Wikinews interviews Brad Lord-Leutwyler, independent candidate for US President

February 16, 2008

While nearly all cover of the 2008 Presidential election has focused on the Democratic and Republican candidates, there are small political parties offering candidates, and those who choose to run without a party behind them, independents.

Wikinews is interviewing some of these citizens who are looking to become the 43rd person elected to serve their nation from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW.

Our third interview is with Henderson, Nevada's Brad Lord-Leutwyler, a professor of logic and critical thought at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Capitalisation and formatting is that of the candidate, not Wikinews.

Interview
Why do you want to be President?
 * I do not WANT to be the President. The major party candidates have two fatal flaws: They cannot "make change happen" because they will always have to fight the other party in congress, and they are all so indebted to their contributors that they are going to have to "pay back" the FIFTY to ONE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS they raised with special favors.  OBAMA is guilty of doing it already, as are McCain and Clinton.  NOT I.  CHANGE WILL ONLY COME FROM AN INDEPENDENT PRESIDENT.  Congress will KNOW that the People have had enough if I am sent to Washington, and they WILL make the change we demand for fear of WE THE PEOPLE voting them out of office too: they love their cushy jobs, and WE need to make them fearful of losing them.


 * I WILL END THE WAR
 * I WILL SECURE THE BORDER
 * I WILL WIPE OUT POVERTY
 * I WILL FIX THE EDUCATION CRISIS
 * I WILL GET UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE.

Have you ever run for political office before?
 * NO

Have you ever been a member of a political party, other than the one you're currently in?
 * I AM NOT A MEMBER OF A PARTY NOW. I used to belong to the democratic and republican parties until BOTH of those parties put the interests of their party above that of the people.

Have you ever campaigned for another political candidate?
 * NO

What is your current job?
 * COLLEGE PROFESSOR -Teacher of Logic and critical thought at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

What skills or ideas do you bring from this position, or previous positions, that will benefit  the Oval Office?
 * ALL OF OUR IDEAS ARE POSTED AT WWW.VOTEFORBRAD.COM. They are not designed to benefit the oval office.  They are designed to benefit ALL AMERICANS.

'''Obviously, the next American President and his or her administration will face many diverse issues. But if you were to narrow identify the three most important issues, what would they be? How will you address these issues?'''
 * 1) WAR/NATIONAL SECURITY- End it NOW.  Bring the troops home.  See WWW.VOTEFORBRAD.COM for details.
 * 2) ECONOMY - Banks and financial/investment institutions have had the last seven years to prove how they will behave under relaxed regulation. They created the sub-prime debacle in the process.  They cannot be trusted to act in a responsible manner which takes into account the best interest of the American people.  Rather, they act in a greedy and selfish fashion.  Theses key institutions need greater regulatory oversight.  Also, government spending needs to be brought under control. Obama says that he will pay for his plans with the money he saves by ending the war.  THIS IS A LIE!  The war is funded by deficit spending. Stopping the war and then spending the money is STILL DEFICIT SPENDING.
 * 3) POVERTY/EDUCATION - Education and poverty are intimately linked. Thomas Jefferson knew it. MLK knew it. I learned it from them.  When you deny proper education, you create poverty, you weaken your economy, you weaken your defenses, you WEAKEN your nation.  NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND must be eliminated and replaced with an intelligent plan, not a specious, knee-jerk fool's errand.

'''Campaigning for the American presidency is one of the most expensive exercises in the world. How do you deal with the cost and fundraising?'''
 * WE HAVE OVER 3,000,000 supporters and we have not spent a dime. Word of mouth on the internet is our primary way of promoting the campaign. IT IS OBSCENE to be spending 150 MILLION DOLLARS on a campaign.  It is also irresponsible and immoral.  I REFUSE to do it.

'''Do you have a running mate yet? Who are they? What are you/were you looking for in a running mate?'''
 * WE ARE DRAFTING GEN. COLIN POWELL AS OUR RUNNING MATE.

'''Can you win the 2008 Presidential election? Can any third party or independent candidate ever win?'''
 * ANY person can win the Presidency. THE AMERICAN PEOPLE need to take responsibility for their government, STOP FALLING FOR EMPTY SLOGANS and start THINKING about who they are voting for and why.  As soon as Americans THINK about those issues, the major parties will be in serious trouble.

If you can't make it into the Oval Office, who would you prefer seeing taking the presidency?
 * Colin Powell.

What should the American people keep in mind, when heading to the polls this November?
 * Vote for the best candidate with the best team of thinkers. Republicans voted for Bush because they did not want Kerry, NOT because they loved Bush. Now, MOST republicans regret their choice.  Democrats do the same thing.  THE BEST CANDIDATE and team is found at WWW.VOTEFORBRAD.COM.  If you vote with your BRAIN and NOT with irrational fear (i.e. "If I vote for Brad, I might be helping candidate XXX win." is irrational, illogical and IS WHY WE ARE IN THE MESS WE ARE IN.