In 2002 PRG executive director Stephen Bassett entered the congressional election for the 8th District of Maryland as an independent candidate. He achieved a slot on the November ballot via the signature process and was able to participate in a number of the debates and forums.
The Maryland 8th District was one of the most expensive and most watched congressional elections that year due to the proximity to Washington, DC, the presence of Mark Kennedy Shriver and the popularity of the 8-term incumbent Connie Morella.
For these reasons Bassett chose to enter the election in order to bring attention to the ET Disclosure issues. In that regard he was the first person on a November congressional election ballot to do so.
Candidate’s Keynote Statement
For the past five decades the human race has been caught between two worlds, two paradigms. While millions of people worldwide have come to understand they are not alone in the universe, that an extraterrestrial presence has become manifest about the planet, the governments of the world, frozen in place by fear and indecision, have been unable to publicly engage this new reality. This cannot continue.
It is time for the United States of America, a nation which views itself as a leader of nations, to formally acknowledge this extraterrestrial presence. During the campaign the premise was put forth that conditions under which the United States government can end the UFO/ET truth embargo will be ideal in the coming year – thus the name “Disclosure2003.”
The citizens of the Eighth District of Maryland live in one of the richest and highest educated communities in the nation. Their cities and counties are well run, public services are comprehensive, schools are highly rated and the quality of life is excellent. Could this community be better? Are there problems to address? Of course.
But the twenty-first century is off to a very bad start, and the campaign, in a fashion unlike any other across the country, asked the voters to look beyond their immediate local concerns and consider and debate very difficult and controversial issues with national and planetary import. First and foremost was “the politics of disclosure: ending the truth embargo concerning an extraterrestrial presence.”
The registered voters of the 8th District were asked to send a clear message to the nation’s leaders and top-tier journalists who work and reside in the Washington metro area. By virtue of the signatures they placed on the candidate petition, by the answers they gave to the pollsters and by the contributions they made to the campaign, they could say, “It is time for a political resolution to the most profound transition in human history. It is time for the truth to be told.”