The Constitution Party, one of the three major third parties in the United States (the Libertarian Party and the Green Party of the United States being the other two), was originally founded under the name of the U.S. Taxpayers Party in 1992 when a coalition of independent state parties united. The U.S. Taxpayers Party platform supported the restoration of the federal government strictly adhering to the United States Constitution and the fundamental principles laid down by the Found Fathers of the United States in the Declaration of Independence and The Bill of Rights (Amendments 1 through 10 of the U.S. Constitution). According to The Constitution Party’s official website, this political party’s name was changed at their national convention in 1999 in order “to better reflect the party’s core beliefs stated in the U.S. Constitution.” Their original platform was retained.
What this party is advocating is not new. Those present at the Constitutional Convention (began in May 1787) were in favor of strictly adhering to what they, the Founding Fathers of the United States, jointly agreed upon and authored. The contents of the United States Constitution was not immediately agreed upon by the Founding Fathers for it took hours of great deliberation as well as much voting upon the content of each section before the culmination of the body of the United States Constitution plus the Amendments 1 through 10 (The Bill of Rights) were agreed upon, and even then the lengthy process of it being ratified by the original 13 American Colonies was not completed until June 21, 1788 which is the exact date of the birth of the United States of America’s national government. The day the republic of the United States began as a sovereign entity.
This political party on its website under FAQ’s claims it is neither liberal or conservative because it is “constitutionalist” and in “support of limited government as outlined in the Constitution.” According to the Wikipedia website, the Constitution Party is “paleoconservative” which means anti-communist, anti-imperialist, and pro a right-wing political philosophy that stresses tradition, civil society, and religion that goes hand in hand with a regional, national, and Western identity. As I read this third party’s extremely lengthy platform I found the term “paleoconservative” very appropriate as a descriptive term. Their platform includes being completely against abortion, the military draft, Social Security, Welfare, and federal income tax. They are pro having “In God We Trust” on the American dollars, prayer in public schools, and the Pledge of Allegiance remaining as it is. They feel to change any of these things is against the fundamental principles listed in the Declaration of Independence (the Charter of the United States) and should remain in place.
This third party is a Christian political party. The preamble to the Constitution Party platform begins with “The Constitution Party gratefully acknowledges the blessing of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as Creator, Preserver and Ruler of the Universe and of these United States. We hereby appeal to Him for mercy, aid, comfort, guidance and the protection of His Providence as we work to restore and preserve these United States.” Followed by “This great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason peoples of other faiths have been and are afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here.”
The Constitution Party’s website is very informative for listed under “Historical Documents” they have documents and speeches written by Patrick Henry, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, James Madison, and George Mason (all Founding Fathers of the United States of America) as well as the Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence, and the U.S. Constitution. All of these documents I enjoyed reading.
The Constitution Party only has ballot access for national, state, county, and local elections in 16 states with pending ballot access in Wyoming, Arizona, North Carolina and Texas where the petitioning process has been started. This is very important for this means that already in 16 states this third party’s candidates for national, state, county, and local elections are put on the ballots (do not have to be written in by voters to vote for them).
Unlike the Libertarian Party and Green Party of the United States of America who have national headquarters in Washington D.C., The Constitution Party has their national party headquarters in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. By the year 2000, The Constitution Party had gained recognition as a national party. The Constitution Party does have official party colors being red, white, and blue. The current (unofficial) party mascot is a blue and white bald eagle.
According to the website of The Constitution Party of Utah (the official website of The Constitution Party directed me to this one to learn more about why this party is different from others) their party’s candidates do not deviate from their party’s platform because The Constitution Party holds their candidates “elected to office accountable to the platform.” They claim this is the major difference between The Constitution Party and other American political parties. Another difference this third party has listed on The Constitution Party of Utah’s website that I found noteworthy was “The Constitution Party has not taken, nor will ever take funds from the tax-paying public to support its activities, believing that action to be unconstitutional.” They primarily rely on donations from registered The Constitution Party voters.
This third Party is more conservative in comparison to its elder the Libertarian Party and younger Green Party of the United States. The Constitution Party is not affiliated with any global political party or world-wide agenda. It is strictly an American political party with American right-wing ideology. This political party, like other third parties, are taking away registered voters from the two major political parties (the Democratic Party and Republican Party). Their candidates are receiving votes in national, state, county, and local elections. They have won some county and local elections where they have received ballot access. Third parties can become one of the two main political parties of the American two-party system. There are no laws and zero statutes to prevent this type of political change in the two-party system. There is nothing in the United States Constitution that prevents third parties from gaining major party status which means if The Constitution Party was recognized as and replaced a major party of the United States that would be constitutional. It would, however, be a very sad day for either the Democratic Party or the Republican Party if this ever happened. This is something deadly serious for both the Democratic Party and Republican Party to consider especially now that the three major third parties are growing in membership and giving American voters an alternative to the two major political parties.
The Constitution Party official website: http://www.constitutionparty.com/
The Constitution Party platform, found on official website: http://www.constitutionparty.com/party_platform.php
History of the Constitution Party, The Constitution Party of Georgia website: http://www.gaconstitutionparty.org/s.nl/it.I/id.11/.f
What are the differences between the parties?, The Constitution Part of Utah website: http://www.cputah.org/html/about_us.html#Differences1
The Constitution Party, Wikipedia website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_Party_(United_States)
List of Third Parties in the United States, Wikipedia website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_the_United_States
Paleoconservative, Wikipedia website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleoconservative
The United States Constitution, main body, official government archives website: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html
The Bill of Rights (Amendments 1 through 10), official government archives website: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html
Amendments 11 through 27 of the US Constitution, official government archives website: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_amendments_11-27.html
United States Constitution, Wikipedia website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Constitution
