IAP Candidates Speak At Campaign Event

By VERNON ROBISON

Moapa Valley Progress

More than 100 people turned out to a political rally held at the Old Logandale School pavilion on Saturday evening, October 13. The event was held to highlight a trio of candidates running for office under the Independent American Party (IAP).

Speaking at the event was Ryan Bundy, candidate for Nevada Governor; Joel Hansen, Attorney General candidate; and Kamau Bakari, candidate for U.S. Senate.

Each candidate touted himself as the anti-establishment choice in his respective race, adding that they were a viable alternative for voters who had become disillusioned with both major political parties.

Most in the crowd were strongly sympathetic to this alternative cause. Some shouted out encouragement and support during the speeches. At times, members of the audience even stood to relate experiences of their own that had brought them to disavow the mainstream political process.

The evening began with a ranch-sized meal served Bundy-style. Central on the menu was prime beef and ripe melon raised on the Bundy family ranch in Bunkerville. There was plenty there to feed the whole crowd and then some.

A trailer-load of Bundy melons was positioned alongside the outdoor meeting area and attendees were invited to take the melons home with them. at the end of the event.

In his speech, Ryan Bundy, son of legendary Bunkerville rancher Cliven Bundy, told the crowd that he was running for Governor because of the struggles he and his family had experienced in recent years with federal government overreach.

He related some of the events surrounding his family’s 2014 showdown with federal authorities over public lands issues. He also talked about his arrest and incarceration for charges connected with the 2014 standoff as well as for his involvement in another standoff in Oregon in 2016.

Eventually, all charges were dismissed against Bundy and his family members by a federal judge. The judge found that prosecutors had willfully withheld evidence and engaged in misconduct.

Bundy pointed out how rare it is to be let off, as he was, in a federal case of this kind. He said that when federal charges are brought against a party, the government wins the case 98 percent of the time.
“I hated my incarceration,” Bundy said. “But I learned so much from it. I have said that the feds made a big mistake incarcerating me unjustly like that. It only made me stronger.”

Bundy said that he had spent a lot of time in prayer and reflection while in prison. “I prayed that this country could be brought to a peaceful resolution of its problems rather than driven toward a revolution.”
“We were lucky – and I should say blessed – to be absolved of all charges,” Bundy added.

Bundy related that as he had prayed in prison, he felt he had received an answer on what he could do to bring a peaceful resolution. He felt that, when released, he should run for Governor.
“When that came to me, my first response was, ‘No, I don’t want to do that,’” Bundy said.

But he felt it so strongly that Bundy has followed through with it in filing to be on the ballot this year.
Bundy acknowledged that his candidacy is a longshot. “Frankly, it will take a miracle,” he said. “I know that all the polls say that I am only carrying maybe 7 percent of the vote. But that is about four times the chances that I had to win in federal court. And here I am.”

Bundy pledged that, as governor, he would adhere to the founding principles of the U.S. Constitution and to the “eternal principles of heaven.”
“Those principles are Liberty and Free Agency,” Bundy said.

“I look forward to greeting you all next year from Carson City,” Bundy concluded to audience applause.
In his brief address, Attorney General candidate Joel Hansen talked about what his main focus would be as Attorney General in Nevada: a return to the principles of the U.S. Constitution.

Hansen said that both major political parties had lost their way and strayed from strict adherence to the Constitution and that a return was needed. Only the IAP could facilitate that return, Hansen said.
“Let me tell you, you are never going to reform the Republican party,” Hansen said. “Not unless you have a billion dollars to spend like Donald Trump. And look at what he has faced. His own party has done everything it could to stop him.”

Hansen insisted that a complete change was needed. “Let’s get real and start electing people to office that value the Constitution and who will live by it,” he said.
U.S. Senate candidate Kamau Bakari spoke to the crowd about the need to release the people from the bondage of ‘political correctness.’

Bakari, who is a black man, said that he had taken a lot of flak for even associating with his friends, the Bundys. This was because Cliven Bundy had been painted as a racist for using language generally considered to be politically incorrect, Bakari said.
“Political correctness is limiting our rights and taking away our freedoms,” Bakari said. “That has to be stopped. But it will take people to stand up and be courageous and push back against it.”

Bakari said that he was a completely different kind of candidate. He was proud that he had never been to Washington DC, or held public office. He was proud to not be spending much money on his campaign because he would not be beholdent to any contributors or special interest groups.
“I want to be clear,” he told the crowd. “I don’t want your money. I won’t be asking for contributions. What I need most is your courage to stand up and be counted.”