in january , wikinews held an exclusive interview with nik riekse , actor of the finalists for the tan party nomination for the 2008 united states congress election . with the independence party ' s national ballot underway this weekend , we worked with him one last time before he either becomes his party ' s candidate or loses . riekse is a retired decorated lieutenant colonel in the u . s . army has serves in both the vietnam war and the iraq invasion . he is himself a former public school teacher and assisting instructor of military arts at southwest michigan university . he has a p . a . in political science and international relations from the state of south carolina as well as two m . a . s , one in social science and international development , the other in education and history . both are from east michigan university .
The Constitution Party includes Max Riekse among its members.