Comments on: Forming a Third Party — Online? http://www.pueblolibertarian.org/forming-a-third-party-online/2006-05-31/ Tue, 06 Jan 2009 09:22:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.5 by: Diana http://www.pueblolibertarian.org/forming-a-third-party-online/2006-05-31/#comment-18 Sat, 03 Jun 2006 03:12:05 +0000 http://www.pueblolibertarian.org/forming-a-third-party-online/2006-05-31/#comment-18 I think that this will be something to watch, to see how it progresses. It is an interesting concept. I am skeptical, however, that it is a true 'grassroots' effort. Just take a look at Unity08's Founders Council. It is a fairly impressive list of people with connections. While it might be hard work and luck that got them mentioned on the Newshour, I find myself wondering if there is more to it than that. For example, on the Founders Council, Doug Bailey is a founder of a political newsletter "The Hotline" and is a former political media consultant to President Ford. Hamilton Jordan is the former Chief-of-staff to President Carter and a successful author with appearances on Larry King Live and the Today Show. And so it goes, on down the list. With the exception of several young college students, nearly every player listed has some major political or business experience. While being successful and experienced in the political arena does not in and of itself make these people less sincere, it does make it easier for me to understand their sudden appearance on the political scene with major media coverage and also their tendency to ignore the Libertarian Party. How much of this is a true effort to create a third party that is substantially different from the two major parties of today, and how much of it is media hype and marketing remains to be seen. I think that this will be something to watch, to see how it progresses. It is an interesting concept. I am skeptical, however, that it is a true ‘grassroots’ effort. Just take a look at Unity08’s Founders Council. It is a fairly impressive list of people with connections. While it might be hard work and luck that got them mentioned on the Newshour, I find myself wondering if there is more to it than that.

For example, on the Founders Council, Doug Bailey is a founder of a political newsletter “The Hotline” and is a former political media consultant to President Ford. Hamilton Jordan is the former Chief-of-staff to President Carter and a successful author with appearances on Larry King Live and the Today Show. And so it goes, on down the list. With the exception of several young college students, nearly every player listed has some major political or business experience.

While being successful and experienced in the political arena does not in and of itself make these people less sincere, it does make it easier for me to understand their sudden appearance on the political scene with major media coverage and also their tendency to ignore the Libertarian Party.

How much of this is a true effort to create a third party that is substantially different from the two major parties of today, and how much of it is media hype and marketing remains to be seen.

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