The Democrats have lost their way, didn’t take long. They caved on the Iraq spending bill, squandered the last 4 months. The Repubthugs are mired in scandals – the GOP in disarray – but still racking up wins. Go figure.
‘Grudging concession’ is beyond disappointing.
I see the current state of politics making room for a surprise third party. Out of left field.
Hold on to your throats BooTribs. No croaking. I kid you not. There is this little outfit called, uumum and a gulp, UNITY ’08.
In fact, not so little. “The Unity ’08 effort, led by a group of veteran political strategists from both parties, was inspired by the idea that both parties are dominated by their most extreme elements and a majority of Americans are looking for a centrist approach.”
A shake up or Wild Card?
Are they for real? Sure bet. Two years old and looking for Delegates.
Ever heard of them? Me neither, but they may be up to more than just mischief makers wearing spoiler hats because if they do get together with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Senator Chuck Hagel, add a billion dollars in the pot, politics could be a whole lot more interesting.
Hmmmm. I don’t have a horse in this race, just yet. My man Al Gore continues to tease.
So who are these guys behind the Unity ’08 effort?
The Atlantic featured a background article that quotes Douglas Bailey as one of the co-founders along with Hamilton Jordan and Gerald Rafshoon advisers to former President Jimmy Carter.
No, that’s not a typo.
Go take a look at their website. (Skip the sign up form to view main website)
Serious stuff..No? and, it’s a bipartisan effort!
With all due respect to these two gentlemen; this goes beyond a Ross Perot or Ralph Nader. These Unity’08 guys have done serious research and recruiting.
From the Atlantic, “Surprise Party”
The rationale that underscores Unity ’08:
“Over dinner, some of the best political minds of the 1970s, Republican and Democratic, reached bipartisan consensus: none could any longer recognize the political parties in which they had once been major players.
The cynical focus on divisive “wedge” issues and the ferocious negativity of recent campaigns, which fed in to an inability to govern once elected, dismayed everyone at the table.
And the dawning of Neither/Nor that the ranks of voters who are neither Republicans nor Democrats have grown dramatically over the years.”
“The political system is at a point where the train has left the track,” said Doug Bailey, a consultant on President Gerald Ford’s 1976 campaign and founder of the Hotline political newsletter.
Credible experienced strategists. Can these old timers pull this off? Fascinating to say the least.
More from The Atlantic article
“The three parted ways that evening scarcely believing what they’d decided to do. But in the months ahead, as they studied the feasibility of their plan, they became convinced it could work.
Being political consultants, they commissioned a national poll to examine the mood of the electorate and gauge its willingness to accept an independent party. The nation appeared willing indeed: 82 percent of respondents agreed that the country was too polarized to make progress solving problems, and three-quarters wanted more choices than just the Democratic and Republican candidates.
The three persuaded Roger Craver, a pioneer in the field of cause-oriented fund-raising, to join them with the object of financing the effort through online donations, and they recruited an executive committee to raise a $1 million bridge fund.
They also hired the prominent Washington law firm of Steptoe and Johnson to advise them on ballot access in all fifty states.To establish the appearance of sober competence, they enlisted the actor Sam Waterston, a friend of Rafshoon’s best known for his role as a principled district attorney on the television show Law & Order, to appear in Internet promotions. “I’m one of those people who have been watching politics from the outside with a typical mix of horror and fascination,” Waterston told me recently. “The idea is so simple, yet if it works, it’s one of those things that will change the direction of the river.”
The timing seemed auspicious, less because of the originators’ own career stages than because of the current evolutionary stage of the Internet itself. “During the 2004 election,” George Vradenburg, a former general counsel for America Online who is advising Unity08, told me, “people’s perception of the Internet started shifting dramatically, from the idea that it is an information source to the idea that it is an empowerment tool through which they can impact politics.
The Internet has democratized American society in a number of ways. But it has not yet democratized our democracy”
[Mr. Bailey] said the group, which hopes to have 2 million delegates signed up to participate in its June 2008 online nominating convention, has talked to about 40 potential candidates. He refused to say whether that included Bloomberg and Hagel.
Bloomberg has tried to scuttle talk about a presidential candidacy without flatly ruling it out. But the former Democrat, who turned Republican to run for mayor, has been acting very much like a candidate for something.”
(emphasis added)
Before we write off the “online nominating convention” concept, this has been used by credible mainstream parties in other countries, like Canada.
So, what if ?
Reuters’ Political Correspondent, John Whitesides, asks.
“Third-party White House bid could shake up race”
No doubt, given the current crop of front-runners, 2nd and 3rd tier candidates. I’m uninspired and looking.
“WASHINGTON (Reuters) – In an unpredictable 2008 presidential race, the prospect of a viable third-party candidacy — particularly a self-financed bid by billionaire Michael Bloomberg — could be the biggest wild card of all.
Reports that Bloomberg, New York’s Republican mayor, is willing to spend a big chunk of his personal fortune — perhaps as much as $1 billion — on a White House run set off a new round of speculation about his intentions and his possible impact on the November 2008 election.
The speculation was egged on by Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, a conservative Republican and Iraq war opponent who also is considering an independent bid and had dinner with Bloomberg recently.
Hagel openly hinted about joining the mayor on a high-octane, third-party ticket that could reshape the political landscape and jolt the traditional U.S. two-party system.
“It’s a great country to think about — a New York boy and a Nebraska boy to be teamed up leading this nation,” Hagel said earlier this week on CBS.”
Over the past two weeks there has been speculation of a Bloomberg run.
Much of the talk of a Bloombeerg run has been dismissive.
But Oh, I don’t know. Many see Mr. Bloomberg as “acting like a candidate” Whitsides, in his article, said:
“He revived his campaign Web site and traveled recently to Texas and Oklahoma, two states with relatively difficult procedures for getting independent candidates on the ballot, to outline a plan for a national energy policy.
Any third-party candidate would face enormous obstacles, from meeting requirements to get on state ballots to producing from scratch the organizations that drive campaigns. But Bloomberg would have the money to overcome many of the normal hurdles, analysts said.
“Bloomberg can simply buy himself some support. Putting a billion dollars in the race can overcome a lot of challenges,” said Jack Pitney of Claremont McKenna College in California.
A liberal on social issues with a strong track record as a manager and businessman, Bloomberg would probably pull votes from both parties, Democratic political consultant Hank Sheinkopf said. [.]
In my book, the campaign for ’08 has started way, way too early. At this point, candidates on both sides will generate nothing but fatigue. Granted some states have moved up primary dates. Most voters are not expected to begin paying attention until after Labor Day.
And, there is the AP-Ipsos’ Poll findings:
Ahem. Neither, Nor. Up the middle.
What say you, can they – Unity ’08 and Bloomberg, if he decides – pull this off?
