Posted on 05/31/2006 8:30:49 PM PDT by neverdem
NEWSWEEK: Independent Online Political Party Unity08 to Launch This Week; Plans '08 Internet Primary to Vote on Centrist Platform, Bi-Partisan Ticket Sunday May 28, 10:25 am ET
Key Carter and Ford Staffers Starting Unity08 to Recruit a Large, Diverse Base Online: 'The Worst Thing That Could Happen Would Be For a Bunch of Old White Guys Like Us to Run This,' says One
NEW YORK, May 28 /PRNewswire/ -- A bipartisan group of political organizers will open shop this week at Unity08.com in an effort to redesign our current system for nominating presidential candidates, reports Senior Editor Jonathan Alter in the June 5 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, May 29). The Unity08 plan is for an online third-party convention in mid-2008, following the early primaries. Any registered voter could be a delegate; their identities would be confirmed by cross-referencing with voter registration rolls (which would also prevent people from casting more than one ballot). That would likely include a much larger number than the few thousand primary voters who all but nominate the major party candidates in Iowa and New Hampshire. This virtual process will vote on a centrist platform and nominate a bi-partisan ticket. (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060528/NYSU004 )
Source: Newsweek
· The June 5 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, May 29) · Click Here to Download Image
The Internet-based third party is spearheaded by three veterans of the antique 1976 campaign: Democrats Hamilton Jordan and Gerald Rafshoon helped get Jimmy Carter elected; Republican Doug Bailey did media for Gerald Ford before launching the political tip sheet Hotline. They are joined by the independent former governor of Maine, Angus King, and a collection of idealistic young people who are also tired of a nominating process that pulls the major party candidates to the extremes. Their hope: to get even a fraction of the 50 million who voted for the next American Idol to nominate a third- party candidate for president online and use this new army to get him or her on the ballot in all 50 states. The idea is to go viral-or die. "The worst thing that could happen would be for a bunch of old white guys like us to run this," Jordan says.
The idea is that even if the third-party nominee didn't win, he would wield serious power in the '08 election, which will likely be close. There are plenty of ways for this process to prove meaningless, starting with the major parties deciding to nominate independent-minded candidates like John McCain or Mark Warner. Third-party efforts have usually been candidate-driven, and the centrist names tossed around by way of example (Chuck Hagel, Sam Nunn, Tom Kean) don't have much marquee value in the blogosphere. And the organizers would have to design safeguards to keep the whole thing from being hijacked. But funny things happen in election years, writes Alter. In a country where more than 40 percent of voters now self-identify as independents, it's no longer a question of whether the Internet will revolutionize American politics, but when.
As Clinton used Ross Perot to split the vote in his favor, Hillary is using the Internet and recruiting a "3rd party" to split the vote between her and the GOP candidate. Unlike Perot, this will backfire because conservatives aren't fooled by this and will vote for the GOP regardless. So Hillary will just end up splitting the vote between her and this new sham of a party.
A third party led by a centrist? How exciting. Will never happen.
It's a pipe dream. I don't believe in the notion that there's this huge chunk of America that's "centrist" or "moderate." Bunch of media-fabricated baloney designed to try and force the GOP candidate to move to the Left so the Dim will win.
Hillary will need a third party.
She's not going to get the Dem nomination.
What are they going to call it? The "Milquetoast Party"?
When you see Hillary's profile on myspace.com, you know it's gotta be real.
There may be room for another party to arise. People on both sides are unhappy with the current direction. The problem is that those who are unhappy with the current direction don't agree on what the new direction should be. Until they can agree, they can't turn their discontent into a functioning party.
People seem to forget that we've never really had a third party arise in this country. When the Republican Party began in the 1850's, the Whigs, the second party at the time, had declined to the point that they could hardly be considered a second party. The decline of the Whigs lead to the formation of various other parties. The American Party (Know-Nothings) and Free Soil Party were the biggest parties to fill the gap, but neither of them was ever particularly successful. The Republican Party arose at this time and fell into the role of major party by default.
Bill
I've been kicking around ideas for something online that could functionally serve some of the purpose of a third party, leveraging the Internet to do all of the hard work. It's not fully formed enough yet to really talk about in public. I think the idea of "just start up another third party" is dead, and "just start up a third party that uses the Internet" is uninteresting. If you're going to really use the Internet, you need to take a much more radical approach to changing how politics works. We are just barely at the leading edge of what's possible right now.
But I can tell you that I would much rather have the Republican party wake up in time so that we don't end up needing some alternative. I'm not optimistic right now but that could change.
I venture to guess that if Ross Perot had had a ubiquitous Internet available in 1992, things would have been very different indeed.
There. Fixed it.
Needs a better name...
The GOP is not representing me, nor the American people. If folks like you continue to foster polorization of politics, this Nation will not last very long. I suggest you go read the referenced site (unity08.com), then see if your comments represent reality.
As for myself, I dispise the way politics have polarized into two hateful camps. It is time to remember that we are all Americans, and we need to be acting on behalf of the United States. The parties are failing this Nation BIG TIME.
That's because they're being run in the ground by RINOs! Don't you think the GOP would be popular now if people were really dissatisfied over the "polarization" and would welcome the GOP moving towards the middle? So how come they're still pissed?
I'm not trying to attack your idea, but I'm not sure how things would have been different. Most people who follow campaigns on the internet are people who already have some interest in the issues. The availability of more information wouldn't change many of their minds. Ross Perot might have peeled some extra votes from Clinton in particular and occasionally from George H.W. Bush, but I can't see enough votes changing to change how the electoral votes from any state would have gone.
Bill
Evidently because they need an alternative that they currently do not have. That is why the "Unity08" just might be worth supporting. The GOP leadership just won't listen to their constituents, yet this new entity acknowledges the problem.
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