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State of the world Third-party candidates seeking U.S. presidency blast political status quo

May 5, 2008

Independents speak out locally

RALPH NARDONE Times Leader Correspondent

SUGAR NOTCH – Many local voters following presidential politics won’t recognize the names of independent candidates Bill Ingram, Donald K. Allen, Daniel Kingery or Christopher Popham Smith.

On Saturday and Sunday, they came to Northeast Pennsylvania to debate and present their platforms at the 2008 “State of the World” held annually in Sugar Notch. The candidates all share patriotic passion and a view that the current political system is severely broken, according to organizer Mario Fiorucci.

Important issues are ignored by the mainstream Democratic and Republican candidates, Fiorucci said. The weekend event gave the third-party candidates an outlet.

Candidate Bill Ingram, a truck driver from Eau Claire, Wis., said voters need a working man like him in the White House who knows what it is like in the daily struggle to make ends meet.

Traveling across the United States, Ingram hears the same complaints from people who are disenfranchised because the system is run by millionaires to whom they can’t relate.

His first objective as president: eliminate “pork barreling.” Each bill must stand on its own to help control expenditures, he told the sparse audience.

Candidate Donald Allen, a veterinarian from Youngstown, Ohio, will be listed on the presidential ballots in Colorado and Louisiana. He believes the United States could lose its sovereignty because of unfair foreign trade practices.

He sees a huge economic threat from China. “The trade imbalance with China quadruples each year and is unsustainable,” he points out. The Chinese are beating us at our own game, he said , and the government must do more to enforce fair trade.

Candidate Daniel “Kingfish” Kingery, from Willcox, Ariz., said politicians should be more accountable. They make “idle promises” to appease different groups and gain power, he said. His solution: charge them with treason.

When promises are made then ignored, there has been a “betrayal of the public trust,” which is treason, he added.

Kingery also feels the Electoral College does not represent the true feelings of the voters. Many voters refuse to participate in electing officials, he said.

Candidate Christopher Popham Smith, a businessman from Boston, believes the country is on the brink of political and economic chaos unless something changes.

He foresees the coming of the third world war if the United States’ foreign policy does not change.

He also believes the opulence of political leadership takes away their motivation to change. Living and working within the lavish lifestyle in Washington, D.C, why should they worry about helping the people, he said.

Fiorucci said the objective of the weekend forum was not to “piss people off” but to show “tough love.”

The two major parties have repressed the people and the third-party candidates, Fiorucci said, adding that independents are striving to find the one best candidate. Then all the others will band together to defeat the two major party candidates, he said.

“The trade imbalance with China quadruples each year and is unsustainable.”

Donald Allen

Third-party candidate

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