MPR: Campaign 2004: Michael Bednarik

Candidate Bio

Political affiliation:
Libertarian Party

Born:
August 1, 1954
Hammond, Indiana

Personal:
Resides in Austin, Texas.

Occupation:
Independent computer consultant.

Education:
Enrolled in 1972 at Indiana University in Bloomington as a marine biology; later switched to chemistry.

Political Experience:
Libertarian candidate for Texas House of Representatives (Austin-area) in 2000 and 2002.

Audio

	Listen to an interview with Badnarik (12/5/03)

Links and Resources

Web site:

www.badnarik.org

Candidate Pages

Michael Badnarik

SNAPSHOT
Michael Badnarik is the Libertarian Party candidate for president. His running mate is Richard Campagna, a community college teacher and consultant from Iowa. According to his Web site, Badnarik believes the federal government has become too large and controls its citizens as a result. He says if elected, he will work to increase the system of checks and balances in the U.S. Constitution. He is opposed to the war in Iraq. He says his military policy "would be one of national defense, not international offense." Badnarik also believes that U.S. citizens have not done enough to inform and involve themselves. He says as a result, they are "unknowingly giving the government the right to control their lives.

KSTP video sheds light on when Iraqi explosives went missing
A news crew with Twin Cities TV station KSTP shot video of U.S. troops in Iraq in April of 2003 that may help determine when tons of powerful explosives were removed from the Al-QaQaa munitions base. Earlier this week, the New York Times reported that almost 380 tons of explosives from the site were not secured immediately after the invasion of Iraq. Reporter Dean Staley, who now works in Seattle, and photo journalist Joe Caffrey were embedded with the 101st Airborne Division at the time. Morning Edition host Cathy Wurzer spoke with Caffrey, who says he shot the video nine days after the fall of Baghdad. (10/29/2004)

Edwards says Bush didn't do his job in Iraq
Sen. John Edwards campaigned in Duluth Thursday, blaming President Bush for a missing cache of explosives in Iraq. Edwards said that "our men and women in uniform did their job, George Bush didn't do his job." Vice President Dick Cheney makes a campaign stop in International Falls Thursday afternoon. (10/28/2004)

Speechless no more, Ventura stumps for Kerry at colleges
Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura is silent no more on why he's supporting Sen. John Kerry for president. Unleashing a strong attack against President Bush, Ventura appeared at Century College, a community and technical college in White Bear Lake, to encourage young people to vote. (10/28/2004)

Polling the Midwestern battleground
Just when everyone thought the presidential election couldn't get any tighter, it has. Recent polls have put states like Arkansas (once thought safe for Bush) and Hawaii (where Kerry was believed to be a shoo-in) onto the list of swing states. Then there's our little corner of the upper Midwest--Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa--which is every bit as close as it has been for most of the election. Most presidential elections with an incumbent candidate tend to be more like landslides than photo finishes. Could this one be the exception? ( 10/28/2004)

Campaign roundup: Bush, Kerry exchange long-distance jabs, race through Midwest
In a stinging exchange, President Bush criticized Democratic challenger John Kerry as "the wrong man for the wrong job at the wrong time" on Thursday while the Massachusetts senator accused his rival of constantly ducking responsibility for his own actions. For the fourth consecutive day, Kerry assailed Bush over the disclosure that nearly 400 tons of explosives were missing in Iraq. (10/28/2004)

Campaign roundup: Kerry and Bush spar over missing explosives
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry brought his campaign to Rochester again Wednesday, six days out from the election. He continued to step up his attacks on President Bush, saying that Bush has failed the test of leadership on the economy and national security. (10/27/2004)

Slicing the Spin: Foreign Policy
Midmorning takes a closer look at the issues that could determine the outcome of the presidential election. This week, host Kerri Miller examines the candidates' plans for foreign policy. ( 10/27/2004)

Rehnquist illness propels social issues back to campaign agenda
Neither President George W. Bush nor Sen. John Kerry spends much time talking about either abortion or same-sex marriage in speeches. But the next president is likely to appoint at least one member to an aging Supreme Court that's divided on abortion, gay rights and other issues. There hasn't been a Supreme Court vacancy in 10 years, and this week's announcement that Chief Justice William Rehnquist has thyroid cancer gives new prominence to the question. (10/27/2004)

Foreign policy is in unusual role as biggest issue in presidential election
If there is one defining issue in this year's presidential campaign, it's the war in Iraq. Democratic Sen. John Kerry charges President Bush's approach to the fight against terrorism is emblematic of a larger go-it-alone philosophy that's seriously damaged U.S. relations around the world. Bush accuses Kerry of underestimating demands of the war against terrorism and of taking numerous competing positions on Iraq. (10/27/2004)

Campaign Roundup: Kerry, Bush, Nader focus on the Midwest
President Bush campaigned in a small town near La Crosse, Wisconsin Tuesday, hoping to woo more voters in a part of the state which went for Democrat Al Gore in the 2000 election. As a result, Bush narrowly lost the state's electoral votes. This time around the president has made a deliberate effort to court western Wisconsin voters. (10/26/2004)

Bush visits Wisconsin
President Bush says Senator John Kerry has a limited vision of the war on terror that won't keep Americans safe. The president talks about foreign policy and his other plans for the country during a campaign stop near LaCrosse, Wisconsin. ( 10/26/2004)

Cheney says he's 'sensitive' to sugar issues
Vice President Dick Cheney campaigned in Moorhead, Monday. The vice president's visit is part of the Bush administration's attempt to win Minnesota in the presidential election. Minnesota is one of several battleground states in the midwest. Republicans believe the Bush-Cheney ticket, could be the first Republican presidential campaign to win Minnesota since the Nixon-Agnew ticket in 1972. (10/25/2004)

Cheney hammers on national security issues in Rosemount; Ventura endorses Kerry
Vice President Dick Cheney capped an unprecedented week of presidential politics in Minnesota by telling a rally crowd in suburban Rosemount that Democratic Sen. John Kerry lacks the judgment and conviction to be president. (10/22/2004)

Kerry makes seventh trip to Minnesota - this time to Metrodome
Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry held a rally in Minneapolis Thursday night in front of an estimated crowd of 30,000 people. Kerry used the event to motivate his supporters to make sure that a Democratic presidential candidate wins Minnesota for the eighth straight time. Recent polling shows Kerry with a narrow lead in Minnesota, but Republicans say the state is changing and Kerry's stance on the war on terrorism is unpopular with voters. (10/21/2004)

Palestinian-Israeli conflict not on the campaign radar screen
Middle East peace has hardly been mentioned in the presidential campaign. Neither George W. Bush nor John Kerry have talked much at all about their plans for a solution to the violence between Palestinians and Israelis. One likely reason the issue doesn't come up is there's very little to debate. Analysts say Bush and Kerry have virtually identical positions. They're both strong supporters of Israel. Even so, the issue's absence from the campaign dismays two Minnesotans with a personal stake in Middle East peace. (10/21/2004)

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