Some (Slim?) Hope for American Politics?

Unity08.com




I came across this while watching PBS' Newshour this evening (though there's nothing about it on their web site). Apparently some professionals (former staffers and consultants) from both parties and others have gotten together to try and launch a "Unity Ticket" in '08 in the hopes of nudging American politics away from its current (and sad) polarized state and back to the center.

And this doesn't appear to the be anything like the Ralph Nader/Green Party fringe stuff, these guys are actually talking about taking on the issues that matter.

Global terrorism, our national debt, our dependence on foreign oil, the emergence of India and China as strategic competitors and/or allies, nuclear proliferation, global climate change, [...] the education of our young, the health care of all...

When someone talks seriously about dealing with most of Tom Friedman's main talking points, I pay attention.

Plus, they plan to take advantage of new technology and hold their nominating convention entirely online, letting all registered voters regardless of party affiliation vote for the nominee. Risky, but it has the merit of never having been done.

I know, I know... No third candidate has ever really succeeded at anything except being a spoiler. (The last third party candidate to win was Abe Lincoln! It's true, back then, the Republicans were the third party. Look it up.) But remember Ross Perot? At least he got the main parties to deal seriously with his main issue of the federal deficit (for a while anyways). And here in Canada where we've more or less institutionalized the idea of a third party that will never take power (the NDP), it can be said that about everything they ever ran on was later implemented by successive LPC and even PC governments.

Anyways, I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high, this is still embryonic. But I'll be watching.
...

Here are some other links to what little noise this has generated so far. (thx Google)

Newsweek - A New Open-Source Politics
Ambivablog - "Politics is at its most invigorating when it's cacophonous and chaotic."
Lullaby Pit - Unity08 launch targets the American mainstream
Lullaby Pit - Notes from May 30 Unity08 conference call
My Left Wing - Let The Third Party Begin!!! Unity08
CommonDreams Newswire
The Moderate Voice
Donklephant