Wayne Allyn Root
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| Wayne Allyn Root | |
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| Election date November 4, 2008 |
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| Running mate | Bob Barr |
| Opponent(s) | Not yet determined (D) Not yet determined (R) Darrell Castle (C) Matt Gonzales (I) and numerous others |
| Incumbent | Dick Cheney (R) |
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| Born | July 20, 1961 (age 46) Mount Vernon, New York |
| Political party | Libertarian |
| Spouse | Debra Root |
| Children | Dakota Root, Hudson Root, Remington Reagan Root, Contessa Root |
| Occupation | TV celebrity, producer, author, CEO, politician |
| Website | Root for America |
Wayne Allyn Root (born July 20, 1961 in Mount Vernon, New York) is the 2008 Libertarian Party vice-presidential nominee. He is a business mogul, television celebrity, TV producer, best-selling author, professional sports handicapper, based in Las Vegas, Nevada.
At the 2008 Libertarian National Convention, Root was eliminated on the fifth ballot in a bid for the presidential nomination, but then became the vice presidential candidate alongside Libertarian nominee Bob Barr.
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[edit] Career
Root is Founder and Chairman of Winning Edge International Inc. Since 2000, he has hosted Wayne Allyn Root's Winning Edge, a television show which promotes Root's sports handicapping operation.[1] The show aired during the 2007 season on Discovery Channel on Saturday mornings, and featured analysis by Root, former NFL and College Football coach Ron Meyer, Big Al McMordie, and Chet Coppock. It has been aired in the past on Fox Sports Net, Comcast Sports, Spike TV, and Superstation WGN.
Root was also the creator, executive producer and co-host (along with HBO's Max Kellerman) of King of Vegas on Spike TV. King of Vegas attracted over one million viewers in one episode. His TV production company "Cool Hand Root" is based in Las Vegas.
Root was awarded a star on the Las Vegas Walk of Stars on August 15, 2006.[2]
Root's TV handicapping career began in New York City on WNBC radio (now WFAN) in the early 1980s. He moved onto NBC "Source Radio Network" syndicated around the country in over 100 markets as a sports talk host. He later became one of the youngest anchormen and national TV hosts in America from 1989 through the early '90s on Financial News Network (FNN) now known as CNBC. Root hosted five shows on FNN, including Who Beat the Spread and FNN Zone with Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder (of CBS NFL Today fame). Root has also appeared on hundreds of TV and radio talk shows.
Root is also the author of several books, including The Zen of Gambling , The Joy of Failure!, "The King of Vegas' Guide to Gambling", and Millionaire Republican, a #1 personal finance bestseller at Amazon.com.[3]
Root has been profiled or featured by CNBC, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Equities, Millionaire, The Robb Report, and The New York Times.
[edit] Politics
Although a longtime staunch Republican who had been a big contributor to Republican candidates throughout the country, Root was often described as a libertarian Republican. He is currently writing a book on his libertarian views, with the working title The Conscience of a Libertarian.[4] He has been accused of being a 'patent troll' due to Winning Edge's patent lawsuits related to online prediction markets.[5]
[edit] 2008 presidential campaign
On May 4, 2007, Root declared his candidacy for the Libertarian Party's 2008 presidential nomination.[6]
On February 5, 2008, he won the Missouri Libertarian primary. He came in second in Arizona and third in California, despite the fact that he did not campaign in any of these states.[7]
On May 25, 2008, Root made it to the fifth ballot at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention before being eliminated and endorsing Bob Barr, who went on to the party's presidential nomination. In the third round of voting, he was successful in the race for the vice presidential nomination, beating Steve Kubby.[8]
[edit] Political positions
Root supports smaller government, reduced spending, reduced entitlements, reduced bureaucracy, dramatically lower taxes and more freedom for the individual. In the area of education, he supports more parental control, more emphasis on school choice (moving education to the state and local level), and increased competition through vouchers. Root and his wife choose to home-school their children. He is also a strong supporter of gun rights for the individual. Root is a small businessman who believes the 2-party system is built on corruption, greed and bribery. He believes that the two major parties both bribe the electorate to achieve power- thereby spending America and our children and grandchildren into bankruptcy. He is a fiscal conservative in the mode of his heroes Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater. He is socially tolerant, believing that most social issues should be determined on the state and local level.[7]
Root holds that "the Iraq war is a disaster." He states the answer is to "use the success of the surge to declare victory and make plans to get out of Iraq as soon as reasonably possible."[9] He also questions CIA information on Iran, would use "any diplomatic means," including the United Nations, in order to "avoid another war."[10]
[edit] Family
Root is the son of the late David and Stella Root. His father was a butcher from Brownsville, Brooklyn, who dabbled in third party politics as one of the original founders of the New York State Conservative Party.[7] He has been married to a former Miss Oklahoma, Debra Root, for over 16 years. The couple have four children: Dakota, Hudson, Remington, and Contessa.
[edit] Education
Root graduated as Valedictorian from his high school, then graduated from Columbia University in 1983 as a Political Science major (in the same class as Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama).
[edit] Books
- Betting to Win on Sports (with Wilbur Cross). Bantam. ISBN 978-0553347890.
- The Joy of Failure!: How to Turn Failure, Rejection, and Pain into Extraordinary Success. Summit Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1565302068.
- The Zen of Gambling: The Ultimate Guide to Risking It All and Winning at Life (with Paul Pease). Tarcher. ISBN 978-1585424023.
- The King of Vegas' Guide to Gambling: How to Win Big at Poker, Casino Gambling & Life!The Zen of Gambling updated. Tarcher. ISBN 978-1585425297.
- Millionaire Republican. Tarcher. ISBN 978-1585425129.
[edit] References
- ^ W Technologies, Inc. Company Profile - Yahoo! Finance
- ^ Las Vegas Walk of Stars:List of Stars
- ^ Wayne Allyn Root's Libertarian Presidential Candidate Website: Root for America!
- ^ Wayne Allyn Root's Blog - MY LIBERTARIAN AWAKENING
- ^ US Patent no. 6260019
- ^ Barack Obama co-graduate Wayne Allyn Root announces Libertarian Presidential Run
- ^ a b c Wayne Allyn Root's Libertarian Presidential Candidate Website: Root for America!
- ^ Official results from LP.org
- ^ Root For America "Where Wayne Stands" page.
- ^ Glenn Beck "Interview with Presidential candidate Wayne Allyn Root", MSNBC March 7, 2008.
[edit] External links
- Root for America! Vice-Presidential Campaign website
- Official website
- Interview on Wikinews
- Interview on RawVegas.tv
- YouTube page
- Candidate profile at Project Vote Smart
- Presidential campaign FEC disclosure report
- Interview with the Progressive Student Voice
| Preceded by Richard Campagna |
Libertarian Party Vice Presidential candidate 2008 |
Succeeded by Most recent |
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