Americans Elect seeks to upend primary system
America Held Hostage to Two-Party Failure
| One group hopes to fix the start of the electoral process -- the present primaries -- while another supports an idea to reform the conclusion of the process -- runoffs. Will something more than froth result? A fair and open forum is sure needed for good new ideas -- such as geonomics -- to gain currency. We trim, blend, and append two 2011 articles from (1) Los Angeles Times, Jly 28, on primaries by M. Gold; and (2) Truthout, Jly 28, on two-party failure by Michele Swenson. |
by Matea Gold and by Michele Swenson
- Americans Elect seeks to upend primary system
Americans Elect collected nearly 1.6 million signatures to place on the ballot in all 50 states by 2012 a proposal to select presidential tickets through an online, open nominating convention.
Gaining 50-state ballot access is no easy feat -- independent presidential candidate H. Ross Perot managed to do so in 1992 and 1996, whereas Ralph Nader got on only 45 state ballots during his fifth presidential bid in 2008.
To achieve its goal of a presence on all 50 state ballots, the group has already hired 50 employees and 60 vendors to tackle an array of technological, legal and logistical challenges.
The group has labored largely under the radar for the last 16 months, raising $20 million while successfully gaining ballot access in Arizona, Alaska, Kansas and Nevada.
One of the main financial backers is Peter Ackerman, a private investment executive who made tens of millions of dollars working with junk bond trader Michael Milken in the 1980s.
The group has an eclectic board of advisors that includes former FBI and CIA chief William H. Webster and Republican strategist Mark McKinnon, a cofounder of No Labels, a group that seeks to advance partisanship-free politics.
At least 11 of the 50 board members work in finance, including Kirk Rostron, who places investments for hedge fund managers and is one of a handful of publicly identified contributors to the group.
The group's operatives include: Chief Executive Kahlil Byrd is a GOP strategist who worked for Massachusetts' Democratic governor, Deval Patrick. Pollster Doug Schoen worked for Hillary Rodham Clinton's Democratic presidential campaign, as well as for New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, an independent.
Americans Elect grew out of a similar effort called Unity08, which attempted to launch an independent presidential ticket in 2008. But it struggled to raise money and suspended its efforts after the Federal Election Commission ruled it had to abide by strict contribution limits governing political committees.
Americans Elect now plans to hold an online convention in June 2012 that will be open to any registered voters who sign up. They will select a presidential ticket from a slate of candidates, all of whom will have been required to pick a running mate from a different political party.
To see the whole article, click here .
JJS: Holding elections on line -- are they open to fraud? Those computerized polling stations in the 2000 and 2004 US presidential elections -- were some of them tampered with? Is that why some already powerful people push online elections? Or is this line of questioning too cynical?
Regardless, if the electoral process is to include a primary, it does seem fair to make it open, to let citizens vote for any candidate of any party. However, primaries are not necessary; instead, citizens could vote for their three favorite candidates, ranking them from most to least favored, all during the same election. Then political parties, if they so desired, could hold their own private elections at their own expense.
Whatever reform would work best, there definitely is a need to fix the system.
- America Held Hostage to Two-Party Failure
Our federal budget deficit has ballooned more than $1 trillion annually since the financial collapse. Instead of confronting the real causes of the deficit, budget shortfalls are conflated with "the long-term challenges of Medicare" as an excuse to shred the social safety net.
Meanwhile, the titans of finance continue to make mega bonuses for their companies' mega losses.
The president's failure to lead by using the bully pulpit to educate about the true nature of economic crisis and recovery has resulted in Democrats' surrender to Republicans of the economic narrative around deficits, spending, taxes, health care etc. More than the Tea Party corporate shills, disingenuous rhetoric around the economy and the lack of any counter-narrative by the president discouraged voters from going to the polls in 2010 and will likely discourage them again in 2012.
Sorely needed to counter the corruption of money in elections are the Fair Campaigns Now Act, free media time for all serious candidates, and other remedies such as instant runoff voting, and reversing the notion of corporate "personhood." Humboldt County, California, passed a county ordinance in 2006 to prohibit nonlocal corporate contributions to elections and also asserting that corporations cannot claim the First Amendment right to free speech.
The two main political parties are failing to serve the people. New York Times correspondents acknowledged the sorry state of our politics: Tom Friedman remarked that we are trapped in a "corrupt duopoly." Crony capitalism is the norm in Washington, lamented David Brooks. Both expressed the wish for a reputable third party to break the Washington gridlock.
Sponsored by over 100 groups led by MoveOn.org, "Rebuild the American Dream" convened house meetings across the country starting July 16 and 17. These provide the opportunity for participants to begin writing a "Contract for the American Dream" to serve the people.
To see the whole article, click here .
JJS: I participated in the house meeting near me, hoping to encourage people’s enthusiasm for fundamental reform, especially with people who describe themselves as willing to listen. If politics is ever to make life on Earth better, better communication is essential.
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Editor Jeffery J. Smith runs the Forum on Geonomics.
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Also see: A new breed of radical & revolutionary
The call for a convention gets good coverage
Party founder on liberty and justice for all |
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