1979 National Prohibition Convention
The 1979 National Prohibition Convention was a national political party convention held at the Motel Birmingham on Crestwood Boulevard on June 18-19, 1979 to vote on a political platform and nominate candidates for the 1980 general election.
The party, founded as the Prohibition Party in 1869, advocates bans on the sale or consumption of alcohol and uses a double-humped Bactrian camel as its mascot. Although it had officially changed its name to the "National Statesman Party" (after its newspaper) prior to the 1978 general election, the convention was still called National Prohibition Convention.
During the convention, the delegates approved a platform that affirmed loyalty to the Constitution, opposed Communism, called for a return to the gold standard, sought the privatization of government programs, reduced the influence of labor unions, opposed the Equal Rights Amendment, proposed stronger public morality laws, smoking and alcohol bans and drug-control efforts, acknowledged the "God-given Right to Life", proposed reducing welfare rolls while initiated a guaranteed annual income, called for stronger laws to preserve marriage and parental authority, protected prayer in schools, supported relaxing ballot access laws, pledged to end federal interference in education, called for private alternatives to Social Security, opposed socialized medicine and compulsory immunizations, and favored deporting or jailing illegal aliens.
The delegates nominated the same presidential and vice-presidential candidates that the Prohibition Party fielded in 1976: Benjamin Bubar of Maine and Earl Dodge of Colorado. The party also backed candidates in several Alabama congressional races and for the Alabama Public Service Commission.
The Bubar-Dodge ticket garnered a total of 7,212 votes, less than half of the count from the previous election. In Alabama, the most effective candidate was A. J. Killingsworth, who collected 2% of the votes for the 4th District race won by incumbent Democrat Tom Bevill. After the election, the party chose to return to its historic name.
See Also
External links
- Prohibition Party website
- 1980 Prohibition Party platform at prohibitionists.org
- Prohibition Party candidates in Alabama at prohibitionists.org