Rocky Anderson

[[File:Rocky Anderson at MLK cropped.jpg|right|thumb|165px|Rocky Anderson in 2011.]]{{uspolitics}}
'''Rocky Anderson''' {{lived|1951}} was the mayor of [[Utah|Salt Lake City]] for two terms and in more recent years has run for [[president]] of the [[United States]] as a candidate for the US Justice Party. He managed to get a measly 43,088 votes, or 0.03% of the vote. Despite this he has very reasonable positions and has a decent record as a public servant, though whether his unwillingness to run for president as a Progressive Democrat instead of on a third party ticket is foolish, admirable, or both, is up for debate. He did not run for president in 2016 or 2020, but ran again for mayor of Salt Lake City in the 2023 mayoral election, losing to incumbent Erin Mendenhall 58% to 34%.<ref>[http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2012/12/rocky-anderson-to-not-run-for-congress/ Rocky Anderson will Not Run for Congress or President] by William Saturn, December 14, 2012, ''Independent Political Report''</ref><ref>https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2022/08/04/rocky-3-anderson-says-hes/</ref>

==Rocky the mayor==
Anderson managed to gain a record as a fiscal [[conservative]] when he helped increase the city's reserve fund by 62%. He was also one of the most outspoken critics of the [[Iraq War]] and the human rights abuses under both [[George Bush]]'s and [[Barack Obama]]'s administrations. He has even gone so far as to call for the impeachment of George Bush.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/22/us/22rocky.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 In Utah, an Opponent of the ‘Culture of Obedience’] by Kirk Johnson, March 22, 2007, ''The New York Times''</ref> He is strongly opposed to the Patriot Act. He is also dedicated to raising awareness of global warming and reduced carbon emissions from the city by over 30%. He is very supportive of [[gay rights]] and campaigned against a proposed ban on gay marriage and won with 63% of the public's support. 

As if that's not enough he wants to end the [[war on drugs]] and he has supported programs that put criminals such as junkies and prostitutes through rehabilitation and counseling instead of straight to jail, which saved the city quite a bit of money. He went so far as to discontinue [[D.A.R.E.]] in schools and told D.A.R.E. officials "I think your organization has been an absolute fraud on the people of this country... For you to continue taking precious drug-prevention dollars when we have such a serious and, in some instances, growing addiction problem is unconscionable."<ref>[http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/truth-or-dare/Content?oid=1075363 Truth or D.A.R.E.?] by Tim Vanderpool, February 26, 2004, ''Tuscon Weekly''</ref> Also on criminal justice he supported reforms that would put mentally ill offenders through treatment instead of in prison. He is opposed to the death penalty.

Finally, because he is apparently after the hearts of all RationalWiki users, he is opposed to the [[tobacco]] industry and has supported legislation that would discourage smoking, though he obviously doesn't want to outright ban it.<ref>[http://www.deseretnews.com/article/945280/Rocky-targets-public-smoking.html Rocky targets public smoking] by Deseret News, October 27, 2002, ''Deseret News''</ref>

==Justice Party==
{{hatnote|Not to be confused with the South Korean [[Justice Party (South Korea)|Justice Party]].}}
In 2011 Anderson left the [[Democratic Party]], saying “The [[Constitution]] has been eviscerated while Democrats have stood by with nary a whimper. It is a gutless, unprincipled party, bought and paid for by the same interests that buy and pay for the [[Republican Party]]." He was a founding member of the Justice Party and ran for President of the United States in 2012 as a proponent for [[social democracy]]. His run focused on economics, mainly his support of reinstating the Glass-Steagall Act and a large stimulus package that would get the economy jumpstarted again. During his run he criticized the Obama administration nearly as much as he did the Bush administration and he was eventually endorsed by [[Ralph Nader]]. After the election he ruled against running for Congress in 2014 or President in 2016.

As for the Justice Party itself, it follows under a creed of “economic, environmental, and social justice for all", which means they oppose everything that the actual American government does.

==Criticism==
He's gotten some flak from liberals and left-wingers for endorsing [[Mitt Romney|Mitt "Mittens" Romney]] for governor of Massachusetts after working with him on the 2002 Winter Olympics. However, he later recanted his support for him and criticized Romney when he took a hard right during his run for president, so as far as Anderson knew he was endorsing a moderate [[Republican]] for governor in 2002.

He also has been criticized for joining the Justice Party as opposed to joining the [[Green Party]], with many left-wing advocates wanting to see the parties merge. The difference between the parties, however, is that the Green Party is primarily focused on green politics and is a little more "[[radical]]" when it comes to fixing environmental issues, whereas the Justice Party is primarily focused on [[economics]] and advocating for a social democratic welfare state. Anderson himself has said he is willing to work with the Greens, however.

==External links==
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Anderson#cite_note-108 His Wikipedia page is about as objective as this one. It's hard to blame his supporters, but still]
*[http://www.voterocky.org/solutions Pretty clearly lays down his positions and those of the Justice Party]
==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Rocky}}
[[Category:Former mayors]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Social democrats]]
[[Category:2012 US Presidential candidates]]
[[Category:Environmentalism]]
[[Category:United States presidential candidates]]
[[Category:United States politicians]]

Categories: Former mayors, Living people, Social democrats, 2012 US Presidential candidates, Environmentalism, United States presidential candidates, United States politicians