entirely unaware of these candidates.
The "Political Courage Test," According to Votesmart.org "is administered to all candidates for presidential, congressional, gubernatorial, and state legislative offices."
The test is a detailed list of some important issues that diligent voters will want to know to make a good choice. The site also provides the candidates voting background.
These candidates have various backgrounds, but seemingly have not been explored by voters who intend to enter voting booths on Nov. 4.
Robert L. Barr Jr. and his running mate, Wayne A. Root are libertarians. Barr, according to Votesmart.org, is in favor of military force against Iraq. He believes abortion should be legal if the pregnancy is the result of incest or rape, but he opposes advancement of public funding for abortion. He is for increasing the funding for law enforcement and slightly decreasing the funding for education.
Ralph Nader and his running companion Matt Gonzalez are Independent with no particular party affiliation. Nader believes that abortion should be legal if the pregnancy is the result of incest, rape, or if the life of the woman is threatened. However he believes that the funding for family planning programs should be increased to help prevent abortions. He believes we should eliminate funding for national missile defense and increase funding for active duty personnel.
This race started out with about 300 announced candidates. Over 30 of these candidates were women. Yet, only a few of these 300 candidates could be named by the 20 EVCC voters whom the Clipper asked.
Out of 20 students only 3 named more than the two major candidates, the third candidate named by those 3 students, was Ralph Nader.
There are 6 major candidates remaining. These candidates include Sen. Barack
Obama (Democratic), Sen. John McCain (Republican), Robert L. 'Bob' Barr Jr.
(Libertarian), Cynthia Ann McKinney (Green), Ralph Nader (Independent) and Charles
(Chuck) O. Baldwin (Constitution). Many voters are entirely unaware of these candidates.
The "Political Courage Test," According to Votesmart.org "is administered to all candidates for presidential, congressional, gubernatorial, and state legislative offices."
The test is a detailed list of some important issues that diligent voters will want to know to make a good choice. The site also provides the candidates voting background.
These candidates have various backgrounds, but seemingly have not been explored by voters who intend to enter voting booths on Nov. 4.
Robert L. Barr Jr. and his running mate, Wayne A. Root are libertarians. Barr, according to Votesmart.org, is in favor of military force against Iraq. He believes abortion should be legal if the pregnancy is the result of incest or rape, but he opposes advancement of public funding for abortion. He is for increasing the funding for law enforcement and slightly decreasing the funding for education.
Ralph Nader and his running companion Matt Gonzalez are Independent with no particular party affiliation. Nader believes that abortion should be legal if the pregnancy is the result of incest, rape, or if the life of the woman is threatened. However he believes that the funding for family planning programs should be increased to help prevent abortions. He believes we should eliminate funding for national missile defense and increase funding for active duty personnel.
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