Wayne Allyn Root

Wayne Allyn Root
Personal details
Born July 20, 1961 (1961-07-20) (age 50)
Mount Vernon, New York
Political party Republican (until 2007), Libertarian (2007-)
Spouse(s) Debra Root
Children Dakota Root, Hudson Root, Remington Reagan Root, Contessa Root
Occupation TV celebrity, producer, author, CEO, politician
Religion Jewish,[1] Born again Christian[2][3]
Website Root for America

Wayne Allyn Root (born July 20, 1961) is an American politician, entrepreneur, television and radio personality, author and political commentator. He was the 2008 Libertarian Party vice-presidential nominee. In June 2009 Richard Winger wrote he was the front runner for the 2012 Libertarian Presidential nomination.[4] Root began his career as a professional sports handicapper, based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

His political talk radio show,W.A.R: The Wayne Allyn Root Showis broadcast in New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago. Root is a frequent guest on several nationally syndicated radio shows such as Savage Nation, The Jerry Doyle Show, and Mancow's Morning Madhouse. He has also made numerous appearances on various programs on the Fox News Channel. He is a frequent speaker at Tea Party events across the United States.[5]

Root's political columns appear in the Las Vegas Review Journal[6] and at Newsmax.com.[7]

At the 2008 Libertarian National Convention, Root was eliminated on the fifth ballot in a bid for the presidential nomination, and subsequently became the vice presidential candidate alongside Libertarian nominee Bob Barr. Root lost a bid to become National Chair of the Libertarian Party at the party's 2010 Convention.

Contents

Early life and education

Root was born in Mount Vernon, New York, the son of the late David and Stella Root. His father was a butcher from Bronxville, New York, who dabbled in third party politics as one of the original founders of the New York State Conservative Party.[8]

Root graduated as Valedictorian from his high school, Thornton-Donovan School, then graduated from Columbia University in 1983 as a Political Science major (in the same class as President Barack Obama).[9]

Personal life

He has been married to Debra Root for over 17 years. The couple have four children: Dakota, Hudson, Remington, and Contessa.[10]

Career

Sports handicapper

Root's TV handicapping career began in New York City on WNBC radio (now WFAN) in the early 1980s. He moved onto NBC "Source Radio Network" syndicated around the country in over 100 markets as a sports talk host. He later became one of the youngest anchormen and national TV hosts in America from 1989 through the early 1990s on Financial News Network (FNN), now known as CNBC.

TV producer and personality

Root is Founder and Chairman of Winning Edge International Inc.[11] In the 2000s, he hosted Wayne Allyn Root's Winning Edge, a television show which promoted Root's sports handicapping operation.

Root was the creator, executive producer and co-host (along with HBO's Max Kellerman) of King of Vegas on Spike TV.

Author

Root is the author of several books, including The Zen of Gambling,The Joy of Failure!, The King of Vegas' Guide to Gambling, Millionaire Republican, and The Conscience of a Libertarian: Empowering the Citizen Revolution with God, Guns, Gambling & Tax Cuts.

Financial adviser

Root is spokesman, board member and Senior Economic Adviser to Wealth Masters International ("WMI"), a global financial services and education company based in Houston, Texas.[11][12] Norwegian authorities have suspended WMI's sales, finding it to be an illegal pyramid scheme. Root is named in the finding.[13] Root has partnered with Kip Herriage of WMI and Gerald Celente to create the "Crashproof Prosperity Investment Newsletter".[14]

Politics

Root was a longtime Republican Party member and supporter who self-identified as a Libertarian Republican. In 2007, Root ended his association with the Republican Party and joined the Libertarian Party.[15] He authored a book on his libertarian views, The Conscience of a Libertarian, which was published in 2009.[15]

2008 presidential campaign

On May 4, 2007, Root declared his candidacy for the Libertarian Party's 2008 presidential nomination on Las Vegas' Fox 5 television station.[16]

On February 5, 2008, he placed second in the Missouri Libertarian presidential primary with 18% of the vote (47% voted for "Uncommitted"). He came in second in Arizona and third in California, without campaigning in any of these states.[8]

2008 vice-presidential candidacy

On May 25, 2008, Root made it to the fifth ballot of the LP presidential nomination vote at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention before being eliminated and endorsing Bob Barr, who went on to the party's presidential nomination. Root then became the LP vice presidential nominee, securing the nod in the third round of voting for that nomination.[17]

In September 2008, Root offered to give up his VP slate on the Libertarian ticket to make room for Ron Paul, as the LP had received feelers that the former Republican presidential candidate may have been interested in getting on a strong third party ticket, as there remained a strong following behind him. Paul declined the offer, and denied any intention of running on a third-party presidential ticket.[18]

Libertarian Party National Chair candidacy

In 2010, Root ran for the position of Libertarian Party National Chair. His candidacy was endorsed by his running mate on the 2008 Libertarian presidential ticket, Bob Barr,[19] and by the Party's first presidential nominee, John Hospers.[20] He was defeated by Mark Hinkle by a vote of 228-281 in the third round but subsequently succeeded in being elected to the Libertarian National Committee as an At-Large Member.[21][22][23] In July 2011 Root was elected chair of the Libertarian National Congressional Committee.[24]

Political positions

Root supports smaller government, reduced spending, reduced entitlements, reduced bureaucracy, dramatically lower taxes, and greater personal freedom for individuals. In the area of education, he supports more parental control, more emphasis on school choice (moving education to the state and local level), and increased competition through vouchers. Root and his wife choose to home-school their children. He is also a strong supporter of gun rights for the individual. Root is a small businessman who believes the 2-party system is built on corruption, greed and bribery. He is a fiscal conservative in the mode of his heroes Ronald Reagan, and Barry Goldwater. He believes most social issues should be determined on the state and local level.[8] Root calls for the repeal of the income tax and favors replacing it, as well as all other sources of federal tax revenues, with a tax on each state in proportion to its population, with each state deciding for itself how to raise its share of the money ,[25] which is mentioned in Article 1, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution. This has been called a "State-Rate Tax".

Root holds that "the Iraq war is a disaster". He states the answer is to "use the success of the surge to declare victory and make plans to get out of Iraq as soon as reasonably possible".[26] He also questions Central Intelligence Agency information on Iran, would use "any diplomatic means", including the United Nations, in order to "avoid another war".[27]

Bibliography

See also

References

  1. ^ Root, Wayne Allyn (2003-04-05) "Exposing the Liberal Media - Part 1", www.Newsmax.com.
  2. ^ Intreview: 10 Questions For Libertarian Party Chair Candidate Wayne Root, Independent Political Report, April 6th, 2010.
  3. ^ Interview with Wayne Root on Federal Bailout of Newspaper Industry at 5 minutes, 30 seconds, Fox News, December 22, 2009.
  4. ^ Winger, Richard (June 28, 2009) “Wayne Allyn Root Introduced for Interview as “The Lead Presidential Candidate for the Libertarian Party in 2012″”, Ballot Access News. Retrieved on 14 July 2009.
  5. ^ Batoon, Nathan (July 6, 2009) "Activists decry federal taxes". The Daily Texan online. http://www.dailytexanonline.com/top-stories/activists-decry-federal-taxes-1.1771988. Retrieved 14 July 2009. 
  6. ^ Columnists:Wayne Allyn Root, Las Vegas Review Journal.
  7. ^ Wayne Allyn Root Archives, Newsmax.com.
  8. ^ a b c Wayne Allyn Root's Libertarian Presidential Candidate Website: Root for America!
  9. ^ Vinciguerra, Thomas (October 3, 2008). Vinciguerra, Thomas (October 5, 2008). "The Life of the 3rd Party". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/05/fashion/05nite.html?_r=1. Retrieved 18 June 2009. 
  10. ^ Wayne Root personal web site.
  11. ^ a b Wayne Allyn Root, The Conscience of a Libertarian: Empowering the Citizen Revolution with God, Guns, Gambling & Tax Cuts, John Wiley and Sons, 2009, p.352, ISBN 047045265X, 9780470452653
  12. ^ Wealth Masters International Endorsed by Wayne , Allyn Root, Wealth Masters International Testimonials YouTube video, posted August 20, 2010.
  13. ^ Wealth Masters International - Vedtak med pålegg om stans av salg i Norge i henhold til pyramidebestemmelsen i lotteriloven § 16 Lotteri- og Stiftelsestilsynet. Retrieved 2011-10-14 (Resolution to cease sales in Norway according to the pyramid definition of the gaming law § 16. Norwegian Gaming and Foundation Board.)English translation.
  14. ^ CrashProof Prosperity Investment Newsletter website.
  15. ^ a b Wayne Allyn Root's Blog - MY LIBERTARIAN AWAKENING
  16. ^ Davis, Os (July 25,2008). "Wayne Allyn Root: The industry’s man in Election 2008."
  17. ^ Official results from LP.org
  18. ^ Sheinin, Aaron Gould (2008-09-10)"Barr asks Ron Paul to be his running mate", Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved on 2008-09-11.
  19. ^ "Via Bob Barr: Support Wayne Root for Libertarian Party Chair". Independent Political Report. Independent Political Report. 2010-04-24. http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2010/04/barr-forwards-message-from-root/. Retrieved 2010-05-08. 
  20. ^ "1972 Libertarian nominee Hospers endorses Root for LP Chair". Independent Political Report. 2010-04-24. http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2010/04/hospers-endorses-root/. Retrieved 2010-05-25. 
  21. ^ (2010-05-31) "Root falters in bid to grab top Libertarian post", Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
  22. ^ (2010-05-30) "Libertarian Party Convention: Chairman Election", Independent Political Report. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
  23. ^ (2010-05-31) "Last Day of LP National Convention, Meeting of New LNC", Independent Political Report. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
  24. ^ Wayne Allyn Root, Root Elected Chairman of Libertarian National Congressional Committee (LNCC), Libertarian Party website blog, July 13, 2010. Also see the Libertarian National Congressional Committee website.
  25. ^ Root, Wayne Allyn (April 15 2008). "A Realistic Plan to End Federal Income Taxes Forever". www.RootForAmerica.com. http://www.rootforamerica.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080415-081044. Retrieved 2008-07-08. 
  26. ^ Root For America "Where Wayne Stands" page.
  27. ^ Glenn Beck "Interview with Presidential candidate Wayne Allyn Root", MSNBC March 7, 2008.

External links

Party political offices
Preceded by
Richard Campagna
Libertarian Party Vice Presidential candidate
2008
Succeeded by
Most recent