Chuck Baldwin 2008 presidential campaign

Chuck Baldwin was initially a Democrat, but changed his party affiliation to Republican in 1980. In the 1970s, he founded Crossroad Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida, which President Ronald Reagan recognized for its growth and influence. As a Republican, Baldwin headed the Florida branch of Moral Majority, which promoted social conservatism. He also hosted a radio show called Chuck Baldwin Live, which focused on conservative issues. It made its national radio debut on the Genesis Communications Network in 2001.[2]

Baldwin left the Republican Party in 2004, believing it had become a "second big-government, big-spending party" that could be characterized as "more liberal than the Democratic Party...in practice."[3] He joined the Constitution Party, but still considered himself a political independent.[4] That year, Constitution Party presidential candidate Michael Peroutka asked Baldwin to be his running mate. The ticket won the nomination at the 2004 Constitution Party National Convention.[2] In the general election, they received 143,630 popular votes for 0.12%.[5] Afterwards, Baldwin argued, "the American people haven't rejected our message; they haven't heard our message." [6]

While considering a run for president, during an October 2006 interview with The Conservative President 2008 website, Baldwin expressed his frustration with the Republican Party, which he believed was on a course of "self-destruction" and that was only kept afloat by the "absurd liberalism of Democrats."[3] He praised Congressmen Tom Tancredo and Ron Paul as well as activists Pat Buchanan and Alan Keyes, but stated that the Republican Party had steered too far to the left for him to support any of their candidates for president.[3] When asked if he would run for president in 2008 he stated that he had "no desire to run" but that he was "always open to God's will."[3] Baldwin endorsed Ron Paul for the Republican presidential nomination in a message posted to YouTube on December 19, 2007.[7]

During a March 25, 2008 interview with Miller Politics, two weeks before Baldwin officially entered the race, he commended Alan Keyes as a possible Constitution Party candidate but stated that he "needs to clarify his foreign policy positions for the party." He described Libertarian Party candidate Bob Barr as a "very attractive candidate" whom he "like[s]...very much." When asked about his own presidential aspirations, he responded by saying that "There are many great people in our party that, in my opinion, are much more qualified [to be the presidential nominee] than I am. I have always tried to be open to God's will. At this time, however, I have no inclination that this is God's will for me."[8]

Baldwin announced on April 10, 2008 that he would seek the Constitution Party presidential nomination at the party's April 23–26 convention in Kansas City, Missouri.[9] His run was believed to have arisen from draft efforts within the Constitution Party, who feared the party would nominate a pro-Iraq War candidate like Alan Keyes.[10] Until the convention, Baldwin did not campaign and in an April 17 interview with Miller Politics, he stated that he was "not running" but merely placing his name into consideration, "trusting that God will reveal His will accordingly." [10]

During the convention, the party's founder Howard Phillips endorsed Baldwin and gave a passionate speech in which he referred to Keyes as "the Neocon candidate" who "lingered in the Republican Party until a week ago." [11] Afterwards, Baldwin defeated Keyes, 383.8 to 125.7, winning approximately 74% of the delegates. He won the majority of delegates from most states with the exceptions of Missouri, Maryland, and Oklahoma, where Keyes narrowly edged Baldwin.[12] At Baldwin's request, the delegates then chose attorney Darrell Castle of Tennessee as his running mate.[13]

Following the nomination, Baldwin set up a campaign website and opened accounts on MySpace and Facebook. He announced that he would use the Internet in the same manner as Ron Paul "to circumvent the media," holding the mainstream news media responsible for holding back third party candidates.[6]

Though Baldwin was not included on many mainstream polls, a May 2008 Fox News opinion poll revealed favorable news for the campaign. It showed that 47% of the public were open to voting for a third party presidential candidate such as Baldwin, compared to 39% who were not. Moreover, a Zogby poll discovered that 42% of conservatives (whom the Baldwin campaign targeted) said they would never vote for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain and found that 86% of "very conservative" respondents were displeased.[14]

Campaign photo of Baldwin.

Baldwin expressed his own discontent with the Republican Party in a May 22 interview with Montana News. He expressed frustration with evangelicals who "coalesc[e] around John McCain" despite his "twenty-plus year track record of liberal policies."[15] Baldwin highlighted globalism as the main threat to the nation stating that "Immigration, the U.N...., NATO, NAFTA, CAFTA, the North American Union, the Superhighway, the war in Iraq, China's threat to our peace...are connected"[15] through globalism. Baldwin stated that Iran would only be a threat "by sneaking people into our country. And that would be far more difficult with a sealed border." [15] He stated that the border could be sealed by deploying troops to those areas.[15]

At the end of May and the beginning of June, several controversial developments concerning the Baldwin campaign hit the press. Comments surfaced that were made by Baldwin, raising the possibility of a 9/11 conspiracy theory of a controlled demolition stating, "I don't know whether there was any kind of an inside apparatus involved in this or not... If there's duplicity involved in some kind of conspiracy, then let's find out who it is and prosecute whoever's involved." [16]

Final stages

On October 7, Baldwin addressed the John Birch Society on the second day of its 50th anniversary. At the event he discussed the role of Christianity in the United States public life and delivered his stump speech. He attacked globalist entities such as NAFTA, the International Criminal Court, the Law of the Sea Treaty and the Security and Prosperity Partnership as well as calling for the withdrawal of the United States from the United Nations.[30]

Baldwin-Castle ballot access.

Later in October, Baldwin was interviewed by NPR where he discussed his opposition to the Federal Reserve, which he described as a "fraudulent system" and which he blamed for the financial crisis of 2007–2008. He attacked Republicans for "reneg[ing] on their promises" in 1994's Contract with America to "eliminate five federal departments, such as Department of Education, Energy, Commerce..." and to "slash spending." He also criticized Republicans' failure to criminalize abortion during their years in government. As president Baldwin stated he would eliminate the IRS and cut government spending as well. He stated that the "responsibility of government [is] to protect life, even life in the womb."[31]

Baldwin participated in a third party debate with Independent candidate Ralph Nader on October 23, broadcast on CSPAN-2. During the debate, Baldwin often agreed with Nader on as wide-ranging issues as corporations and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He stood in solidarity with Nader in expressing the need to open the presidential debates to third party candidates. He emphasized his connections to Congressman Ron Paul throughout the debate, even suggesting that as president he would appoint "somebody like Ron Paul" as United States Secretary of Treasury. He articulated his opposition to the USA PATRIOT Act and questioned how an ideological conservative could support the legislation. But, he marked a disagreement with Nader on health care, criticizing government involvement in favor of free market solutions but with use of regulation to lower health care costs. Baldwin stated that if elected his first priority would be to secure the border. Throughout the debate Baldwin repeated his party's pro-life platform and support for the right to bear arms.[32]

On election day, Baldwin was on ballot in 37 states.[33] He was a write-in candidate in eleven additional states including Montana where Ron Paul was listed as the party's nominee. Baldwin was completely absent from ballots in Oklahoma, North Carolina and the District of Columbia.[1]

Baldwin relocated to Montana in 2010, and founded the Liberty Fellowship,[2] believing the people of the state responded well to his constitutionalist message. In 2012, he briefly ran for Lieutenant Governor of Montana as the running mate of Republican gubernatorial primary candidate Bob Fanning, but dropped out due to the lack of campaign funds.

• Comparison of United States presidential candidates, 2008
• List of candidates in the United States presidential election, 2008
• Nationwide opinion polling for the United States presidential election, 2008
• Third party (United States) presidential candidates, 2008

• Official campaign site
• Official MySpace page
• Official YouTube channel