Small party candidate profile-1st edition

Surfing around Wikipedia yesterday I found a list of nearly a dozen small parties--a majority of which I had no idea still existed in the US--officially fielding candidates in the 2008 presidential election. I only had to scroll by the "Prohibition Party's" candidate's box once to realize that this was too good of a blog post opportunity to pass up. So, with no further adieu, I present to you the first candidate of many to be subjected to this election cycle's edition of "small party candidate profiles": Gene Amondson of the Prohibition Party.



While you might expect this political movement to have undergone a serious revamping in its message since it was first founded over a century ago, this isn't the case. Sure that with a little internet browsing I would find some recently generated party plank besides that of being opposed to alcohol, I culled several of both the candidate's and the party's public websites to no avail. As unbelievable as it might sound, after more than 70 years since it subjected our country to 13 years of dry-dom, the prohibition movement's message hasn't changed an iota: alcohol is without question the primary cause of our nation's moral and cultural demise.

While its platform has remained unchanged throughout, in the months leading up to the 2004 elections the party endured a dramatic leadership shakeup. The chaos began when party elders decided to finally stand up to the longstanding party fat cat Earl Dodge, who had run as the party's main candidate in every presidential election since 1976. Deciding it was time for a change, the party officially nominated the woodcarver/minister/Billy Sunday impersonator Gene Amondson, an Alaskan native, as their 2004 candidate. But Dodgey was having none of this so, knowing he had to think fast, he held an impromptu national party convention in which he was unanimously nominated as the party's candidate--only problem: said convention was held in his living room and attended by eight of his strongest supporters, all who happened to be family members. But after Amondson received more votes in the Colorado (the only state where the party managed to get on the ballot) general election, Dodge's fate was sealed and Amondson de facto emerged as the new face of the revitalized party.

This time around he's running as the party's sole candidate and in addition to Colorado, hopes to be placed on the Louisiana ballot. He'll be the first to admit his chances are slim to none, but no worries, his political ambitions have never gotten in the way of his other hobbies, most notably: making pies. Keep on keeping on Gene.