Congradulations to Michael Badnarik!

[Updates below.]

News8Austin: Austinite picked as Libertarian Party presidential nominee

Michael Badnarik said "there's no reason'' he can't take President Bush's place in the White House.

The Texan bases his optimism on winning the Libertarian Party's presidential nomination Sunday in Atlanta.

Badnarik is a 49-year-old computer programmer from Austin who also teaches a course in constitutional law.

He defeated former Hollywood movie producer Aaron Russo on the convention's third ballot, after former radio talk show host Gary Nolan, who was eliminated on the second ballot, endorsed Badnarik.

Copyright 2004 Associated Press, All rights reserved.

Ledger-Enquirer: Austin computer programer wins Libertarian presidential nod

"If I can win the nomination, there's no reason I can't win this election," Badnarik told a cheering convention that drew more than 800 delegates.

Badnarik, whose name is pronounced "bad-NAHR-ick," quickly challenged President George W. Bush and presumed Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry to work to ensure he is included in the presidential debates.

"If they believe in the Constitution, if they believe in freedom of speech, and if they truly believe that the Libertarian Party is not a threat, then having me on the dais with them behind a podium to present our message shouldn't be a problem," he said.

Copyright 2004 Associated Press, All rights reserved.

Austin-American Statesman: Austinite is party's pick for president (link will rot)

On Sunday, Badnarik was nominated as the Libertarian Party's presidential candidate for 2004 at a convention in Atlanta that featured something the two major-party conventions will lack: suspense.

[...]

In a phone interview with the Austin American-Statesman, Badnarik, 49, said he was in "stunned disbelief" after the vote.

His next move sounds like a page from the major parties' playbook: strategize, raise money and campaign.

"I finally got a microphone to the people who needed to hear my message," he said after his win.

Trailing Russo and Nolan when the convention began Friday, Badnarik attributed his win to undecided delegates who said they chose him because of his performance in Saturday's debates at the convention.

Following the first debate on Saturday, Badnarik trailed Russo by two votes -- 258 to 256 -- after the first ballot. On a third ballot Sunday, Badnarik won 423-344.

Copyright 2001-2004 Cox Texas Newspapers, L.P. All rights reserved.

Richard Campagna got the vice presidential slot.

I've met Mr. Badnarik before and he seemed like a decent man. Hardly more than a handshake and a hello between us, of course, but I noticed no glaring personality defects. As for his politics, he's pretty pleasing:

1. Principled and firm on gun rights
   
2. Principled and firm on education
   
3. Principled and firm on the drug war, although I'm not certain when he says "decriminalization" he means for all drugs.
   
4. He'd abolish the IRS and the income tax without replacing it with a flat tax.
   
5. He'd abolish the Federal Reserve Bank and bring the US back to a "non-inflatable currency." In other words, a gold or silver standard. He teaches a class on the Constitution and only accepts Liberty Dollars/silver for payment.
   
6. He's against the PATRIOT Act, the war in Iraq, affirmative action, and tentatively against abortion. He's a bit ambiguous on the death penalty.

For the most part, his approach appears good. According to that interview, he'd do the following things on Day One of his Presidency:

a) Declare that all four national emergencies are immediately terminated, as well as the presumption of Emergency War Powers. Senate Report 93-549 has found that the "national emergencies" announced by FDR in 1933 because of the Great Depression, by Truman because of the Korean War, and two initiated by Nixon because of the Vietnam War, are still in effect today. (Skeptical readers can search the internet for this report and read it for themselves.)

b) Declare that all 20,000+ gun control laws in the United States are unconstitutional and unenforceable. I would also issue a valid executive order to the BATF and other pseudo police agencies informing them that any agent who confiscates a weapon of any kind, from someone who is not currently engaged in a murder or robbery, will not only be terminated from their position, but they will also be prosecuted for violating the unalienable rights of the citizens they have sworn to protect.

c) Issue another valid executive order to my subordinates executives working for the IRS. That order would instruct them to come to work, make a pot of coffee, and begin working on their resumes' pending a federal grand jury investigation as to the legitimacy of the Sixteenth Amendment and the Internal Revenue Code. High ranking officials from that department would be closely monitored as flight risks, pending indictments for fraud in the event that evidence proves that they knew that no statute exists that requires Americans to fill out a 1040 form and relinquish a significant percentage of their hard earned money to an unconstitutional government that refuses to operate within a budget.

d) Declare the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 to be unconstitutional, and prohibit that organization from printing even one more dollar of fiat currency. I would immediate appoint Bernard Von Nothaus, Monetary Architect for the Liberty Dollar, to be my Secretary of the Treasury, placing the stability of our economy in his capable hands.

e) I would announce a special one-week session of Congress where all 535 members would be required to sit through a special version of my Constitution class. Once I was convinced that every member of Congress understood my interpretation of their very limited powers, I would insist that they restate their oath of office while being videotaped. Those videos could then be used as future evidence should they ever vote to violate the rights of Americans again.

f) I would take a short break for lunch.

Pretty sweeping, eh? No, he isn't an anarcho-capitalist and there are a few nit-picks I have with his particular emphasis on a few things over others, but he'd be a vast, vast improvement over Bush and Kerry. Despite the whining over a few legitimate quirks, I'd pick him over any other presidential candidate I'm aware of.

UPDATE(6/18/2004 5:02pm)
Whom to Vote For?

UPDATE 10/10/2004 2:43pm
Michael Badnarik has been arrested while protesting his exclusion from the presidential debates.

Posted by Drizzten at May 31, 2004 12:05 PM