Darrell Castle talks about the Constitution Party, his 2016 Presidential Campaign, and his vision of victory. THE LIFE OF THE PARTY Hello this is Darrell Castle with today’s pod cast. Today is Friday July 29, 2016 and on today’s podcast we are going to discuss the Constitution Party and where we go from here. In many ways the Constitution Party is a mirror of America which was founded by people with a youthful, energetic, attitude. Those were people who left stagnant and oppressive Europe to create a life for themselves in a new world. They wanted to be free to choose their own pursuit of happiness. That freedom allowed them to carve a nation out of a wilderness, a nation based on principles that allowed the most prosperity for the most people in history. Today, America doesn’t seem so young anymore. We seem older, more fearful, less willing to explore, to risk danger. Even the young are frightened of the future which seems to hold grim economic realities for them. There is an attitude of pessimism rather than optimism and that is very un-American. We as Americans have always been optimistic, especially about our children’s future which we always have expected to be brighter than our own but now a majority of parents say they don’t expect their children to do as well economically as they have done. What has caused this change of attitude in America? The comparison of America’s founding with that of the Constitution Party may seem like a stretch but there are many similarities. When Howard Phillips wanted to start a new political party he did it because life in the Republican Party was stagnant and oppressive for him. He recruited the rest of us and we launched the Party with a youthful belief that we would prevail and eventually supplant the Republican Party. Today, however, many of us in the Constitution Party don’t seem so young anymore. I’m not just talking about those who are no longer young in age, but I also mean those who are no longer young at heart. There are 25 year olds with old attitudes toward life. They seem unexcited about being alive and unexcited about the future and there are plenty of 85 year olds who look at each day as an exciting gift from God. In terms of the constitution Party then, what is the difference. I submit that the difference is a vision of victory. When we started the Party we all believed that success was possible so we committed our lives to the project. We all worked hard, we gave our money, we raised money, and we recruited new members. Now it seems that we have lost that vision of victory that we originally had. In other words, many of us no longer believe that victory is possible. Howard used to tell us that “to achieve victory, first you must seek it.” Today I think some of us have lost sight of the belief that victory is something we are seeking. When that happens people just go through the motions of what they are required to do without any real enthusiasm or effort. The audiences that I speak to sometimes remind me of some churches I’ve been in where the members have been in the service of the church so long they just want to sit and let someone else do it. The irony is that this election cycle presents us with the greatest opportunity in the history of the Constitution Party and perhaps in history period. The Democrats and Republicans have handed us the chance we’ve been waiting on for 24 years. There are so many dis-satisfied people that many people who previously would not give us the time of day are coming our way. People sense that something is desperately wrong in this country. Perhaps they understand that they may be living in the declining empire era of American history. If you use ancient Rome as an example you should be able to see the pattern. Rome started as a monarchy and evolved into a Republic just as America did. After many years the Roman Republic degenerated to the point where strong Caesars took control and the Republic became an empire.