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By Matt Schudel December 9 at 7:59 PM

Nathaniel Branden, who became a chief disciple and lover of the writer and libertarian lodestar Ayn Rand until a turbulent falling out led to his new career as a best-selling writer of books on self-esteem, died Dec. 3 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 84.

He had complications from Parkinsons disease, said his assistant, Vivian Buentiempo-Johnson.

Mr. Branden was a 19-year-old college student in California in 1950 when he sent a note to Rand, the author of his favorite novel, The Fountainhead. She invited him for coffee.

I reached for the doorbell, Mr. Branden later wrote in a 1989 memoir, knowing without words and with irresistible certainty that nothing was ever going to be the same again.

He talked with Rand and her husband, Frank OConnor, through the night and didnt leave their house until 5:30 the next morning. He soon became part of Rands inner circle and one of her fiercest advocates. He changed his name from Nathan Blumenthal to Nathaniel Branden, deliberately incorporating Rand into his new surname.

After moving to New York, Mr. Branden and his young wife, Barbara, became devoted acolytes of the Russian-born Rand. The Fountainhead (1943) and another of her novels, Atlas Shrugged (1957), became seminal texts of an emerging school of thought that emphasized muscular notions of laissez-faire capitalism, self-interest and rational egoism, which might be described best by the title of another of Rands books: The Virtue of Selfishness (1964).

Rand scorned anything reeking of the communism she had seen during her youth in Russia. She was an outspoken opponent of taxes and welfare, which later followers made articles of faith in certain conservative and libertarian circles.

Mr. Branden helped develop Rands ideas into a philosophical construct that became known as objectivism. He organized meetings of Rands supporters in the 1950s, including Alan Greenspan, who later became chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. In 1958, Mr. Branden launched the Nathaniel Branden Institute, which presented seminars on Rands ideas around the world.

Mr. Branden was 24 when he and the 49-year-old Rand began an affair in 1954. Rand insisted that each of their spouses know of the relationship, but otherwise it was kept secret.

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Nathaniel Branden, lover and disciple of novelist Ayn Rand, dies at 84

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Outgoing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada meets with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2014. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) more >

After disastrous midterm elections for Democrats, some progressives are looking to reboot the party by injecting it with fresh big ideas and already have secured the backing of powerful party leaders in their effort.

The 1 million-member Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) on Wednesday rolled out its Big Ideas Project, an initiative which calls on all Americans to submit issues that they think should be at the forefront of the national conversation heading into the 2016 elections.

Twenty-nine lawmakers, including outgoing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and progressive darling Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, have agreed to seriously consider the ideas and possibly incorporate them into new legislation.

The campaign comes after many progressives called out President Obama and other party leaders and claimed they failed to articulate a clear agenda before the 2014 elections, which resulted in devastating defeats for Democrats, including the loss of the Senate.

Democrats lost in 2014 because they failed to inspire Americans with bold ideas that would tangibly improve peoples lives. Since the election, weve been calling on Democratic leadership to remold their party as the party of big ideas especially bold, economic populist ideas like those Elizabeth Warren champions, said Stephanie Taylor, PCCC co-founder.

The organization will accept ideas through the end of December. After that, the PCCC says it will conduct polling and identify the 20 most popular policy suggestions and those will be submitted to Mr. Reid, Ms. Warren and other lawmakers for review.

Thus far, the submitted ideas include: automatic voter registration; demilitarizing police forces nationwide; ending secret grand juries for police prosecutions; national broadband; discharging student loan debt; single-payer healthcare; a financial transaction tax on Wall Street; and others.

In addition to Mr. Reid and Ms. Warren, other Democrats who have signed on to the initiative include: Sen. Jon Tester of Montana; Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York; Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota; Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota; Rep. Alan Grayson of Florida; Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas; and others.

Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont also has signed on.

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Liberals seek to reboot Democratic party with 'Big Ideas Project'

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Head of State, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.)

The national convention of the All Progressives Congress begins in Lagos, Nigerias commercial nerve centre, today (Wednesday).

The presidential candidate of the party will emerge tomorrow (Thursday).

More than 8,000 accredited delegates are expected to elect the partys presidential flag bearer who is to face President Goodluck Jonathan, the sole candidate of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, in the 2015 general elections.

Five aspirants are ex-Head of State, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari; a former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar; Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso; Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, and the Publisher of Leadership Newspaper, Mr. Sam Nda-Isaiah. They are all vying for the partys sole ticket.

Already, supporters of Buhari and Atiku, the two leading aspirants, have appealed to the APC delegates to vote wisely.

Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso

Buharis supporters, under the aegis of Buhari Friends Organisation Network, at a press briefing in Abuja on Tuesday, said todays (Wednesdays) APCs primaries offered a unique opportunity for party delegates to vote for change.

The spokesman for the group, St. Athanasius Okon, said Nigerians have not had it so bad since the return of democracy in 1999.

According to him, the nations economy is in a shambles while the ruling party carries on as if nothing is amiss.

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APC presidential candidate emerges tomorrow

Publicity Secretary of the Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, Mr. Joe Igbokwe

The Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress says it will not congratulate the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, because the events that led to his victory were allegedly dubious.

The publicity secretary of the party, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, said the PDP was a party of hypocrites because they were doing the same thing they had accused the APC of doing in the past.

The APC wondered how the number of votes could exceed the number of delegates that voted at the primary on Monday.

The APC said it was unfortunate that the PDP could not properly conduct a primary of less than 1,000 delegates when it (APC) successfully conducted a primary that had over 5,000 delegates in attendance last week.

It said the PDP had shown that it was not democratic as it went ahead to impose Agbaje despite the fact that another aspirant, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, had been making allegations about the plan for over a month.

The APC said, We cannot congratulate Agbaje yet because there is still infighting. The circumstances that led to the emergence of Agbaje were illegitimate and as a democratic party we will not encourage such by congratulating him.

You see how clear it was with our candidate, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode. The body language of the PDP leaders had shown that they were supporting Agbaje and they went ahead to perpetrate fraud just as Obanikoro had predicted.

When asked if the APC would be willing to receive Obanikoro if he defected from the PDP, the party said, Obanikoro knows the best step that will favour him. If he feels his 10 years away from our party is regretful, he is free to return, we cannot reject him.

In a later statement, the party also welcomed the over 8,000 delegates from all over the country that would participate in the presidential primary of the party on Wednesday (today).

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Why we cant congratulate Agbaje APC