Monday, May 01, 2006

Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman Project, is considering a run for president in 2008 representing the Constitution Party.

Gilchrist has just returned from Florida where he met with the party's national committee.

Chairman James Clymer told WorldNetDaily the party was excited about the possibility of Gilchrist as its marquis candidate.

Gilchrist told WND the only candidate he would support as the Republican Party presidential nominee in 2008 was Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo.

"If John McCain enters the race for president," Gilchrist said. "I will definitely run. John McCain should have forfeited his right to run for president on the Republican Party the moment he put his name on immigration legislation with Sen. Ted Kennedy."

Gilchrist and the Constitution Party both agree on the need to secure the southern border with Mexico. Commenting on the street demonstrations planned for tomorrow, Gilchrist said they are nothing more than "a declaration that we are no longer a nation governed by the rule of law, but that we are being ruled by mob rule."

Asked whether he felt President Bush's "guest worker" program or the administration's "pathway to citizenship" were reasonable compromises, Gilchrist reacted sharply: "The Republican Party is going to pay a huge price for pandering to what they think is going to be an illegal-alien vote and for their reckless disregard for the rule of law. The Republican Party has sold out our sovereignty."

Gilchrist told WND that he thought his third-party candidacy could be viable, noting "the country is ready for a third-party candidate, just like the country was ready for Ross Perot in 1992."