Virginia’s Roanoke Times has a report on Constitution Party House of Delegates candidate William Smith, who in 1997 “was convicted of pandering, or helping men hook up with prostitutes.” Smith says of his felony conviction, “We were absolutely certain it was going to come out. But it doesn’t change the message I’m trying to send. It doesn’t change what I will do when I’m elected. … If I’m being open and transparent about something like this, think of the transparency I’ll bring to Richmond.”
Smith, who is now a cattle rancher, was sentenced to six years in prison and released after one. He is now “a conservative husband, father of three children and member of the Springwood Baptist Church. He abandoned the Republican Party two years ago in favor of the Constitution Party.”
28 responses so far ↓
1 Trent Hill // Sep 24, 2009 at 12:13 pm
Wow. Just wow.
2 libertariangirl // Sep 24, 2009 at 12:21 pm
you think thats a big deal? pandering should not be a crime if all 3 parties ( prostitute , ‘manager’ , customer) all freely enter into an agreement.
providing hookers for men that want them isnt a crime , its a job . Maybe he ran an escort service or some other should-be-legal business operation.
the only time pandering(pimping) should be illegal is if the panderer is forcing the girl thru violence or drugs or some other unethical fashion.
Id need more information on the nature of his crime befor passing judgement
3 libertariangirl // Sep 24, 2009 at 12:32 pm
ok the dude , when he was 25m worked at a lingerie store that offered ‘live models’ ( what a great business model !) -
the idea is you watch girls model lingerie and then buy what you like.
detectives thinking it might be a cover for prostitution ( I dont know why they would think that) carried out an undercover sting and the rest is history.
yep , definitely shouldn’t have been arrested.
4 Peter Orvetti // Sep 24, 2009 at 12:58 pm
I agree it shouldn’t be illegal — my column this week was about the stupidity of prostitution laws — but it is illegal and this probably won’t play well in that part of Virginia.
5 John C Jackson // Sep 24, 2009 at 1:43 pm
That’s pretty cool that the CP is running this guy, who obviously did nothing wrong.
6 Michael Seebeck // Sep 24, 2009 at 2:06 pm
IOW, the charge to libertarians is an expected big, “So what?” (My reaction as well). LG nails it @2 and @3.
The real question is how the religious types in the CP are reacting?
7 Gene Berkman // Sep 24, 2009 at 2:58 pm
The incumbent in this race is probably the longest serving Independent state legislator in the United States. In the last election, Lacey Putney was unopposed.
In 1994 I was the Libertarian candidate against Rep Ken Calvert, a Republican who had been caught in a compromising situation with a semi-professional of the night. I did not make an issue of it, but others did, I got almot 10,000 votes and a reward from The Libertarian National Committee.
Our candidate for State Assembly put out a press release indicating that if elected, she would introduce a bill to legalize prostitution, so that the police would not be bothering citizens in their cars at night.
8 Third Party Revolution // Sep 24, 2009 at 3:11 pm
We here at Third Party Revolution endorse William Smith in his campaign for Virginia House of Delegates, along with many other third party and independent candidates seeking public offices nation-wide, ranging from local to federal levels.
9 Jeremy Young // Sep 24, 2009 at 4:31 pm
It seems like this guy would be a better fit for the LP, where he could spin the pandering as a principled stand against unfair and restrictive laws, rather than as rank hypocrisy (which is all it can be as a CP candidate).
10 libertariangirl // Sep 24, 2009 at 5:14 pm
so people cant change and/or be forgiven Jeremy?
11 The Last Conservative // Sep 24, 2009 at 5:24 pm
The problem is that as a Constitution Party candidate, he is probably now for keeping prostitution illegal.
12 The Last Conservative // Sep 24, 2009 at 5:27 pm
His opponent, Putney, is indeed an independent state legislator since 1968 when he left the Democrats. He caucuses with the Republicans though. According to Wikipedia, he is against many ballot access reforms, so it still makes sense for Third Party Revolution to endorse Smith.
13 Cody Quirk // Sep 24, 2009 at 8:38 pm
The real question is how the religious types in the CP are reacting?
=Which are a shrinking minority in the Party that I don’t give two sh**s about.
14 Third Party Revolution // Sep 24, 2009 at 9:02 pm
Obviously the religious types in parties are shrinking, as now reason and logic are the way to go.
15 Ross Levin // Sep 24, 2009 at 9:04 pm
Isn’t it a religious party? If it isn’t, what kind of CP member are you, Cody?
16 The Last Conservative // Sep 24, 2009 at 10:31 pm
Us religious types are slowly beginning to realize that we need to adopt true classical conservativism. In a world being destroyed by anarchy, we must return to the glorious British empire and restore absolute monarchy and political oppression/repression. Cody will prbably be unhappy to hear this, but this is the only way to restore God’s favor to the world. It is the only way from preventing the globalists from taking over.
17 Gary Odom // Sep 25, 2009 at 2:10 pm
No, it is NOT a religious party, but we surely welcome those who have “repented” (and also those that haven’t repented, if they are registered to vote).
“was convicted of pandering, or helping men hook up with prostitutes.” 6 YEARS?????
And, pray tell, what is the penalty for buying a young lady an expensive dinner, jewelry and fine clothes in hopes of getting lucky?? I’m waiting.
I’m also waiting to hear from all of those who have never made a mistake…step right up!
18 Trent Hill // Sep 25, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Gary,
I don’t think anyone is personally condemning the man–certainly i’m not. But, if he favors keeping prostitution illegal and is running for office–that’s pretty hypocritical. Very Vitteresque.
19 Nate // Sep 25, 2009 at 5:32 pm
“And, pray tell, what is the penalty for buying a young lady an expensive dinner, jewelry and fine clothes in hopes of getting lucky?”
The penalty for such stupidity as that would be not getting any. Everyone knows you only *show* her the jewelry so she knows what she’ll get afterwards.
I don’t think getting arrested for pimping and then years later speaking out against pimping makes him a hypocrite. If he’s pimping on the side right now, however, …
20 Cody Quirk // Sep 25, 2009 at 6:16 pm
Isn’t it a religious party? If it isn’t, what kind of CP member are you, Cody?
= An Independent American that is both anti-socialist AND anti-theocratic!
21 Cody Quirk // Sep 25, 2009 at 6:18 pm
Obviously the religious types in parties are shrinking, as now reason and logic are the way to go.
= You bet. Otherwise if you’re going to be a nutjob in a third party, then you minus well embrace the two-party system because your irrational behavior will only strengthen it.
22 Cody Quirk // Sep 25, 2009 at 6:20 pm
Cody will prbably be unhappy to hear this, but this is the only way to restore God’s favor to the world. It is the only way from preventing the globalists from taking over.
= Sorry, but REAL conservatives do not favor NWO, or any world order.
And you can still kiss my Irish ass, Tory.
23 Cody Quirk // Sep 25, 2009 at 6:25 pm
I haven’t heard Mr. Smith speak out against Prostitution, so it doesn’t make him a hypocrite.
24 Cody Quirk // Sep 25, 2009 at 6:26 pm
BTW Ross, there’s many of my political kind in the CP; unlike what some ignorant bigots in the LP claim about us.
25 paulie // Sep 26, 2009 at 7:14 pm
Everyone knows you only *show* her the jewelry so she knows what she’ll get afterwards.
A pearl necklace, naturally.
26 paulie // Sep 26, 2009 at 7:16 pm
Even if he is against prostitution now, that does not necessarily make him a hypocrite. People do change.
27 Trent Hill // Sep 26, 2009 at 10:29 pm
Im glad you’re understanding–the voters wont be.
28 scatterbrain // Oct 4, 2009 at 9:28 am
Everybody is missing the point: for the Constitution Party to run this guy proves they are just as morally bankrupt as the Republicans. Is what he did illegal? Yes. Should it be illegal? Absolutely not.
But still, this goes to prove they don’t give a shit about “family values” (“hock–spit”); they’re just a bunch of power-hungry wackos!
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