Report: Constitution Party National Committee Meeting
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, October 7-8, 2011

Dear Independent Americans,

As you are probably aware, the Independent American Party is the State Affiliate of the national Constitution Party. Kay Dawn Jenkins and I attended the recent meeting in beautiful Coeur d’Alene as National Committee members. We were excited to meet with like minded patriots from all over the country to conduct national party business. The speakers were exceptional and we felt well repaid for having made the 14 hour drive from Elko through continuous rain.

Pat Miller, a former Republican Colorado State Representative, gave a very encouraging speech. She ran for Lt. Governor on the Constitution Party ticket in 2010 with former Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo who ran for Governor of Colorado. Their remarkable run brought the Colorado Constitution Party into major party status, bringing with it a host of challenges.

Mary Starrett told of her harrowing near win campaign for County Commissioner in Oregon. Because she was so close to winning, her Republican opponent engaged in a very ugly campaign. She shared with us very innovative and exiting campaign techniques which she utilized in order to combat her opponent. Mary ran previously for Governor and served as national media coordinator for the party.

Scott Bradley, who was a speaker at the IAP 2010 Nevada IAP State Convention in Elko and previously ran in Utah against Senator Orrin Hatch on the Constitution Party, gave a wonderful speech about preserving the Constitution and the nation. He specifically mentioned the threat to our Republic posed by the Call for the Constitutional Convention or an Article V Amendments Convention now being promoted by many well-meaning members of the Tea Party.

Darrell Castle of Tennessee, our former Vice-Presidential Candidate, gave a remarkable speech on how the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are impoverishing the peoples in the Mideast, leaving them destitute among war and famine. It was a very sobering examination of US foreign policy and the destruction of whole countries for the sake of the profit and international banks.

Matt Shea, Washington State Representative and a leader in the Tenth Amendment movement spoke with passion and conviction about what can be accomplished on the local level and how important it is for all good people to be candidates. The IAP in Nevada has certainly followed this counsel as we have fielded more candidates than any other Constitution Party affiliate—54 candidates in 2010 electing 4.

Sam Bushman, who is a radio owner and host of Liberty Roundtable, spoke about the importance of owning and participating in the media. He is a member of the Utah Constitution Party. He built his radio network starting with a small AM station. His program is syndicated and you can hear it on the internet at www.libertyroundtable.com

Chuck Baldwin, former Constitution Party Presidential Candidate, was the very best speaker of the event. He plainly laid out the differences in our party’s candidates who oppose American Empire building and constant international wars, and all of the Republican candidates except Ron Paul. He specifically spoke of the necessity of working with people of all faiths and realizing that all Christians are not friends of liberty. He has recently moved from Florida to Kalispell, Montana where he is building Liberty Fellowship. You can listen to his sermons on Sundays by visiting his website www.chuckbaldwinlive.com.

Many other great patriots attended including our former presidential candidate and founder Howard Phillips from Virginia, national Constitution Party Chairman Jim Clymer, who attended our State Convention in Reno in 2008, and national field director Gary Odom of Pennsylvania.

The National Presidential Nominating Convention “Let Freedom Ring” will be held in Nashville, Tennessee on April 18-21 at the Sheraton Music City Hotel. All Independent Americans are eligible to be delegates. It should be an exciting, fun and meaningful event judging from past conventions.

I had the opportunity to speak on ballot access and petitioning, unlike Nevada, many states are not on the ballot. I was also able to get unanimous approval for a resolution opposing National Popular Vote which is sweeping the State Legislatures under the radar of most Americans. NPV now has half of the 270 Electoral College votes needed to bypass the Constitution and implement this vote stealing scheme.

Nevada needs to raise $865 dollars to meet our annual $1,000 assessment so that we can have an additional delegate at the national convention and support the efforts of our national party. I will be sending an email about this later.

We should be thankful to be aligned with such dedicated and hard working patriots in the Constitution Party.

Janine Hansen, IAP National Committeewoman