Let’s put the clunky style and general silliness in tone aside (“presidential elections?” plural? there is more than one presidential election going on in Virginia?). First of all, “Independent Greens” doesn’t have a hyphen in it & the Virginia BOE knows that. Second, the deadline for submitting presidential ballot petitions in Virginia is not until August 22nd. Third, there is no information of any kind related to ballot status certifications at the Virginia Board of Elections website, nor should there be until the submission deadline has passed and the state has certified the final appearance of the ballot.

Fourth, the Virginia BOE doesn’t issue emails like this anyway, even if all the above didn’t apply.

I received an email from the State Board of Elections with the headline “INDEPENDENT-GREEN AND LIBERTARIAN PARTIES FILE FOR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS.”

It notes that Bloomberg/Paul and Barr/Root will be on the ballot in November.

It also says: “In addition to the Independent-Greens and Libertarian parties, the Democratic and Republican parties will also have their nominees on the ballot this November.”

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Carey Campbell is no doubt enjoying once again the bright glow of the national spotlight with this maneuver. The people who are getting misty-eyed over his statement – which appeared throughout the national political blogs today – that they are “keeping their promise to Mr. Bloomberg” should know about their attempts earlier this year to foist their then-useless signatures onto the Nader and then the Constitution Party campaigns. So much for promisekeeping, Mr. Campbell.

I’m very sure the noise over this will die down long before Election Day, and the only people not laughing hysterically at this situation will be the Ron Paul cultists scattered around Virginia who would otherwise have stayed home, voted for Bob Barr, or cast a write-in vote.

The perception is that the IGVA will run ANYONE without a D or R after their name. Many of the IGVA’s candidates have clearly differing values from their colleagues in the same party, unlike the GP, Libertarians, Naderites, Constitution parties.

Important note: We have been working with the conservative Independent Green party in VA to get petitioning done. We plan to use their petition (following guidelines by the State Board of Elections) and we are well on our way to being done (about 70% complete). You can use this explanation (memorize it to explain to people quickly why you have the Bloomberg petitions): “Bloomberg and Paul have siad they are not running, so we will be able to switch them to Baldwin and Castle per state rules. This gets Chuck Baldwin on the ballot in Virginia.” If you have any questions send us an email. For most people, all you have to say is, “Please sign this petition to get a Presidential candidate on the Virginia ballot in Novenber.” If they ask who, say Chuck Baldwin.

This is hilarious. First the IGP offered their Bloomberg signatures to Nader this spring after Bloomberg inconveniently decided that he wasn’t going to run. Ooops. But the Nader campaign refused to accept them since, among other reasons, Nader’s two co-chairpeople in Virginia threatened to resign from the campaign if he did. I know this because they both told me so directly (I mention this because IGP fanatics always claim that any criticism of their group is “unsubstantiated”).

So then they go back to a person who made it crystal clear that he’s not running for president, and pair him up with someone (Ron Paul) whom they apparently decided on by rolling dice or spinning a wheel, since these two men have absolutely nothing to do with each other ideologically or in any other way, except that the IGP can glom onto their fame, I suppose. Then they “nominate” both of them without either their knowledge or permission. As Yakov Smirnoff says, “what a country!”

Since it looks as though Barr, Baldwin, and Nader are going to be on the Virginia ballot, and probably Cynthia McKinney as well, already giving Virginia voters six candidates from which to choose, I wonder if anyone can tell me why submitting over three times the required number of signatures for this particular ticket (made up of gentlemen who aren’t running for anything) wasn’t a bizarre waste of time.

I think you would be well served by taking a step back and examining your own thought process. You had stated that Ron Paul was not a serious candidate. Now, you’re coming back and claiming that you only stated the media didn’t think he would ever come close. Yet, you don’t think that the media had anything to do with eliminating him as a candidate?

B-L, people aren’t excited about McCain. Republicans aren’t excited about McCain. Most are voting for him only because he’s a Republican, or because he’s not Obama or Clinton. Have you caught this AP article today, that many of Ron Paul’s and Huckabee’s supporters were young people and that many of those same voters are either not excited about McCain; voting for him by default;looking at 3rd party candidates; or voting for Obama?
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g5fTsjYvwlnyGwR3YR1QvxW3y3vAD92M3HQG1

Wake up and smell the coffee, my friend.