FROM THE FLOOR
A Daily Report on the America First Party Founding Convention
by Ryan Walters
Thursday, August 8.
The America First National Committee held its first in-person meeting on Thursday August 8, in Orlando, Florida in preparation for the convening of the Founding National Convention on Friday. The Committee began its work at 9:00 AM, and after a daylong deliberation, took major steps in establishing the party on a solid and lasting foundation.
In an atmosphere of unity, and with surprisingly little debate, the National Committee unanimously adopted a party Constitution; a few minor changes however, were made to the original draft submitted by the Rules Committee. One such change was that the Executive Committee would be named the "Operating Committee." In addition, a new standing committee was created to handle the most important work of the party: obtaining and maintaining ballot access in all 50 states. After a few other minor modifications, mostly regarding the wording of the document, it was unanimously adopted. The unanimous support for the Constitution is due to the hard work of John Hey and the other members of the Rules Committee.
The unity of the committee members carried over to the election of the officers of the Operating Committee, which will run the party on a day-to-day basis. Out of eleven elections, only one was contested. All other selections were unanimous. The newly elected national officers and Committee Chairs are:
National Officers
- National Chairman: Dan Charles of Colorado
- Vice Chairman: Gene Lovell of Georgia
- Secretary : John Hey of Mississippi
- Treasurer: Maureen McHugh of Illinois
Standing Committee Chairs
- Finance Committee Chair: John Hill of Massachusetts
- Rules Committee Chair: Ed Moses of Iowa
- Candidate Committee Chair: James Edwards of Tennessee
- Public Relations Chair: Romelle Winters of New Hampshire
- Party Building Committee Chair: JD Jones of Tennessee
- Platform Committee Chair: Roger Simmermaker of Florida
- Ballot Access Committee Chair: John Verser of Arkansas
The National Committee also considered the question of the 2003 National Convention. Many of the members wanted to make a definite decision this year in order to give the members of the various state party organizations enough time to plan to attend next year’s convention. A motion to hold the 2003 convention in Des Moines, Iowa on the 3rd weekend of July was defeated. The Committee did however decide to create a special committee, under the direction of Vice Chairman Gene Lovell of Georgia, empowering it to find a suitable location for the 2003 National Convention with a tentatively scheduled date of the 3rd or 4th weekend of July.
The Committee also affiliated the America First Party of Massachusetts, bringing the total number of recognized state parties to 19.
The Founding Convention of the America First Party is off to a successful and unified start. Newly elected Vice Chairman, Gene Lovell of Georgia, stated "This is the most unified meeting he has ever attended, and that includes church." Committee members anticipate the unity that prevailed during the meeting of the National Committee will carry over to the convention itself. The convention is scheduled to gavel in at 9:00 AM on Friday August 9, 2002. Most of the work over the next two days will revolve around adopting a truly America First platform. The party is unified, strong, and on the road to achieving major party status.
Ryan Walters is Chairman of the America First Party of Mississippi.
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