The National Chairman of the American Conservative Party made a stop by here today, and left us a clarification, which was very helpful:

Just a clarification:

The Conservative Party of NY State has been around since 1962, and usually focuses on State level and local issues and candidates.

The ACP was started in 2008 by a few frustrated Republicans, conservative Democrats and libertarians...

While we support the candidacy of Doug Hoffman enthusiastically, we don't want anyone to get confused, because we're not directly associated with the CPNYS (I think they're at CPNYS.org). Great organization...been around for a while, like I said. We've had conversations with them informally, but they're not really interested in affiliating nationally.

If you guys are interested in learning more about the party, feel free to send an email to: info@amconparty.org

Butch Porter
National Chairman
The American Conservative Party

So as it turns out, the ACP is NOT the same "Conservative Party" that is currently running Doug Hoffman as its candidate. They are different entities altogether, albeit similar in beliefs and such.

Also, given the historical context provided by Mr. Porter in his comment, it is now no wonder I had not heard of the ACP when I built the AFP platform last spring. It would have been in its infancy at best.

Mr. Porter also complimented us on the AFP platform, "spot on". Thank you, sir.

I did respond to Mr. Porter both in the comment area and in an email. The email was more involved, so I'll post it here. I brought to light the original idea of what the AFP was going to be - a coalition. Wow. That concept goes all the way back to 2005. With the way things are going today, I have often reconsidered the idea of the AFP being more of a coalition than a party of its own, and I expressed this to Mr. Porter in my comment and my email:

Hey Butch!

May I suggest a contact page on your site. I've been interested in contacting someone there for some time, but haven't found an easy way to get there.

I responded to your comments on my blog as follows, just in case you don't get a chance to come back for a while:


Butch,

Thanks for the clarification.

Let me also make a clarification or two.

If you peruse this blog some more (hearty welcome to you by the way), you will see that the Federalist Party Platform was originally conceived as a coalition of parties that subscribed to similar beliefs. At the time, I had not yet heard of the ACP, so when I stepped into the concept of platform writing, all I really did was bring together the common ground of the conservative factions known to me at the time (Reagan2020, Constitution, and Libertarian).

The idea was to bring us all together under one banner. I've read your platform, and as you can see here, critiqued it. I'm sure you may even agree with my analysis.

As time has passed and the conservative movement has gained ground, my personal tendency is to again consider the platform more a platform for a coalition of parties united toward the same goal: Federalism and a return to the fundamental structure and beliefs of the Founding Fathers. Should our coalition result in some electoral success, at that point we should consider uniting more solidly as a party, but in the meantime, anyone who takes a position developed with the Constitution in mind and reverence should consider himself part of the Federalist movement, regardless of party.

Can you spread the word to your people?

RWR


Sadly, it's become evident that there isn't a "major" party that subscribes to the belief that the Founding Fathers' vision is an ideal worth embracing. However, it is encouraging to see the American people waking up to this fact today. I was about a year ahead of my time, it seems! The problem I see is that we conservatives are all fragmented across a number of political factions, including the Reagan Federalists (largely conservative Republicans), Libertarians, and our friends in the Constitution Party. Your platform does look like it would dovetail nicely into what my platform seeks to do, so perhaps you guys can participate in the building of what I would like to call "The Federalist Coalition".

People have put a lot of time and effort into organizing their people into organizations and their beliefs into platforms. I know mine was a lot of work - I did it all by myself. That's a lot of work to put into a project just to turn to another faction. That's why I think the coalition concept may be better for our time. You can still push your platform within your ranks, and so can the Constitutionites and the Libertarians. The point of the coalition is to give all of our positions the strength that comes with numbers. None of us can beat back the socialists Ds and Rs on our own. If that were possible, the Libertarians would have achieved it long ago. Uniting as a coalition of political parties under the Federalist banner would preserve the parties' platforms, force us all to look to our common ground (the Constitution), and unite the several factions behind a strong candidate that all the parties in the coalition can support. Then we will have strength in numbers, and the chance to truly take advantage of the current demise of the Ds and Rs.

The biggest problem I have is that I'm an idea guy. I know how to organize my thoughts and ideas. I know how to defend tham against those who challenge them. But organizing people and parties is just not my strength. Perhaps people from the parties in the coalition can help out with that.

As to working on committees and stuff, I would much prefer consulting for profit. I am currently unemployed (with my claim running out this week), and any $$ coming in, especially if it can be a significant living, would be helpful, to say the least.

Do let me know what you think of the idea of having the "Federalist Party" be more of a "Federalist Coalition". I think getting everyone together for a common cause would kick some serious ass!

Regards,
RWR
www.rightwingrocker.com

At this point in time, I think it would be pretty important to get conservatives all on the same page, and the platform was written with exactly this in mind. In fact, much of it is taken verbatim from the platforms of the parties it seeks to unite. This may very well be the way to go, and with the support of the ACP, we may be able to better organize the effort and bring on the Ls and Cs while we're at it.

It sure couldn't hurt, now could it?

RWR