Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Page 3
Escondido Attorney Makes Another Attempt at White House
By JIM RIGGIO, Staff Writer
Escondido attorney Diane Beall Templin will seek the American Independent Party nomination for president of the United States, she told the MetNews yesterday.
Templin, 60, has a long history in state and national politics, having run for state attorney general in 1998 and 2002. She ran for a seat in the U.S. Senate in 2000 and ran for governor in 2003, as part of the recall campaign to succeed Gray Davis.
“I heard several other people are running so there will probably be a primary,’’ Templin said. “I spoke with the party’s vice chairman and what he said according to the party bylaws is to make an announcement, have three people on my campaign committee and he’ll submit it to the secretary of state.”
This will be Templin’s third attempt at the presidency. She ran in 1996 and 2004 representing the American Party, a separate organization from the American Independent Party.
The AIP, a recognized party in California for 40 years, is now affiliated with the national group known as the Constitution Party, formerly the U.S. Taxpayers Party.
She did not make it to the ballot in any state in 2004. In 1996, she was on the ballot in Utah and Colorado, where she received more than 1,800 votes.
“I think the most important thing is to restore our constitutional republic,’’ Templin said. “I would restore constitutional rights that have been taken away from the people.”
Templin, who operates Vista-based Advocate’s Legal Services, which she said provides general legal services in areas that include estate planning, family law and real estate, has lived in California since 1978. She has been a member of the State Bar since 1979.
A graduate of State University of New York at Buffalo, Templin said she still has a license to practice in New York.
Templin said she had planned on leaving politics until recently.
“I was asked about running in this last election as the attorney general candidate by our [AIP] state chairman Bill Shearer and I said ‘I’m going to do spiritual things,’” Templin said. “More recently, I want to respond to the real issues.”
Templin said Shearer, who recently died, was a big help in her political career.
“He was a dear friend of mine and I mourn his loss,’’ Templin said.
Templin said she stands for eliminating the federal income tax, which she said is unconstitutional according to the Sixteenth Amendment. Templin also said she believes people should be made able to make decisions at a local level.
Copyright 2007, Metropolitan News Company