Republican candidates who appeal to prejudice and are recently calling some parts of America the “real America,” and parts that disagree with them “un-American,” are not only playing to their party base, they are playing to what is base.

Were Hannibal Hamlin alive today, he would be delighted that his efforts at achieving liberty for all has led to a time when Americans could vote for a president not based on color, but based on capability, character and intellect. But he would be disappointed in the abandonment by his party (in title) of its initial values.

The party needs him and, for all I know, the nation needs him. There hasn't been an African-American Democrat who has had an appeal broadly beyond his ethnic group.

Our North American operations remain a vital base,

I really think the establishment of a third party is important. The Republicans and Democratic parties establish the standards for televised debates. Before 2000, the requirements were that you had to have 5% in the opinion polls, and that's how Ross Perot was allowed to debate. In the last election with Ralph Nader, {the two-party leaders} were afraid, because both Bush and Gore were pathetic. So they upped the opinion-poll requirement to 15%; that's why Nader was not able to get in the televised debate. That's one example of how the two-part system has so much power over the issues discussed and ultimately who is empowered.

We think this is going to be an easy sell, particularly now that party nomination for Republicans is closed and we have a sharp distinction between Bob Dole and Bill Clinton,