To supplement an IPR article, published two days ago, that concerned the founding of the Clarion Call to Unite Committee (CCTUC), I decided to conduct an interview with the founder of the organization, Cody Quirk. Mr. Quirk is an activist active in the Independent American Party of Nevada, the state affiliate of the Constitution Party. He says he wants CCTUC to work to unite all small right-wing constitutionalist parties and bring them under the Constitution Party banner.
Krzysztof Lesiak:
When did you decide to create CCTUC, and what is the stated purpose of that group?
Cody Quirk
I started the CCTUC this last November, on the 14th. It was something that had been on my mind for awhile long before the 2012 Election, however. I admit in the past that I have tried to talk to the other constitutionalist parties out there, yet back then the circumstances were much different, I was younger and therefore less politically experienced- so my previous efforts were rather half-hearted and amateurish,’ you could say. However, after the last election, the times and circumstances have changed greatly from before. The political situation in this country has gotten to be so desperate and unstable that I’m finally going to put my foot down and end the division that has existed nationally among constitutionalists and like-minded patriots in order to deal with the dire situation in our country once and for all. We can no longer tolerate division and infighting in our ranks; the decline of this great nation is rapidly speeding downhill, so we must all band together to put a stop to it- but that won’t happen until all the national and state parties that are both constitutionalist and principled-conservative unify under one banner; I’m a firm believer of that.
Krzysztof Lesiak
What are some of the parties that you seek to bring into the CP fold, and how do you exactly plan on accomplishing this task?
Cody Quirk
We are reaching out to several parties besides the Constitution Party; we have reached out to the National Independent American Party, the America First Party, the American Party of Florida (the American Party disbanded nationally some time ago, and only have a single state entity left), and several other lesser known minor constitutionalist parties, including the American Patriot Party, and several state Reform Party groups that are constitutionalist, or conservative, in their platform and beliefs. So far the National IAP has officially expressed interest in working towards a merger of the parties, and, in fact, since the National IAP also wants to cooperate better and work closer with the CP, I am actively helping their party on a few matters of their own while still an official member of the CP. The IAP leaders know this, but understand that I am helping them to better promote friendship and harmony between the CP and their party, while also giving support to their party in a way that is beneficial to the constitutionalist cause in general. I also have a few remaining members of the Florida AP that are supportive of our cause and have joined our facebook page a few weeks ago. The AFP leaders have expressed an interest in our efforts, yet sometimes they can be difficult to get in touch with. But likewise with the CP itself, many of its leaders and members, including a potential CP candidate for President in 2016, Robby Wells, have approached us and volunteered to help us as well, and so far many of them, including Mr. Wells, have contributed a great amount of their time and resources to the Clarion Call To Unite Committee, in which we are thankful for such assistance. However, that said, because of the ambitious nature of our goals, I cannot divulge much about the specifics of our negotiations and progress, since we are also being cautious and keeping an eye out for any attempts of sabotage and entryism. There was a previous group several years ago, which shared a similar name to ours, that attempted the same thing that we are trying, yet they were too open and public about their efforts, and within months the leader of this group (of whom I have had past correspondence with), suddenly ended his efforts, deleted his email account and went off the online grid, along with the group itself, that likewise disbanded. I found that suspicious then and still do, so this time around, we are being careful and semi-confidential in our efforts, and also have taken certain measures to combat any attempts to ruin or derail our efforts too.
Krzysztof Lesiak
Now tell me, are there any minor right-wing parties you WON’T be reaching out to?
Cody Quirk
Yes, there are a few; on the “conservative” side, there’s the ‘Conservative Party USA’, which is generally neoconservative, supported Rick Santorum over Ron Paul in the GOP primary, and endorsed Mitt Romney for President. While I have had past correspondence with Sam Gallo, their National Chairman, that was positive, unfortunately their actions and rhetoric do not make them a desired partner for us, since our focus is on parties that are constitutionalist, paleo-conservative, or conservative in a way that doesn’t conflict with the principles that most like-minded constitutionalists share. And on the extremist side, we especially will not include the so called ‘Christian Liberty Party’ or the recently founded ‘Christian Party’, since for starters, they do not accept Non-Christians, or even ‘certain types’ of Christians in their parties, and their attitude, while using constitutionalist-sounding rhetoric, and is theocratic instead of constitutionalist. Another factor with these two parties is that many of them are made up of former CP’ers that were part of a extremist minority faction that used to exist in the CP many years ago, and inconspicuously attempted to transform the CP into those two current political parties that they are members and leaders of. Nevertheless, even if we leave aside their dogmatic beliefs and viewpoints, they are not viable or competent enough when it comes to commitments to constant political activism, ballot access, running for office, etc. Ditto on such parties like ‘American Third Position’; we refuse to include white supremacists and such like-minded people in our efforts of bringing the parties together.
Krzysztof Lesiak
On December 1, 2012, at the Constituiton Party National Committee Meeting, Robby Wells, 2016 presidential candidate, announced to the CP members that he was a national spokesman for the CCTUC. What exactly is Robby’s role in the CCTUC, and how do you believe he will help your brand new organization achieve its goals?
Cody Quirk
First off, while there has been some stated concerns about this matter, I want to publicly emphasize that the CCTUC IS NOT A VEHICLE FOR ROBBY WELLS’S CAMPAIGN! I founded the CCTUC on my own, and he later approached us wanting to support our goal and offered assistance, so we accepted his help, and it was I who designated Mr. Wells as our group’s spokesman; he did not request that he become a leader in our group at all. I simply made the choice on my own to include him as a leader, or specifically, our ‘National Spokesman’ due to his talents, resources, and ability to travel often. And so far he has been a great asset to our efforts. Yet, I also want to emphasize that the CCTUC is also NOT officially backing him, or anyone else for president in 2016, nor will the CCTUC endorse candidates for office, period; our focus and efforts are strictly on party-organizing & building, or specifically, ‘party unification’ ONLY. However, we do allow candidates to advertise their campaigns on our facebook page as long as there isn’t a rival candidate from another party that we are in negotiations with that is running for the same office. However, if such advertisements do become a distraction that could hinder our efforts, then we will change the rules on campaign advertising on our facebook page if necessary, in order to prevent any debates or complaints on such topics from getting out of hand. So in conclusion, people like Robby Wells have plenty of good and valuable things to offer us and our cause, yet all can be rest assured that he is helping us because, just like me and my fellow patriots in the CCTUC, he wants to see a unified constitutionalist/conservative party be able to rise up at the ballot box, take on our current political system… And win.
Krzysztof Lesiak
Now tell us, have you gotten any closer to your goals materializing since founding CCTUC? Have you spoken to leaders of America First Party, IAP, etc., about merging with the CP? Are these leaders open to dialogue with your organization?
Cody Quirk
That answer is certainly yes, but again, I cannot go into specifics on just how much success and breakthrough we have already made, and will soon make. But I will say that, unlike before November 6 of last year, some of the leaders and outspoken members of these parties, including the CP, wouldn’t have been receptive to the idea of a unified national party as they are now. Yet the re-election of Barack Obama and other related factors have certainly changed many narrow-minds and hard-hearts out there, and many in the parties that we are talking to obviously understand this well. You know I must admit, as bad as the political, and even the cultural situation is in this country right now- I believe, unlike many times in the recent past, that the circumstances for every constitutionalist & principled-conservative political party and group to unite for the greater cause of not just preserving what liberties we have left, but also restoring those liberties that we formally enjoyed before, along with our sacred Constitution and our American, Constitutional Republic -as the Founding Fathers intended us to be, and as we and my fellow patriots intend to restore, and protect -have never been in our favor as it is now. The GOP can no longer effectively fight against the radical socialist agenda that continues to advance further into the realms of our government and society, and Americans, especially those that believe as we do, are now waking up like never before in our nation’s history to the stark reality that not just the major parties, but the political system has failed them completely, and therefore must be changed. This is a unique, and unstable time we are living in now- but it’s the perfect time for a political party like the one we are attempting to create, to rise up and bring needed change and restoration in our government and legislatures. The GOP did this in back in the days of Lincoln, only this time, such a political party that we seek would work to restore constitutional government and greater liberty in a way that no other predecessor has ever accomplished.
Krzysztof Lesiak
Now tell us, besides a Facebook group, do you have a website for CCTUC? Twitter? Any other social media page? Have you created an official website for your organization? Also, how are you getting the word out to people about the CCTUC? Are you actively promoting it on your new blog, Independent and Third Party News and Views?
Cody Quirk
Yes, being the Editor & Owner (and founder), of Independent Third Party News & Views- I am certainly promoting it on my news site already, and as I’ve recently become a writer for the Hammer of Truth website as well, I certainly will do likewise there too. In the next coming weeks, the CCTUC will also be launching a web site; I will give an official announcement about it before then, and yes, we are promoting our group and our cause on Facebook. We haven’t gotten a Twitter account yet, but we will soon get one set up. However, while we are certainly trying to reach out to all the national & state parties out there that are constitutionalist. or principled conservative, as I mentioned before- again, we are still being cautious will just how much, and what kind of attention we attract. It’s a double-edged sword; the more attention you get for your cause, the more support and people, that will flock to it- but at the same time it will also attract the attention of people and groups that either are opposed to your cause, or want to use or hijack your cause for their own agenda. So, the best path for us to pursue is rather a grassroots outreach effort that seeks more support and attention, but at the same time isn’t going to run around screaming and waving our arms for everyone to see; for a group like this, you have to be sensible, modest, and friendly, yet guarded, meticulous, and coordinated at the same time. In that manner, your enemies (or any opposition) could see and talk to you, yet won’t be able to completely know your exact plans or even your next move.
Krzysztof Lesiak
Cody, we wish you luck with your efforts. But I now want to ask u a different type of question: Do you ever think you will rejoin IPR in the future? I, for one, want to see you back with us!!!
Cody Quirk
Out of courtesy to Independent Political Report itself, I will not elaborate or comment on the events that happened in which I no longer write for, and am at odds with, several individuals that are associated with IPR. For the time being, I prefer to be in charge of my own news site where I make and set the rules & guidelines, which I, and those that contribute to my site consider to be fair, practical, and reasonable for ITPN&V. However, who knows what the future holds? But thank you for the compliment, I appreciate it.
Krzysztof Lesiak
Have you run for political office before? if so, for what office(s)? What was your best percentage? How long have you been an active CP member, have you been to national conventions, how have you helped the party grow? Also what is your profession?
Cody Quirk
Yes, I ran for the Nevada State Senate, Capital District, back in 2010. I admit I didn’t campaign actively and had little money to spend, so I did the best I could- even though the leading candidate I was running against was a third-generation Nevadan, was well known and actually was quite conservative and did work with my state party on a few legislative matters in the past. Yet I still ran to represent my party and be a ‘third voice’ in my race, and on election night, I got about 4.9% of the vote. I had fun, and the campaigning I was able to do certainly opened my eyes to the many issues and tough situations that Nevadans still face in this state. I may run for another office again in the future, but I’ll certainly campaign differently then I did before if I do. Anyway, I have been a member of this party since I was 17. I am from southern California and got active, became a County Chairman, and later became the Sergeant-At-Arms for the American Independent Party (the then California affiliate of the CP) starting when I turned 18. In fact, I consider the founder of the AIP (and co-founder of the CP)- the late William K. Shearer, a close friend and my political mentor, in which much of what I’ve learned about political activism, outreach, and campaigning were valuable lessons that he passed on to me, and others. Truth is, one of the reasons I founded the CCTUC and am attempting to unite the parties is also to restore and magnify his ‘legacy’ in the party, and upon American politics itself- he passed away several years ago from cancer, sadly. Later on, due to the political and economic situation in that state, I relocated to Carson City, Nevada in 2008 and got involved with the Nevada IAP (which is affiliated with the CP, of course), in which I currently serve as the Carson City Central Committee Chairman, and also the State Youth Chairman for the party. I have several members in my Young Independent Americans group so far, and have a YIA contact up at University of Nevada, Reno. Our course I’ve been to many local and state party meetings, but I’ve never been to a national CP meeting… yet. I hope to change that soon, however. On the journalism front, I used to write for the former website Third Party Watch, until it was shut down, and wrote for IPR afterwards for some time. Currently, I run & write for Independent Third Party News & Views. I admit that when I was younger I was more brash, outspoken, and not as humble as I am now, especially on the blogs and discussion forums in the past. On my personal dozier, I am 28, was previously married, and have a wonderful 6 year-old daughter. I am of Irish, Scottish, and German descent, so I am extremely stubborn, persistent, bold, and very individualistic in my personality, and my family is the exact same way: we each pursue our own path and do things by our own rules, and for the time being, I am still the only constitutionalist in the Quirk clan, though I hope to eventually change that. My personal hobbies are writing fiction and poetry; I someday hope to start a career as a writer- I do not intend to ever become a ‘career politician.; I am simply an activist & an officer for a political party and nothing more, and these efforts of mine are only to help change the system and our country for the better. I simply want to make a difference, that is all, but I want to do it outside of the box, which I why I am not involved in a major party at all and never will be. Regardless of how difficult such a path is, I have no regrets and won’t compromise on that matter. By the way, my last name is Irish of course- ‘Quirk’ is the Anglicized form of the Gaelic word ‘Cuirc’, which means ‘heart’ or ‘bravery’ in that language.
Cody’s new blog can be found by clicking on the following link:
http://itpn-v.blogspot.com/
CCTUC Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/425431127510568/?fref=ts
