Constitution Party of Minnesota News
May, 2009

It is Time
by Leo Heinze

The revision of the Constitution Party of Minnesota by-laws is on the agenda at the May 16th state convention. A few minor revisions have been made in recent years but nothing major was done since 2001.

One item that has been debated and defeated in the past was whether CPMN should or could, as a party, endorse candidates for partisan office of another political party. The issue will again surface at the coming convention. It is now time for CPMN to change its by-laws to allow for endorsing candidates of other parties if they are in tune or mostly in tune with our platform positions.

Let’s be realistic. The past election cycle many constitutionalists jumped on the bandwagon of Ron Paul’s candidacy for president. A good number of CPer’s attended Republican caucuses and conventions and became delegates for Ron Paul. Some of these same people in the past voted to stay pure and keep us squeaky clean. Why not now support candidates who meet our principles openly and on the record by endorsing them as a party?

The CP seems to be stuck as far as getting untracked enough to elect people carrying our label. We are a party of principle and the “principle” takes precedence over party. The party is a vehicle to an end. If that end (electing constitutionalists and restoring limited constitutional government) is to be achieved by electing such people who carry a different label than Constitution Party, then it is time to support them openly.

It remains to be seen whether the gains made by liberty-minded Ron Paul people at recent Republican district conventions will turn into significant changes in Republican leadership or whether it was just a short-lived euphoria that will be thwarted at the upper levels. Let’s hope that those small victories will be the beginning of momentum for real change in the Republican Party.

We in the Constitution Party need to remain active and a continued threat to the Republican Party. It is only if they fear us that they might change their ways. It the Ron Paul people again get slapped and spit in their face, they will have an opportunity to fight from the outside instead of the inside. If the Republican Party would live by their platform, they would not be so far from the principles of the Constitution Party. We need to keep up the pressure and when rare Republican candidates come along on our wave-length, we need to openly support them. A by-law change is needed for that to take place. Let’s make it happen.


Incrementalism Added to Other “isms”

­­­­­­­­­­­­­"We can't expect the American people to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism, until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism."
--Nikita Khrushchev (1894-1971) Premier of the Soviet Union, by Bob Unruh WND


Third World Way Ahead of Us

“Lawmakers working on a new constitution for the Dominican Republic have voted overwhelmingly to protect life, specifying in the document that "the right to life is inviolable from conception until death."

“The vote yesterday was 167-32 in the national legislature, which was responding to pressure from international pro-abortion groups seeking to expand their business operations into the Caribbean island nation.” By Bob Unruh, WorldNetDaily.com staff writer.


State Convention May 16, 2009
by Wayne Zimmerschied, State party Vice Chair

The two primary pieces of business at our spring CPMN convention are the election of officers and updating our Constitution and By-:Laws. As of this writing, we are short of volunteers to run for party offices. The commitment is relatively minor - attending four to twelve meetings a year to conduct the business of the party and helping plan major party functions. Please contact me at zimmwayne@yahoo.com or Phone: 952-212-3978, if you are interested in running for any state office, or if you would like to recommend I contact someone. While we will accept additional nominations from the convention floor, it is best to identify a full slate of willing candidates going into the convention. If we don't have officers, our party will fold, and all our work over the past 17 years goes for naught.

The By-Laws changes that have been submitted so far include adding the Chairman of the Veterans' Coalition as a voting member of the Executive Committee (the position is currently a non-voting member), adding possible at-large members to the Executive Committee to reward those members with enthusiasm, energy and dedication who have no office to fill, and the potentially controversial proposal to allow the CPMN to endorse candidates from other parties. To vote at the convention, you must have paid your membership dues ten days prior to the convention (walk-up memberships can attend, but not vote), so if you want to have your say in these matters, be sure your dues are paid by May 6, and register to attend the convention on May 16.

See more convention information and directions to Jefferson Christian School, South St. Paul in Coming Events section further on in newsletter.


Coming Events

May 16, 2009 State Party annual convention. Starting at 1:00 PM, Jefferson Christian School, 125 21st Ave S, South St. Paul MN. Agenda includes election of state party officers for two-year terms and revising or updating state party by-laws. Other business may also be brought up.

Registration fee: None except $25 membership dues must have been paid to be a voting member. Directions: I-494 to US Hwy 52 exit. Take 52 exit north toward St Paul and turn right in about one quarter mile on Southview Blvd. Right (east) on Southview Blvd as it curves left for about three blocks to the school.

Editor's Note: Comments by authors in this newsletter are not necessarily the policies or viewpoints of the Constitution Party of Minnesota. Anyone receiving this newsletter via Post Mail and can receive it via e-mail, please contact me at cpmn@embarqmail.com . Contributions to the party may be made by sending check to CPMN, 23078 21st Ave, St Cloud MN 56301 or on line at http://www.cpmn.org. CPMN does not accept tax money and does not participate in the Minnesota Personal Refund Program. Anyone desiring to get off the mailing list please send message to cpmn@embarqmail.com or CPMN, 509 4th Ave SW, Long Prairie MN 56347.

Brief articles for publication may be submitted by the 20th of the preceding month at the above addresses.

Published monthly by the Constitution Party of Minnesota, 23078 21st Ave, St Augusta MN 56301

Tammy Houle, Chair, dthoule@redred.com 507-644-3183

Wayne Zimmerschied, Vice Chair, zimmwayne@yahoo.com

Vivian Krech, Secretary. loukrech@comcast.net

Patricia Becker, Treasurer beckers@cloudnet.com

Leo Heinze, Newsletter Editor, cpmn@embarqmail.com 320-732-3144 (509 4 Ave SW, Long Prairie MN 56347)