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FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
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Posted on 07/12/2003 7:55:52 AM PDT by dalereed
From Oceanside to the Oval Office
Man creates political party, eyes bid for White House
By Michael Burge
STAFF WRITER
July 12, 2003
OCEANSIDE – Matthew Pinnavaia doesn't vote, drives a '77 Thunderbird, takes care of his ailing mother and, at 45, has decided to run for president of the United States.
Only in America.
That's pretty much what Pinnavaia said when asked what he thought his odds were of moving into the White House.
"This is the United States of America," he said. "You can start from zero and reach the presidency."
Pinnavaia knows he will tilt at many windmills in his quixotic quest, but one he didn't expect was the problem posed by his home address. He lives on Bush Street.
"Every time I put it in the typewriter, it doesn't feel good," Pinnavaia said, sitting on a neatly made bed in his bare-bones apartment.
So every letter he writes to encourage people to contribute to his presidential campaign must include the name of the sitting president.
But that doesn't stop him.
He has formed a party and has a platform. It's the American Citizens Revolutionary Party, and the platform, he says, is a simple one that honors the father of our country.
"All the American citizens have to do is read the farewell speech of George Washington," which advocated trade with all nations but alliances with none, Pinnavaia said.
He believes the nation's foreign policy is contrary to what Washington taught and that the Bush administration has favored one nation – Israel – over others, contributing to the animosity that led to the destruction of the World Trade Center.
"I'm for a safe and secure Israel and a safe and secure homeland for the Palestinians," he said.
Pinnavaia knows his point of view may not be mainstream, but he believes "there are tens of millions of Americans who would like to see peaceful relations with all nations of the world."
He believes the problems with Iran and North Korea could be solved by sitting down with the heads of those states and working out differences. One of his first acts as president would be to apologize for President Bush's "axis of evil" remark.
He says many of the residents of the senior-citizen complex where he lives with his infirm mother are disenchanted with the way the country is being run.
"Some of them say, 'Why don't you run for president?' " he said, and then added, in jest, "The elderly ladies want to date the president."
Pinnavaia knows it takes money to run for president, and he is asking anyone who agrees with him to send a dollar bill to his new political party.
"There's about 40, 50, 60 million people who didn't vote" in the last presidential election, he said. "All I need is $1 from every person, maybe half," and that would enable him to mount a credible campaign.
"I'm not on Fifth Avenue," said Pinnavaia, whose accent is all Long Island.
He plans on setting up a Web site to promote his party, but he doesn't own a computer.
In fact, Pinnavaia doesn't hold a steady job, and hasn't since he worked in the family gem and mineral business before his father's death. He takes care of his mother, for which the government pays him a small sum.
Pinnavaia has been in the news before. His father helped expose a tax fraud involving people who claimed inflated deductions for gems they donated to museums. Pinnavaia sued the government for $100 million on grounds the Internal Revenue Service did not sufficiently compensate his father for uncovering the scam.
He wrote the legal briefs himself and lost every round. He ultimately appealed the case to the Supreme Court, which took a pass.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Michael Burge: (760) 476-8230; michael.burge@uniontrib.com
Copyright 2003 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
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Why would a major fish wrap even consider publishing such rubbish?
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FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
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It is in the breaking news sidebar! |
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Sounds like a normal Kalifornia Politician to me.
So9
A guy with zero ambition aspires to become POTUS. He's right--only in America.
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