Many people are unaware that the United States technicly is not strictly a bi-partisan (meaning it has two political parties) country. There are several political parties that are not very well known, I have listed a few of them below with a brief statement taken from the groups websites.

And no, i did not make these up....
 
 
 
 

Socialist Party: In contrast to the Democratic and Republican parties, the Socialist Party has an underlying philosophy that is both coherent and radical. It is coherent in the sense that members of the Socialist Party differ on details, but are united on certain fundamental principles. It is radical in the sense that all members of the Socialist Party recognize the need for fundamental change in our society. Socialists believe that the problems facing America and the world, such as environmental despoliation, the systematic waste of public resources for private profit, persistent unemployment concentrated among women and racial minorities, and the maldistribution of wealth, power, and income, are not mere aberrations of the capitalist system - they are the capitalist system.

This is why Socialists are not impressed by political appeals based on the personal qualities or "charisma" of any individual politician. Socialists believe that it is the system - and the institutions which make up that system - that must be changed. Socialists differ fundamentally from liberals in this regard. Socialists critically support liberal reform measures (such as increases in the minimum wage) not as ends in themselves, but as guideposts pointing to the need for a fundamental transformation of our society.

A militant fight for the needs of the working class and people. Free quality universal health care for all. Massive low cost housing programs. Free universal 24 hour quality child care for working parents. Free education from preschool through college including skills, vocational and continuing adult education. Make the corporations pay to clean up the environment and put a clean safe environment above the profits of the monopoly corporations.
 

For a strong labor and trade union movement to protect the interests of all workers. Outlaw scabs and union busting, guarantee all workers the right to freely organize and bargain collectively.
 

For full equality and against all forms of racism, chauvinism and discrimination. Full equality for all immigrants no matter their legal status. The US working class is multinational, multiracial, men and women, young and senior, skilled and unskilled. Only full equality and unity of the working class can beat the power of the capitalist class.
 

For peace and international working class solidarity. For drastic reduction in the US military. Bring all US troops home and close all overseas bases. Full support for national liberation and anti-imperialist freedom struggles around the world.

Reform Party: We shall seek to reform our electoral, lobbying and campaign practices to ensure that our elected government officials and our candidates owe their allegiance and remain accountable to the people whom they are elected to serve rather than other influence-seeking agencies.

We shall require ethical conduct by all our government officials with respect to the acceptance of rewards from special interests seeking to influence government during or following their terms of public service.

The positions of our Party on all issues will be chosen in accordance with the best interests of our country, its people and its future generations without regard for partisan or personal advantage.

The foundation of our Party is the activity of grassroots citizen volunteers. The Reform Party will make our candidates, party officials and elected officials accountable to our grassroots members who are their principal support. Our Party is open to participation by all who wish to join us to work toward our goals.

We shall restore integrity, accountability and fiscal responsibility to government and its leadership.

We, the members of the Reform Party, celebrate our heritage of individual liberty, recognizing that one of our greatest strengths is our diversity; and we will foster tolerance of the customs, beliefs, and private actions of all persons which do not infringe upon the rights of others.

Moreover, we strive to unite all Americans in spirit and in purpose.

The Reform Party believes in a Balanced Tailored Trade program that promotes the economic interests and welfare of all our citizens while safeguarding domestic production.

Green Party:Activity at the grassroots has blossomed. Today, Green locals are now organizing coast to coast, in 46 of 50 states. Greens are rebuilding the inner cities, fighting nuclear waste dumps, challenging undemocratic governments, creating sustainable alternatives to polluting industries, supporting labor unions, educating communities about environmental and social justice, and a host of other activities.

If these activities seem diverse, it's because the Greens encourage diverse approaches, brought together by our basic values of democracy, justice, nonviolence, and ecological wisdom.
 

Constitution Party: In 1992 a coalition of Independent State Parties united to form the U.S. Taxpayers Party with the common goal of limiting the Federal Government to its Constitutional boundaries and restoring the foundations of civil government back to the fundamental principles our country was founded upon. Some of the State Affiliate Parties have adopted the national party name while others have adopted or retained a different name. In 1992, the Party’s presidential candidate, Howard Phillips was on the ballot in 21 states with Albion Knight Jr. as Phillip’s running mate. In 1995, the Party became the fifth political party to be formally recognized by the Federal Election Commission as a national political party. In 1996 the Party achieved ballot access in 39 states, with Howard Phillips as its presidential nominee and Constitutional scholar Herb Titus as its vice-presidential nominee.

In 1999, at its national nominating convention for the 2000 elections, convention delegates chose to change the party name to "Constitution Party" believing that the new name better reflected the Party’s primary policy approach of enforcing the U.S. Constitution’s provisions and limitations. Also at that convention, Howard Phillips was elected to be the party’s presidential nominee for the 2000 elections. Dr. J. Curtis Frazier of Missouri was selected as his vice-presidential running mate at a meeting of the Party's National Committee over Labor Day weekend of 2000.

In the 2000 elections, the Constitution Party achieved full presidential ballot access in 41 states and qualified write-in candidate status in 6 others. This made for a total of 48 states where people were able to to cast their votes for Constitution Party candidates. In addition, the Party fielded over 100 candidates nationwide for offices ranging from the federal to the local levels of government.

The challenges our nation faces are significant and pervasive. Therefore, the Constitution Party is focused on identifying, training and preparing candidates for future elections at all levels of government, starting at the local level on up. In light of the widespread need across the country, the party is fully dedicated to building party strength and organization at the State, County and local level.

The Constitution Party stands firmly on the principles of government laid down by our Founding Fathers in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. Unlike other political organizations, we do not believe these principles are outdated. We also recognize that the Constitution of the United States of America is actively the supreme law of the land and must be enforced. Our government has become a problem because these principles are ignored and not followed and that the people have allowed this to occur. We need a return to a government that is limited in its scope and structure; protects all innocent life; protects liberty, not suppresses it; and allows the free pursuance of happiness, not regulation of it. In the spirit of the Declaration of Independence it is time to remove power from that 'faraway' government in Washington, D.C. and return it to the people, states and local communities.
 

Libertarian Party: The LP, founded in 1971, bills itself as "America's largest third party." Libertarians are neither left nor right ... they believe in total individual liberty (pro-drug legalization, pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, pro-home schooling, anti-gun control, etc.) and total economic freedom (anti-welfare, anti-government regulation of business, anti-minimum wage, anti-income tax, pro-free trade, etc.). The LP espouses a classical laissez faire ideology which, they argue, means "more freedom, less government and lower taxes." Over 400 LP members currently hold various -- though fairly low level -- government offices (including lots of minor appointed officials like "School District Facilities Task Force Member" and "Town Recycling Committee Member"). Typically, the LP fields more local candidates than any other US third party -- although the LP has clearly been eclipsed by the Greens in size since 1996 in terms of having the largest third party following and garnering the most media attention. Former 1988 LP Presidential nominee Ron Paul is now a Republican Congressman from Texas -- although Paul is still active with the LP. The LP's biggest problem: Ron Paul, Gary Johnson, P.J. O'Rourke, the Republican Liberty Caucus and others in the GOP are working to attract ideological libertarians into the political arena -- arguing they can bring about libertarian change more easily under the Republican label. LP Presidential nominee Ed Clark carried over 921,000 votes (1.1%) in 1980. Subsequent nominees for the next dozen years, though not as strong as Clark, typically ran ahead of the other third party candidates. LP Presidential nominee Harry Browne carried over 485,000 votes (5th place - 0.5%) in 1996 and 386,000 votes in 2000 (5th place - 0.4%) -- and has already stated he will not make a third run in 2004. The LP has affiliates in all 50 states.

American Party: The AP is a very small, very conservative, Christian splinter party formed after a break from the American Independent Party in 1972. Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC) and Gov. Mel Thomson (R-NH) both flirted with the American Party's presidential nomination in 1976, but both ultimately declined. The party won its strongest finish in the 1976 presidential election -- nominee Tom Anderson carried 161,000 votes (6th place) -- but has now largely faded into almost total obscurity. The party's 1996 Presidential candidate -- anti-gay rights activist and attorney Diane Templin -- carried just 1,900 votes. Former State Senator Don Rogers of California -- the 2000 nominee for President -- did even worse as he failed to qualify for ballot status in any states. The party -- which used to field a sizable amount of state and local candidates in the 1970s -- rarely fields more than a handful of nominees nationwide in recent years, although they do claim local affiliates in 15 states. Beyond the pro-life, pro-gun and anti-tax views that you'd expect to find, the American Party also advocates an end to farm price supports/subsidies, privatization of the US Postal Service, opposes federal involvement in education, supports abolition of the Environmental Protection Agency, supports repeal of NAFTA, opposes minimum wage laws, opposes land use zoning regulations and opposes convening a Constitutional convention. Of course, the AP also opposes the United Nations, the New World Order, communism, socialism and the Trilateral Commission.
 

The American Heritage Party: The AHP, formerly the Washington State affiliate of the USTP/Constitution Party, broke away from that group in 2000 because of religious grounds (i.e., while the CP is clearly a Religious Right party, it is not explicitly a Christian party). Thus, the AHP describes itself as "a political party that adopts the Bible as its political textbook and is unashamed to be explicitly Christian ... [and] whose principles are drawn from Scripture." The AHP plans to become a national conservative party, with the ultimate goal of fielding candidates around the nation in coming years. The party previously fielded some candidate for Congress, Governor and local offices in Washington in 1998 -- and ran just one local candidate in 2000. Party officials plan to run a larger slate of candidates in 2002
 

The American Independent Party: Gov. George Wallace (D-AL) founded the AIP and ran as the its first Presidential nominee in 1968. Running on a right-wing, anti-Washington, anti-racial integration, anti-communist platform, Wallace carried nearly 10 million votes (14%) and won 5 Southern states. Although Wallace returned to the Democratic Party by 1970, the AIP continued to live on -- although moving even further to the right. The 1972 AIP nominee, John Birch Society leader and Congressman John G. Schmitz (R-CA), carried nearly 1.1 million votes (1.4%). The AIP last fielded its own national Presidential candidate in 1980, when they nominated white supremacist ex-Congressman John Rarick (D-LA) -- who carried only 41,000 votes nationwide. The AIP still fields local candidates in a few states -- mainly California -- but is now merely a state affiliate party of the national Constitution Party. As in 1992 and 1996, the AIP's Presidential candidate in 2000 was again Constitution nominee Howard Phillips.

The American Nazi Party:As a political party, the American Nazi Party has not fielded a Presidential candidate since Lincoln Rockwell ran in 1964 (he was murdered in 1967 by another ANP member) -- nor any other candidate for other offices since the mid-1970s (although a loosely affiliated candidate ran for Congress in Illinois in a Democratic primary in 2000). The ANP believes in establishing an Aryan Republic where only "White persons of unmixed, non-Semitic, European descent" can hold citizenship. They support the removal of "Jews and non-whites out of all positions of government and civil service -- and eventually out of the country altogether." This party -- while purportedly denouncing violence and illegal acts -- blends left-wing economic socialism, right-wing social fascism and strong totalitarian sentiments.

The American Reform Party:The ARP, formerly known as the National Reform Party Committee, was founded in September 1997. The ARP is a splinter group that broke away from Ross Perot and Russ Verney's Reform Party, claiming the Perot organization was unfocused and anti-democratic (when the memberships' views clashed with Perot's views). The ARP fielded some candidates for state and federal offices in "Reform Party" primaries against candidates backed by Perot's Reform Party in 1998. The ouster of Perot's allies from control of the Reform Party at the July 1999 national convention looked like a move towards ending the split. However, the resoration of control to the Perot forces in early 2000 and subsequent takeover of state party affiliates by the Buchanan forces killed any move by the ARP folks to rejoin the Reform Party. Instead, the ARP ultimately shifted towards the left and opted to "endorse" (but not co-nominate) Green Party Presidential nominee Ralph Nader in the 2000 elections.
 

Family Values Party: This newly founded ultra-conservative, theocratic party seems to exist mainly to promote the 2000 Presidential candidacy of party founder Tom Wells. Wells explained that God spoke directly to him in his bedroom on December 25, 1994 at 2:00 a.m. and "commanded him to start" the FVP. To be exact, Wells said God specifically told him to encourage people to stop paying taxes until the public funding of abortion ends. The FVP political platform is largely derived from religious fundamentalism, including many specific citations to Bible passages. The FVP fielded its first candidate (Wells running for Congress in Florida as a write-in nominee) in 1998.
 

Freedom Socialist Party: The FSP -- formed in 1966 by a splinter group of dissident Trotskyites who broke away from the Socialist Workers Party -- describe themselves as "revolutionary feminist internationalists ... in the living tradition of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky." They use the typical heavy-handed rhetoric found on most ultra-left party sites (example: "the masses will sweep every obstacle out of their path and ascend to the socialist future"). The FSP has party organizations in the US, Canada and Australia. In 1998, the FSP fielded a handful of local candidates in Washington, California and New York. The FSP has never fielded a Presidential candidate.

Grassroots Party: Originally launched as a Minnesota-based liberal party, the GRP advocates the legalization of marijuana, promotes hemp farming and the establishment of a national system of universal health care (among other things). In general ideology, the GRP is very similar to the Greens -- but with a much stronger emphasis on marijuana legalization issues. The GRP fielded their first Presidential nominee -- Dennis Peron -- in 1996 (5,400 votes). In 1996, the GRP won permanent "major party" ballot status in Vermont. The Vermont GRP -- linked above -- is more libertarian and "states rights" oriented in philosophy than its leftist sister party in Minnesota (and has also performed better in state elections). Businessman Denny Lane, the GRP's 2000 Presidential nominee, was on the ballot in only one state and captured just 1,044 votes (12th place - 0.001%). The GRP continues to field local candidates in Minnesota and Vermont, although the Minnesota Party has substantially declined in size and activity since the mid-1990s.

Independence Party: After two years of openly feuding with Ross Perot's allies in the Reform Party, Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura and his supporters bolted from the party to launch the new Independence Party in February 2000. In departing, Ventura denounced the Reform Party as "hopelessly dysfunctional" and far too right-wing (in its embrace of Pat Buchanan's candidacy). While the new party shares the Reform Party's call for campaign finance and other political reforms, Ventura's organization disagrees with the more social conservative and trade protectionist views espoused by many new leaders in the Reform Party. The IP -- which is entirely under the control of Ventura and his allies -- describes itself as "Socially Inclusive and Fiscally Responsible." Like Ventura, the IP is pro-choice, pro-gay rights, pro-medical marijuana, pro-gun rights and fiscally moderate. The IP fielded a slate of Congressional and state candidates in Minnesota in 2000. Ventura hopes to take this Minnesota party national and possibly field a Presidential nominee in 2004. As of 2001, the IP had nascent affiliate parties organizing in a handful of states.

Independent American Party: The small Independent American Party has existed for years in several Western states -- a remnant from the late Alabama Governor George Wallace's once-powerful American Independent Party of the 1968-72 era. Converting the unaffiliated IAP state party organizations -- united by a common Religious Right ideology (similar to the Constitution Party) -- into a national IAP organization was an effort started in 1998 by members of Utah IAP. The Idaho IAP and Nevada IAP subsequently affiliated with the fledgling US-IAP in late 1998. The various IAP state parties endorsed USTP nominee Howard Phillips for President in 1996. The national IAP continued its alliance with the USTP/Constitution Party in the 2000 Presidential race -- as the IAP again co-nominated the Constitution Party's national ticket. In December 2000, the IAP's national chairman issued a statement noting that third parties in general registered a "dismal" performance in the Presidential election -- and questioned the IAP's future participation in Presidential campaigns.

Labor Party: The Labor Party is a liberal political party created by a sizable group of labor unions including the United Mine Workers, the Longshoremen, American Federation of Government Employees, California Nurses Association and many labor union locals. Ideologically, they seem close to the style of the old, labor-friendly Hubert Humphrey and Scoop Jackson wing of the Democratic Party circa 1960s. A new party, they endorsed their first state and federal candidates in 1998 in Wyoming ("Green/Labor Alliance"). This group seems closely aligned ideologically with the New Party. The Labor Party neither fielded nor endorsed any Presidential candidate in 2000 -- seemingly concentrating on advocacy instead of electoral activity.

Light Party: The Light Party is rather odd, defying conventional description. It seems strongly centered around the personality of party founder "Da Vid, M.D., Wholistic Physician, Human Ecologist & Artist" (he was also a write-in candidate for President in 1992, 1996 and 2000 ... and is running again in 2004). This San Francisco-based party describes itself as "a synthesis of the Republican, Democratic, Libertarian, and Green Parties ... to create a new reality with health, peace & freedom for all." The party platform promotes holistic medicine, national health insurance, organic foods, solar energy, nuclear disarmament and a flat tax.

Natural Law Party: Along with the Libertarian Party, the NLP has been steadily gaining votes over the past few years. The NLP -- under the slogan "Bringing the light of science into politics" and using colorful imagery -- advocates holistic approaches, Transcendental Meditation (TM), "yogic flying," and other peaceful "New Age" and "scientific" remedies for much of our national and international problems. Nuclear physicist John Hagelin was the NLP Presidential nominee in 1992 (ballot status in 32 stares - 39,000 votes - 0.04%), 1996 (ballot status in 44 states - 7th place - 110,000 votes - 0.1%) and 2000 (ballot status in 39 stares - 7th place - 83,000 votes - 0.08%). Hagelin and the NLP also made a failed bid to capture control of the Reform Party in the course of the 2000 campaign -- working with the Perot forces to thwart Pat Buchanan's efforts -- although the NLP did attract some supporters from the breakaway factions within the disintegrating Reform Party. The NLP also made a brief grab for control of the Green Party, but that effort quickly fizzled. In the end, the Reform/Green moves in 2000 helped Hagelin capture quite a lot of headlines but produced less results for the party than the 1996 campaign. Although started in the US, there are now NLP affiliates around the globe. In addition to the national ticket, the NLP regularly fields fields a good amount of Congressional and local candidates throughout the nation. The NLP was founded by followers of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (the founder of the TM movement -- a movement that some have labeled as a cult) -- and many of these TM/Maharishi folks still play a major role in the leadership, although the NLP now claims that many others outside the TM movement are also active in today's NLP leadership.

New Party: This leftist party advocates a "democratic revolution" to advance the cause of "social, economic, & political progress" in America. Their agenda is much in the style of the Western European socialist and labor movement -- and somewhat similar to that of the late-1990s formed Labor Party. Rather than fielding their own national slate or local candidates, the New Party has taken to largely endorsing like-minded candidates from other parties (mainly pro-labor Democrats like Chicago Congressman Danny K. Davis). Small informative site with clean layout. An amusing question: if the New Party lasts for 50 years, will they rename themselves the Old Party (or the "Fifty-Something" Party)? The New Party showed no real campaign activity in the 1998 and 2000 election cycles.

New Union Party: Founded in 1980 by defectors from the Socialist Labor Party, this DeLeonist militant democratic socialist party "advocates political and social revolution" but denounces violence and is "committed to lawful activities to overthrow the capitalist economic system." The NUP fielded its first candidates in 1980 -- but has fielded few candidates since then. The site features party history, an archive of past articles and an online "Marxist Study Course."

Peace and Freedom Party: - Founded in the 1960s as a left-wing party opposed to the Vietnam War, the party reached its peak of support in 1968 when it nominated Black Panther leader Eldridge Cleaver for President. Although a convicted felon, Cleaver carried nearly 37,000 votes (ironically, Cleaver ultimately became a Reagan Republican in the early 1980s -- then a crack addict in the late 1980s -- before emerging as an environmental activist in the late 1990s). Famed "baby doctor" Benjamin Spock -- a leftist and staunch opponent of the Vietnam War -- was the PFP Presidential nominee in 1972. Since then, the small party has largely been dominated by battling factions of Marxist-Leninists (aligned with the Workers World Party), Trotskyists and non-communist left-wing activists. The PFP today is small, with activities largely centered in California. In 1996, the PFP successfully blocked an attempt by the WWP to capture the PFP's Presidential nomination (and a California ballot spot) for their party's nominee. In a sign of the party's serious decline in support, the PFP's poor showing in the 1998 statewide elections caused the party to lose its California ballot status -- and they were unable to regain that ballot status in the 2000 elections.

Prohibition Party: The Prohibition Party -- founded in 1869 and billing themselves as "America's Oldest Third Party" -- espouses a generally ultra-conservative Christian social agenda mixed with anti-drug and international anti-communist views. The party's strongest showing was in 1892, when John Bidwell received nearly 273,000 votes (2.3% - 4th place). Long-time party activist Earl F. Dodge has run as the Prohibition Party's presidential nominee in 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996 and 2000. Dodge received just 208 votes in 2000 -- the party's worst electoral showing ever. The party also fields a few local candidates from time to time. An additional party-related organization is the Action Prohibitionists, a group of party activists that want to turn Prohibition Party policy into law -- and want to replace Dodge in favor of new leadership.

The Revolution: This party -- simply named "The Revolution" -- seems to be an ideological hybrid between libertarianism and environmentalism, with a dash of New Deal liberal views thrown into the mix. The Revolution's 20-point platform calls for the legalizations of all victimless crimes (drugs, prostitution, etc.), the use of clean energy to stop global warming, massive tax cuts, an end ot corporate welfare, military spending cuts, an emphasis on human rights in foreign policy decisions, abolishing the CIA, government funding of the sciences to encourage "altruistic scientific and technological projects," and a promise to "repeal five times as many laws as we pass." The party's leader -- a digital culture journalist and cyberprankster who uses the pen name R.U. Sirius -- made a write-in bid for President in 2000.

The Socialist Equality Party: This fairly new Trotskyist party -- originally named the Workers League -- first fielded a Presidential nominee in 1984. They changed their name to Socialist Equality in 1994. The Michigan-based SEP has regularly fielded Congressional and local candidates in several states (mainly in the Midwest). 1996 SEP Presidential nominee Jerry White was on the ballot in three states (2,400 votes). The SEP surprisingly failed to field any congressional candidates after 1996 and nominated no candidates in 2000 -- implying the party may be moving away from electoral politics. The SEP first evolved into existence when the Socialist Workers Party drifted away from Trotskyism in the early 1980s. The SEP site -- updated daily -- is mainly a news site featuring articles, analysis, history, etc., written with a hardcore internationalist, Trotskyist perspective. Very few direct references to the SEP on this official party site, although there is a news section of the site devoted to coverage of US Elections & Politics from the SEP's perspective.

Socialist Labor Party: Founded in 1877, the SLP is a militant democratic socialist party. More moderate members of the SLP bolted to create the Socialist Party USA in 1901. The SLP ran Presidential tickets in every election between 1892 and 1976 (the SLP's final presidential candidate won 9,600 votes in the 1976 race). The high cost of fielding a Presidential ticket and restrictive ballot access laws caused the SLP to abandon future Presidential races in favor of nominating candidates for lower offices. The SLP -- which bills itself as the party of "Marxism-DeLeonism" -- still fields a few local candidates (mainly in New Jersey). The site features party history, info on Daniel DeLeon, a Marx-Engels archive, links and more. The SLP newspaper The People, first printed in 1891, also publishes regularly updated online editions.

Socialist Workers Party: Originally a pro-Trotsky faction within the Communist Party USA, the SWP was formed in 1938 after the CPUSA -- acting on orders from Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin -- expelled the American Trotskyites. The SWP was for many years the leading voice of Trotskyism in the USA. Since the 1980s, the SWP has drifted away from Trotskyism and moved towards the brand of authoritarian politics espoused by Cuban leader Fidel Castro's style of Marxism (the SWP sites calls Castro's Cuba "a shining example for all workers"). The SWP has run candidates for President in every election since 1948 -- plus local candidates in various states. Marxist political organizer James Harris was the SWP Presidential nominee in 1996 (ballot status in 11 states - 8,500 votes - 0.01%) and 2000 (ballot status in 14 states - 7,378 votes - 9th place - 0.01%).

Southern Party: The Southern Party, founded in 1999 by League of the South activists, describes themselves as "a truly nationalist party of the South." Touting a "National Flag of Dixie" -- the third national flag adopted by the original CSA government (which incorporates the controversial old Confederate battle flag) -- the party is calling for the formation of "a new Southern republic of republics as a free and independent nation" (i.e., a re-formation of the secessionist Confederate States of America ... plus Maryland, Oklahoma and West Virginia). The party attacks the Democrats as "a party of socialism" and the Republicans as "representing primarily the interests of globalist corporations." Generally conservative, the party also denounces the "corrupt two-party system ... the precipitous decline of public virtue and morality ... cultural bigotry and oppression being waged against Southerners by the establishment" and the centralized federal government. Describing themselves as "decent, God-fearing, Southerners," they denounce "an attitude of racial malice towards people of non-European origin" -- while simultaneously attacking their enemies "the news media, left-wing agitators and the entertainment industry." The SP claims to be the among the only national separatist parties in the US (akin, for example, to the Parti Québécois in Canada). The Southern Party also battled nearly two years of internal dissention immediately after the founding -- ultimately leading to the founding of rival party organzations. The SP began fielding candidates for a few local offices in 1999 (even winning a small-town mayoral and a county commission race in Alabama in 2000) -- but does not plan to ever field any federal candidates as they are a separtist party with no desire to work within the framework of the federal government in Washington, DC. Southern Party co-founder George Kalas and his followers bolted in early 2000 -- because of purported disputes with SP National Chairman and co-founder Jerry Baxley -- to found the rival Southern Independence Party. As of the end of 2000, the SP claims approximately 3,000 members -- all conservatives -- including some blacks, Native Americans, Jews, Catholics and others.

Southern Independence Party: The Southern Independence Party is the splinter party founded by dissident members of the the Southern Party. While the rival factions reached a brief truce and reunification in 1999, it fell apart within months. Members from the "re-united" SP had sharp disagreements with SP Chair Jerry Baxley's leadership style and opted to launch this rival entity -- even though both parties espouse nearly identical ideological agendas. Others split off from the SP and vowed to form an "Independent Southern Party." Lots of bitter fighting, accusations and name calling going on between these rival camps. The SIP fielded a few candidates in 2000 and claims to have more members than the rival SP group.

U.S. Pacifist Party: This tiny political party fielded a write-in candidate for President in 1996 -- and fielded a US Senate candidate in Colorado in 1998. The party opposes military actions in all circumstances and wants to transform the US military into "a non-violent defense and humanitarian service corps." The USPP platform advocates generally left-wing political stances and slashing the military budget to "zero." Staunchly opposed to nuclear weapons, the USPP believes that "unless nuclear weapons are deactivated, and nonviolent means developed to take the place of military violence for achieving justice and peace, civilization is doomed." The USPP again ran party founder Bradford Lyttle as a write-in Presidential candidate in 2000

We The People Party: Former town councilman Jeffrey Peters founded this small party and ran as the WTP's write-in nominee for President in 2000. A politically centrist entity, the WTP bills itself as "the American People's Party." Peters competed in the 2000 New Hampshire Democratic Presidential primary in an attempt to capture some media attention for the nascent WTP's "campaign reform" platform but received just 156 votes (9th place) -- and ended up bitterly complaining that the media ignored him and labeled him a "fringe candidate." Peters grabbed a few headlines for his WTP Presidential campaign in early October 2000 with his "Boston TV Party" -- when he vowed to dump some TV sets into Boston harbor to protest the exclusion of third party candidates from the first Bush-Gore Presidential Debate. The WTP vows to "build a powerful Coalition of Independents to win back The White House for the people in 2004" -- although the site seems to imply that Peters will again be the WTP candidate in 2004.

Workers World Party: The WWP was formed in 1959 by a pro-Soviet communist faction that split from the Socialist Workers Party. Although the WWP theoretically supports worker revolutions, the WWP supported the Soviet actions that crushed worker uprisings in Hungary in the 1950s, Czechoslovakia in the 1960s and Poland in the early 1980s. The WWP was largely an issue-oriented revolutionary party until they fielded their first candidate for president in 1980. WWP Presidential nominee Monica Moorehead was on the ballot in 12 states in 1996 (29,100 votes - 0.03%) -- and was again the WWP's Presidential nominee in 2000 (ballot status in 4 states - 4,795 votes - 10th place - 0.004%). The militant WWP believes that "capitalist democracy produces nothing but hot air" and that "the power of the workers and the oppressed is in the streets, not in Washington." The well-designed site features regularly updated news stories from a pro-Cuba/pro-China communist perspective, so expect lots of dogmatic stories denouncing the US government, sexism, racism, the police and capitalists. The National People's Campaign is the WWP's affiliated direct action arm.