A new political party is gathering in Milwaukee Saturday. The Wisconsin Pirate Party (WIPP) is holding a rally in the city’s downtown. Treasurer Francis Klein says their group which believes in empowering the people through government transparency, personal privacy, and copyright reform.
Klein says the event was scheduled before it was discovered the Obama administration monitors citizens’ phone calls. “It was a pre-planned event actually, but given what has happened recently we find it particularly well-timed I guess you could say.”
The WIPP will also announce a candidate for governor in the 2014 election.
With the political system dominated by the Democratic and Republican Parties, it’s been difficult for third parties to put forth viable contenders. But Klein says today’s political climate is relatively favorable to third parties.
“You notice around the country people are fed up with the two-party system especially given the last (presidential) election,” says Klein, adding a number of people felt the choice of Barack Obama or Mitt Romney amounted to the “lesser of two evils.”
The WIPP is affiliated with the International Pirate Party founded in Sweden in 2006.