Looks like the California Secretary of State just ruled against the Constitution Party and is placing Alan Keyes on the ballot-thoughts anybody?

Bummer.

This must be litigated immediately. No CA, no hope! What a shame that a cult following of a KOOK can damage Chuck's campaign.

This decision was heading for the courts in either event but this IS a big setback for the Baldwin/Castle campaign and the CP. If this decision stands it means Chuck Baldwin will definitely get overlooked by the MSM (they will focus on Barr and Nader and maybe a bit for McKinney) and his coverage will be like the Socialist and Prohibition nominees which is very little and often derisive. This also means the CP can no longer lay claim to being America's largest third party since they will not be able to claim the registered voters of the AIP as CPers. This is a big disappointment and let's hope it gets overturned soon!

The large majority of AIP leaders and activists support Baldwin and he is extremely popular in California. So far, all the Secretary of State has done has said that over the years the former chairman always notified the SOS office of the identity of the new chairman (and since the former chairman in this case is Ed Noonan, one of the leaders of the small faction bent on destroying the party and its connection with the Constitution Party, that was not going to happen in this case) and since Noonan did not notify the SOS of the new chairman that the legitimate party convention selected, the state would not recognize the new chairman. Silly but true.

The tragic part of this is that there is probably an impression that some significant portion of the California AIP supports this action when in fact it is the work of three people and a very few cohorts.

By the way, this isn't over.

Statement by Jim King, Chairman of the AIP.
http://thirdpartywatch.com/2008/07/22/st...-chairman/

There is new evidence that the California Secretary of State operated on a faulty premise in making their decision. They mistakenly attributed to the outgoing chairman the authority of notification which properly belongs to the state committee (the new state committee) of the party. This is a very significant difference.

While it is unlikely that the Secretary of State's office will swallow their pride, admit their mistake and reverse their decision at this point, it means that there is a very much stronger probability that it can be overturned in the courts.

This is not over by a long shot.

We had the same thing happen in Michigan in 1976, but the Democratic Sec of State wouldn't put anyone on the ballot. So the Michigan AIP finally lost Ballot Position. I quess atleast the Democratic in California did put someone on the ballot to keep ballot position, so Baldwin forces can get it back in 2012.
I told Gary Odems not to hold two convention, but fight it out at the convention held by Ed Noonan. This way Baldwin would have had a better chance of getting on ballot. Remeber this when voting for Nationa CP Offices. We had 4 years to get ready for 2008.

According to the Constitution Party web site : http://www.constitutionparty.com/ba_stats.php

"California.......American Independent Party........On....................Ballot!"

???

That is true. It is just that the faction the CA SoS recognized has put Alan Keyes on the ballot instead of Chuck Baldwin. This is still in dispute and will be settled in court probably in Chuck Baldwin's favor.