Forming a Third Party — Online?
Very interesting segment on the Newshour with Jim Lehrer tonight. Two politicians, one Republican and one Democrat, announced the formation of the Unity08.com party. The idea is that they will build the platform online, have the convention online, and advance their candidate online. It is worth having a look at their Web site at http://www.unity08.com/
At no time during the interview did anyone mention that there is already a third party in the U.S. (Libertarian), large enough to merit legal registration. When you sign up for unity08’s email group, an optional question is to identify which party you are registered to vote for, yet Libertarian is not on the list (only Democrat, Republican, Other, Independent).
And at no time did the interviewer pose the question about how any third party can survive the electoral college in the U.S.
Shame that the Libertarian party can’t get the kind of national coverage as has this grassroots effort for online party formation.
June 2nd, 2006 at 8:12 pm
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.