America's Independent Party
America's Independent Party is a conservative American political party formed in 2008 as an alternative to the Republican, Democratic and other parties, to advocate for a return to America's founding principles and government of, by and for the people.
Founding
Alan Keyes 2008 candidacy before the AIP
Alan Keyes declared his candidacy for President on September 14, 2007. Just three days later, Keyes placed third in the Family Research Council's Values Voter straw poll, behind Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul, garnering 5% of support.
The Keyes campaign drew limited support in any of the caucuses or primaries that took place. In the Iowa caucuses, Keyes claimed some of the state's ballots did not even list him as a candidate, and his campaign CEO, Stephen Stone, stated that the reason Keyes did not show up on most ballots was primarily because Keyes had decided to enter the election cycle so late. He also blamed the media for not recognizing Keyes as a viable candidate, excluding him from debates and providing practically no campaign coverage.
Keyes was awarded four Republican Party convention delegates, more than he received in 1996 but less than in 2000. In early 2008, Keyes explored the possibility of allying himself with the Constitution Party, marking this change away from his life-long involvement in the GOP with a speech on April 15 in Hazleton, PA, a town which has been a battleground in the political fight over illegal immigration. However, due primarily to his fundamental disagreement with CP founder Howard Phillips over foreign policy, the party instead selected Chuck Baldwin at the party's convention. Following the defeat, Keyes told a group of his supporters that he was "prayerfully considering" continuing his candidacy as an independent, and refused to endorse Baldwin.
AIP formation
Following the failure to come together with the Constitution Party, Dr. Keyes' supporters formed America's Independent Party, which held its convention in Fenton, Michigan on August 21, 2008, making Keyes their Presidential nominee. A press release from the party said: "John McCain, has abandoned the principles of Ronald Reagan – particularly the Reagan pro-life platform plank," and "the party also opposes John McCain on many other important points, including his opposition to a federal amendment protecting traditional marriage and the natural family; his sponsorship of the McCain/Feingold legislation, which they view as a direct attack on their First Amendment rights to political free speech and grassroots citizen activism; his long-time support for so-called “comprehensive immigration reform,” which they consider to be amnesty; and his support for the global warming agenda, which they believe will destroy our economy and strip us of our national sovereignty if pursued as public policy.". The AIP gained ballot access in three states and became an officially-recognized write-in candidate in several dozen others. A struggle within the American Independent Party of California (The California affiliate the Constitution Party), between a pro-Keyes faction and Constitution Party supporters of the 2008 candidacy of Chuck Baldwin, led to the placement of Keyes and Wiley S. Drake on the ballot as the AIP-CA nominees, where he received 40,673 votes. Two lawsuits to gain control of AIP, one before the election and one after, by the Baldwin forces failed. Keyes also received 2545 votes on the AIP ticket in Florida, 3,051 votes in Colorado, and write-in votes in a few other states, for a nationwide total of 47,768 recorded votes.
External links
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