From the May 2002 Idaho Observer:

Constitutional Guardian running for governor on a “Don't Vote for Lawyers” platform

Calhoun's “Blue Goose” reported one step ahead of former U.S. AG's red pickup truck in 8-month race to Tallahassee

from the North Florida Advocate

MIAMI LAKE, Fla. -- “It's the governor's duty to fire elected lawyers NOW before it's too late,” is the theme of Mike Calhoun's campaign for the Florida governorship.

Calhoun and Lt. Governor Candidate W.E. Bill Bailey are currently campaigning throughout Florida in the “Blue Goose” -- a blue Dodge van -- on a “don't-vote-for-lawyers” platform. The race is particularly interesting because they are running against the president's incumbent brother Jeb Bush and former attorney general Janet Reno. Reno is reportedly running around the state in her little red pickup truck on a National Organization of Women-endorsed platform that Bill Clinton would approve (See www.renoforgovernor.com).

Calhoun, a retired businessman and former Miami-Dade county commissioner, began conducting constitutional research in 1998. He became enamored with James Madison's “same-hands separation of powers” doctrine. Madison recognized the danger of lawyers occuying public offices in all three branches of government. He warned of the dire consequences that would result if they were allowed to stray from the judiciary into the legislative and executive branches.

Article II, Sec. 3 of the Florida State Constitution states, “The powers of the state government shall be divided into legislative, executive and judicial branches. No person belonging to one branch shall exercise any powers appertaining to either of the other branches unless expressly provided herein.”

According to Calhoun, the Florida State Constitution provides that the separation of powers doctrine is the law and that an exception for lawyers to occupy non-judicial public offices is not “expressly provided” anywhere in the Constitution. To begin addressing these issues Calhoun co-founded the James Madison Foundation (a National Heritage Foundation, www.nhf.org) in December, 2000. The foundation provides simplified and charitable educational methods through which citizens can learn about good government as set forth in the U.S. Constitution and explained by its author James Madison in the Federalist Papers.

The James Madison Foundation and Separation of Powers Educational Center recently moved its national headquarters to a location that is directly across the street from the Calhoun County Courthouse in Blountsville, Fla. The Blue Goose, in full Don't-Vote-for-Lawyers campaign regalia, is commonly parked in plain sight of lawyers, judges and citizens coming and going from the courthouse.

Commenting on his platform, Calhoun stated, “I believe it is the governor's duty to fire lawyers that have been elected to any office outside the judicial branch.” Calhoun also believes that, “divorce lawyers are family butchers.”

Calhoun's research has determined that the peaceable lives of ordinary people have been stolen through a litigious and adversarial environment of, by and for the lawyers that have taken control of all three branches of government. As governor, Calhoun intends to change all that.

For more information on the Calhoun/Bailey campaign and the historical documentation behind their Don't-Vote-for-Lawyers platform, visit their website at www.constitutionalguardian.com