Third Party Thursday Presents – The Constitution Party

One of the largest third parties in the country, the Constitution Party is holding its 2008 nominating convention in Kansas City, Missouri, April 23-26.

With the belief that the US Constitution is based on explicitly Biblical principles, the Constitution Party’s mission is to “restore American jurisprudence to its Biblical foundations and to limit the federal government to its Constitutional boundaries.” The party’s platform reflects deep Christian conservatism and a belief in a strictly limited federal government. Here are a few highlights from the party’s platform:

• The Constitution Party is completely pro-life. It does not even support abortion during instances of rape or incest. The party believes that Roe v. Wade (1973) is an “illegitimate usurpation of authority” by the court.
• The party also strictly interprets the Constitution as a document of only enumerated powers. Any powers not specifically listed (as, for example, in Article 1, Section 8) should be held by the states. This includes abolishing many federal agencies, including the Departments of Education and Energy. It also includes the return of all federal lands, including presumably national parks and military bases, to the states. Although the party’s platform does not specifically indicate this, it seems likely that it opposes the US Supreme Court’s power of judicial review, based as it is on the case of Marbury v. Madison (1803), and not on any power enumerated in the US Constitution.
• As a related matter, the Constitution Party supports the “original intent” of the Constitution, which means that they support reading the Constitution in the way they think its authors intended it to be read. [Of course, determining original intent is itself quite a minefield, and one about which historians tend to have more humility than do lawyers or activists.]
• The party supports a balanced federal budget and the quick repayment of the federal debt.
• It also “reject[s] the policies and practices that permit women to train for or participate in combat.”
• The Constitution Party opposes gay marriage on the grounds that Biblical law defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman. The party also opposes adoption by gay couples or individuals.
• It also opposes all forms of gun control.
• …as well as the federal income tax, which it claims is unconstitutional.

J. Boydston, Todd Marvin ‘Chival Dragonmaster’ Clayton, Jr., and Star Locke are the three candidates vying for the Constitution Party’s nomination. Of these, only Dr. Clayton – who reports receiving a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Washington in 2001 – has provided any biographical information to Project Vote Smart. He follows the Druidic religion, which is interesting for a member of an explicitly Christian party, and he reports currently working as a docent in the Edmonds Museum and as a cook at Fred Meyer. Under his list of publications, he seems to claim to have written scripts for the television shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Deep Space-9.