AMERICAN Independent Party candidate Jerry Denham didn't plan to run for Congress himself.

In fact, he was grooming others for a 2010 run.

But when former Rep. Ellen Tauscher resigned early, Denham said he could not let a special election pass without taking the opportunity to promote his party's U.S. Constitution-based platform.

"I find most Americans are ignorant of the Constitution," he said. "They don't know what it says but they think they do and that's the shame of it."

Denham also endorses the ideas of former presidential candidate and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas. That includes Paul's proposals to audit the Federal Reserve System and withdraw U.S. troops from the Middle East.

Denham views much of government's actions as well beyond what the U.S. Constitution permits.

"I am out to turn Washington, D.C., into a ghost town," he said. "I look forward to the day when some real estate agent will pound a huge 'For Sale' sign in front of the Internal Revenue Services building as well as many other buildings in the District of Criminals."