In 2005 he was named Man of the Year by the Grady County NAACP Branch. John is truly committed to uplifting his family, his community and his country.
Since relocating to Grady County, John has been very active in the community. In his capacity as a member, and now President of the Grady County NAACP Branch, he has held Financial Literacy classes for the Holder Park Summer Program, helped implement the Freedom Day Health Fair, and advocated for citizens who believed they had been treated unjustly. He is a twenty year member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. and has held various leadership positions on the local and state level.... Mr. Monds currently serves on the Grady County Planning Commission, the Grady County Habitat for Humanity Board, the Libertarian Party of Georgia Executive Committee, and the Grady County Fine Arts Project.For the race, Monds billed himself as a "Free Market, Fiscal Conservative, Consumer Advocate." His pitch to Georgia voters:
John is married to Dr. Kathaleena Edward Monds and has four children: Akintunde-10, Cazembe-9, Halima-7, and Malik-2. He is currently a full-time father and homeschool teacher. (2)
Whether you are a low income family or in the upper tax brackets... a small business owner or an industrial giant... the price you pay for energy effects your (net income) (bottom line) (wallet) (pocketbook). Having a Commissioner who supports free markets, competition, and deregulation gives you an opportunity to vote for economic policies that are proven to work for lowering your rates. Just look at what deregulation has done for the wireless phone industry. Choices and competition breed lower rates and equipment prices. The cell phone companies are even giving phones away. (3)
Monds's candidacy won some press and blog notice in October after it filed a residency challenge against his opponent. Reported the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "John Monds, the Libertarian candidate running against incumbment Republican Doug Everett sent a letter to state Secretary of State Karen Handel Wednesday, saying Everett didn't appear to live in his district. The letter says that Everett, who is supposed to live in the commission's District One in South Georgia, owns only one home in the state, in North Georgia." (4)
Monds also ran an internet-only video slamming Everett for accepting campaign contributions from companies the PSC regulates, and for using campaign funds to make payments on his Atlanta condo. (5)
By mid-October, readers of at least one local Obamablog were being told about Monds: "A lot of people in my area that have Obama and Martin signs in their yard also have a John Monds sign. He gave a speech at the state NAACP convention last week and they took signs home with them too." (6)
The Atlanta blog Creative Loafing endorsed Monds on Oct. 22. (7)
Monds's 33% finish easily guarantees permanent ballot access for the Libertarian Party of Georgia (LPGA) in the 2010 elections. (By Georgia law, all of a party's statewide candidates were guaranteed a spot on the next election ballot if one candidate in a current statewide race polled more than 2%.)
According to Reason, Monds's total was not only "The biggest Libertarian vote total in the nation," but "the biggest ever." (8)
"I am over the moon over John Monds," Anthony Trauring, LPGA operations director, told the Times-Enterprise. "He is a great guy and the success of his campaign garnered the most votes for any Libertarian in Georgia. As far as I'm concerned in the Libertarian party, John Monds is a superstar."
"A million votes is something to be excited about," Monds added. "It's something to be proud of and a nice mark for the party. It says a lot about the organization in Georgia."
The newspaper asked Monds, an African-American, to comment on Obama's election. "I think, for a lot of folks, it will take time for that to soak in," he said. "Hopefully, this will release the country into a new period in our democratic republic. Maybe this election will change the way people look at politics or race relations. I'm happy with the result and hope Obama's election will be a very positive thing."
As for his future political plans, Monds would only say, "I'm just going to enjoy what I've done with this race for a minute before figuring out what to do next."
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(1) Teresa Williams, "Libertarian Party's Monds makes history in Georgia," Thomasville Times-Enterprise, Nov. 5, 2008.
http://www.timesenterprise.com/local/local_story_310225933.html
(2) "Biography," John Monds for PSC (accessed Nov. 6, 2008).
http://www.mondsforpsc.com/bio.php
(3) "Free Market, Fiscal Conservative, Consumer Advocate," ibid.
(4) Margaret Newkirk, "PSC candidate faces residency challenge," Atlanta-Journal Constitution, Oct. 8, 2008.
http://www.ajc.com/business/content/metro/stories/2008/10/08/psc_candidate.html
(5) "Monds for PSC," YouTube, Oct. 25, 2008. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osBCvd38ezM
(6) Daniel N. Adams, Comment on "Button Bee Tonight," Blog for Democracy, Oct. 17, 2008. http://www.blogfordemocracy.org/2008/10/button_making_tomorrow.html
(7) "Fulton County 2008 Voter's Cheat Sheet," Creative Loafing, Oct. 22, 2008.
http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/fulton_county_2008_voter_s_cheat_sheet/Content?oid=595418
(8) David Weigel, "Fun Election Facts for the Kids," Reason Hit & Run, Nov. 6, 2008.
http://reason.com/blog/show/129947.html
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Please watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryJtj22gOtg
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http://www.nolanchart.com/article5418.html
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©2008 George Dance, all rights reserved. You must have written permission from the author in order to republish this work.
Published: Friday, November 7, 2008
Last modified: Wednesday, November 12, 2008
The views expressed in this article are those of George Dance only and do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. George Dance is solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
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Reader Comments:
Posted By: Chris
Date: 2008-11-07 07:23:05
What a niave story. the only resason Monds received the votes he did, had nothing to do with him or being a Liberitarian. There was no Democratic opposition. Monds as you write went all over the State telling everyone he was Chairman of the NAACP. Monds received the votes he did ONLY for these reasons, ANTI-Republican, No Democrate and being African American-riding the coat tails of Obama.
Posted By: George Dance
Date: 2008-11-07 09:12:54
Monds received the votes he did, had nothing to do with him or being a Liberitarian. There was no Democratic opposition.
The last time that happened in a PSC election in Georgia, the LP took 23% of the vote. Based on that, the party was hoping to take 750,000 votes.
Monds as you write went all over the State telling everyone he was Chairman of the NAACP.
He claimed to be president of the Grady County NAACP. Do you have any reason to think he isn't?
Monds received the votes he did ONLY for these reasons, ANTI-Republican, No Democrate and being African American-riding the coat tails of Obama.
Monds may have picked up some votes because of his race, but I expect no more, percentage-wise, than Obama did.
Posted By: Master C
Date: 2008-11-07 09:37:03
Dear George,
Don't jump all over yourself. This is like saying that some last place sports team finally won a game. BIG DEAL!
Put this guy in a race against a Republican or a Democrat and he'll be beat before he even starts.
Join the mainstream. There's no future ~ except obscurity ~ when you're out in the fringes of the weeds!
Master C
Posted By: Daniel N. Adams
Date: 2008-11-07 12:13:37
Pay no attention to Chris. He nor the RLC has had any influence whatsoever inside the GOP. All he has accomplished is to be a sock puppet for big government Republicans who stand against everything he claims to support. He is just a disgruntled ex-GA Libertarian whining Bee-aatch. He claims to want to advance liberty but continues to support/endorse big government bureaucrats like John's opponent in this race. He lacks leadership skills and has lost all credibility. He is just jealous. The only recourse he has left is to roam the net and post excrement like above. It makes him feel relevant. Just smile and nod... he'll eventually move on.
Posted By: George Dance
Date: 2008-11-07 13:35:49
Dan: Until you said "Republican," I thought you were talking about Master C. 8)
Posted By: George Dance
Date: 2008-11-08 17:21:54
Actually, Chris's (and Ms Williams') mentions of Obama have given me an idea. In case any Georgia Libertarians are still reading:
This is politics, so let's get political. Capitalize on the Obama angle. If he's ready willing & able, then: Run Monds for Governor in 2010.
That would be especially fine if Barr runs for Senator that year; having Barr and Monds campaign together, here and there, would do a great deal to stop the "racist" smears that were thrown at Barr in this campaign.
Posted By: Mr. Jones
Date: 2008-11-20 04:54:15
Unfortunately, Chris is right (mostly). Monds was successful mainly because there was limited opposition. If there had been the usual Dem/Rep contenders, he wouldn't have done any better than Givens. It saddens me to think that even if he had won, he would have been outed in six years simply by having an opponent from each party run against him. People are so blinded by party lines it is disgusting.
Though, I'm not sure what part Obama's coat-tails play in this.