Why is Joseph Spence of Ringgold, Virginia (near Danville) a candidate to become the 44th President of the United States? "Issues--I've got a laundry list. The huge federal deficit that nobody seems to be able to do anything about.... Our borders are not secure, our nuclear labs and our archives are not secure. The war in Iraq is not going well--it was poorly planned from the beginning, and they don't have enough people there to do the job.

"Both of [the major party canididates] are against a draft, but I don't know how they're going to get enough young people into the military.... I served in the military [he was drafted into the Army in 1954, and then spent time in the Marine Corps as well] and worked as a civilian health services worker for the Army after that."

He fears that national leaders since Nixon have not realized the potential threat from "Red China. People say, you know, if you're trading with someone you're not going to go to war with them. But I think this trade with China is a mistake, they've been against us since they went Communist."

His campaign has taken him from Richmond to Galax, and into North Carolina "mostly to conventions, festivals, flea markets--on weekends, when people are around to talk with." He doesn't have a website. "I spoke with some college kids about making one for me, but there were some problems in it and they couldn't do it." (Dave Sagarin, October 27, 2004)