Wayne Allyn Root

Wayne Allyn Root
Personal details
Born	(1961-07-20) July 20, 1961 Mount Vernon, New York
Political party	Republican, (pre-2007, 2012-present) Libertarian (2007–2012)
Spouse(s)	Debra Root
Children	Dakota Root, Hudson Root, Remington Reagan Root, Contessa Root
Occupation	TV celebrity, producer, author, CEO, politician
Religion	Jewish, Born again Christian
Website	Root for America

Wayne Allyn Root (born July 20, 1961) is an American politician, entrepreneur, television and radio personality, author and political commentator. He was the 2008 Libertarian Party vice-presidential nominee. Root began his career as a professional sports handicapper, based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

His political talk radio show, W.A.R: The Wayne Allyn Root Showis broadcast in New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago. Root is a frequent guest on several nationally syndicated radio shows such as Savage Nation, The Jerry Doyle Show, and Mancow's Morning Madhouse. He has also made numerous appearances on various programs on the Fox News Channel. He is a frequent speaker at Tea Party events across the United States.

Root's political columns appear in the Las Vegas Review Journal and at Newsmax.com.

At the 2008 Libertarian National Convention, Root was eliminated on the fifth ballot in a bid for the presidential nomination, and subsequently became the vice presidential candidate alongside Libertarian nominee Bob Barr. Root lost a bid to become National Chair of the Libertarian Party at the party's 2010 Convention.

In 2012, Root left the Libertarian Party, and rejoined the Republican Party, endorsing Mitt Romney for President.

Early life and education

Root was born in Mount Vernon, New York in 1961, the son of the late David and Stella Root. His father was a butcher from Bronxville, New York, who dabbled in third party politics as one of the original founders of the New York State Conservative Party.

Root graduated as Valedictorian from his high school, Thornton-Donovan School, then graduated from Columbia University in 1983 as a Political Science major.^{[citation needed]} This would place him in the same graduating class as President Barack Obama, although Root states that he does not have any recollection of having met or seen Obama at Columbia.

Career

Sports handicapper

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 1990s on Financial News Network (FNN), now known as CNBC.

TV producer and personality

Root is Founder and Chairman of Winning Edge International Inc. In the 2000s, he hosted Wayne Allyn Root's Winning Edge, a television show which promoted Root's sports handicapping operation.

Root was the creator, executive producer and co-host (along with HBO's Max Kellerman) of King of Vegas on Spike TV.

Author

Root is the author of several books, including The Zen of Gambling,The Joy of Failure!, The King of Vegas' Guide to Gambling, Millionaire Republican, and The Conscience of a Libertarian: Empowering the Citizen Revolution with God, Guns, Gold & Tax Cuts.

Financial adviser

Root is spokesman, board member and Senior Economic Adviser to Wealth Masters International ("WMI"), a global financial services and education company based in Houston, Texas. Norwegian authorities have suspended WMI's sales, finding it to be an illegal pyramid scheme. Root is named in the finding. Root has partnered with Kip Herriage of WMI and Gerald Celente to create the "Crashproof Prosperity Investment Newsletter".

Politics

Root was a longtime Republican Party member and supporter who self-identified as a Libertarian Republican. In 2007, Root ended his association with the Republican Party and joined the Libertarian Party. He wrote a book on his libertarian views, The Conscience of a Libertarian, which was published in 2009. In September 2012 he declared he would be returning to major party politics.

2008 presidential campaign

On May 4, 2007, Root declared his candidacy for the Libertarian Party's 2008 presidential nomination on Las Vegas' Fox 5 television station. On February 5, 2008, he placed second in the Missouri Libertarian presidential primary with 18% of the vote (47% voted for "Uncommitted"). He came in second in Arizona and third in California, without campaigning in any of these states.

On May 25, 2008, Root made it to the fifth ballot of the LP presidential nomination vote at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention before being eliminated and endorsing Bob Barr, who went on to the party's presidential nomination. Root then became the LP vice presidential nominee, securing the nod in the third round of voting for that nomination.

In September 2008, Root offered to give up his VP slate on the Libertarian ticket to make room for Ron Paul, as the LP had received feelers that the former Republican presidential candidate may have been interested in getting on a strong third party ticket, as there remained a strong following behind him. Paul declined the offer, and denied any intention of running on a third-party presidential ticket.

Libertarian National Committee

In 2010, Root ran for the position of chair of the Libertarian National Committee of the Libertarian Party of the United States. He was defeated by Mark Hinkle by a vote of 228–281 in the third round but subsequently succeeded in being elected to the Libertarian National Committee as an At-Large Member.

In July 2011 Root was elected chair of the "Libertarian National Congressional Committee", a Federal Elections Commission registered entity. He renamed it the "Libertarian National Campaign Committee."

At the 2012 Libertarian National Convention Root again was elected to the Libertarian National Committee as an At-Large Member, despite being seen as part of the "top-down faction." The party's 2012 presidential candidate Gary Johnson endorsed Root. Root received the lowest total of the five candidates elected. In a September 2012 letter, he resigned all Libertarian Party positions, saying he would seek a Senate seat "outside of a third party."

Political positions

Root supports smaller government, reduced spending, reduced entitlements, reduced bureaucracy, dramatically lower taxes, and greater personal freedom for individuals. 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 is a fiscal conservative in the mode of his heroes Ronald Reagan, and Barry Goldwater. He believes most social issues should be determined at the state and local level. Root calls for the repeal of the income tax and favors replacing it, as well as all other sources of federal tax revenues, with a tax on each state in proportion to its population, with each state deciding for itself how to raise its share of the money, which is mentioned in Article 1, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution. This has been called a "State-Rate Tax".

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". He also questions Central Intelligence Agency information on Iran, would use "any diplomatic means", including the United Nations, in order to "avoid another war".

On August 6, 2012, Root speculated that Barack Obama attended Columbia University as a foreign exchange student citing his "gut instinct" as evidence.

2012 election predictions

In October 2012, Root predicted a Mitt Romney "landslide" in the 2012 presidential election. He told the Washington Times that had "a history of predicting political winners and losers without ever taking a poll" and predicted Mitt Romney would win in a "landslide" of 5 to 7 to 10 points and an electoral vote win of 100 to 120 votes. On Fox News he emphasized his being "a Las Vegas oddsmaker." Obama won reelection by four percentage points.

Personal life

Root resides in Henderson, Nevada with his wife Debra. The couple have four children.

Bibliography

• Betting to Win on Sports (as Wayne Alan Root, with Wilbur Cross). Bantam. 1989. ISBN 978-0-553-34789-0. 
• The Joy of Failure!: How to Turn Failure, Rejection, and Pain into Extraordinary Success. Summit Publishing Group. 1997. ISBN 978-1-56530-206-8. 
• The Zen of Gambling: The Ultimate Guide to Risking It All and Winning at Life (with Paul Pease). Tarcher. 2004. ISBN 978-1-58542-402-3. 
• Millionaire Republican. Tarcher. 2005. ISBN 978-1-58542-512-9. 
• The King of Vegas' Guide to Gambling: How to Win Big at Poker, Casino Gambling & Life!The Zen of Gambling updated. Tarcher. 2006. ISBN 978-1-58542-529-7. 
• The Conscience of a Libertarian: Empowering the Citizen Revolution with God, Guns, Gold & Tax Cuts. Wiley. 2009. ISBN 978-0-470-45265-3. 
• The Ultimate Obama Survival Guide: How to Survive, Thrive, and Prosper During Obamageddon. Regnery Publishing. 2013. ISBN 978-1621570912. 

See also

• Bob Barr presidential campaign, 2008

External links

• Official website
• WinningEdge.com 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
• World peace think tank supports Root
• Wealth Masters International Senior Economic Advisor & Executive Committee
• Root interview on the American spirit

Party political offices
Preceded by Richard Campagna	Libertarian Party Vice Presidential candidate 2008	Succeeded by Jim Gray