New Group Paves Way For 2012 Online Primary 249
DJRumpy sends this excerpt from CNN:
"Americans Elect, which has raised $22 million so far, is harnessing the power of the Internet to conduct an unprecedented national online primary next spring. If all goes according to plan, the result will be a credible, nonpartisan ticket that pushes alternative centrist solutions to the growing problems America's current political leadership seems unwilling or unable to tackle. The theory: If you break the stranglehold that more ideologically extreme primary voters and established interests currently have over presidential nominations, you will push Washington to seriously address tough economic and other issues. Even if the group's ticket doesn't win, its impact will force Democrats and Republicans in the nation's capital to start bridging their cavernous ideological divide."
Good in theory (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Good in theory (Score:5, Insightful)
Saying "it's hopeless" only guarantees that it will remain hopeless.
Re:Good in theory (Score:5, Insightful)
Cavernous Divide? Seriously? (Score:5, Insightful)
What cavernous divide? There is a divide in rhetoric to be sure, and an emotional divide (*), but in terms actual policy differences between the GOP of GWB and the Obama administration, they're like siamese twins.
(*) I'm not sure how to characterize this -- I think of the people who despise "rednecks" and those that despise "hippies" -- they have a visceral hate for each other but it has nothing to do with policies apparently, because the Obama administration is indistinguishable from that of GWB. Hence, the somewhat obscure term of "emotional divide".
Centrist? (Score:5, Insightful)
Are they implying that they're centrist between the Democrats and Republicans? The rest of the world is watching American politics with some bemusement (and some worry) because there's really no left or centre in American politics. Both of your parties drift to the right ideologically compared to most other nations with open democracies. I see very little practical room between your two parties that would advance your nation forward in a healthy, productive, or sustainable manner.
Re:Divide? (Score:5, Insightful)
Came here to say this. There is no 'cavernous ideological divide'. The truth about american politics is that there is no choice. You have two parties that favor big government, are owned by corporations and are hell bent on maintaining the status quo. That's it. The few polarizing issues they differ on simply give them something to argue about in order to foster the illusion of choice.
It's like choosing between a bullet to the brain or a guillotine. Sure it's a choice, but the outcome is the same.
Re:Internet = Ticket to Democracy (Score:5, Insightful)
Not credible (Score:4, Insightful)
Americans Elect's board is primarily staffed by the far right. This is simply an effort to split the liberal vote. Go look it up; it's pretty easy to find that Americans Elect's board alone makes it untrustworthy.
Not that finding the center between Dems and Republicans is worthwhile anyhow.
Re:Good in theory (Score:5, Insightful)
The problem being that the corporations who own capitol hill benefit from the current system, and own the media outlets. They will try as hard as they can to keep things exactly the way they are.
So what? I don't understand what's wrong with you Yanquis these days. On the one hand, you're arguably the most powerful nation on Earth. On the other, you're the most defeatist too.
The Internet opened up information transfer vectors to the masses even more than Gutenberg did. So use it! "The Media" is no longer just ABC, NBC, CBS, and the NY Times.
Case in point, Reddit is strategizing on the how, and which, politicos to try to unseat/replace with anti-SOPA/PIPA candidates. The last I heard, it was getting a lot of traction (for the record, I'm not a "redditor"). With the advent of "crowd-sourcing", it could concievably make a difference. All you need is one success, and they'll start to sit up and listen next time.
"Social Networking" is the de jour buzz-phrase of the decade. Do you really believe it's a toothless dragon, after it's ignited the Arab Spring?!?
Another case in point: a candidate for the CA governorship with the most bucks behind her lost once the electorate learned of her two facedness. Money is not all powerful! Stand up on your hind legs, FFS! Leverage all this neat stuff at your disposal. Get all your friends involved, and get them to get their friends involved, and just maybe you can effect real change(tm).
Re:Cavernous Divide? Seriously? (Score:4, Insightful)
because the Obama administration is indistinguishable from that of GWB
This is the kind of irresponsible and unsubstantiated exaggeration that was responsible for people voting for Nader in 2000 with the result of Bush getting into office.
Can you list 10 policies that are identical between the Obama and Bush administrations? If you can't, all you have is an unsubstantiated opinion written with an air of authority.
In the mean time check out this web site for President Obama's record. With each item ask yourself if Bush or any Republican would have done the same:
http://whatthefuckhasobamadonesofar.com/ [whatthefuc...esofar.com]
Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Divide? (Score:2, Insightful)
It might attract old-school moderate Republicans (Score:5, Insightful)
Before the current Right-wing machine took over the Republican party (people like Grover Norquist, Karl Rove, and the neocons), there used to be moderate Republicans, nicer than Nixon and farther left than Barry Goldwater. People like my mom, who care about good government, want fiscal responsibility but aren't scared of taxation if it goes to worthwhile programs, think that you shouldn't start wars just to keep defense contractors in business, and think that the job of religion in politics should be to tell politicians to be honest and to care about the poor. They've pretty much all been kicked out of the party, and she didn't vote for either Dubya Bush or his father, and she was really annoyed when Christine "Not A Witch" O'Donnell beat moderate Mike Castle for the Republican nomination in Delaware.
The most traditional Republican presidential candidate at the moment is Jon Huntsman. He's too far right for me, and too far right to really call a moderate, but he's not part of the right-wing crazy machine, and thinks that the fact that evolution and climate change are real is more important than what voting blocks they attract or what corporate donors would be affected by laws about them (which is to say, "he doesn't have a chance of getting the nomination.") Ron Paul's not far-right, but he's a radical, not a moderate. Romney's relatively moderate, but he's doing deals with the machine, and if you look at the current Republican debating process, it's really a circus designed to convince the right-wing voters that they'll have to pick Romney to beat Obama. (Donald Trump was the comedy warm-up act, and Gingrich is the biggest of the clowns, as well as being personally opportunistic, but a lot of the process was Perry replacing Bachmann and still being an obvious non-starter.)
Will Americans Elect end up attracting more Republicans than Democrats? Probably not, but at least it's an interesting experiment in politics, and it might end up being as influential as Joe Trippi's online organizing for Howard Dean, which led the way for Obama's broad-based campaign. Alternatively, it could end up like a mirror to Ross Perot's campaign, which attracted enough Republicans to give Bill Clinton the election, and then fizzled out because Perot wouldn't let go of it and let it grow into a bottom-up party.
Re:Good in theory (Score:2, Insightful)
The 1 party mold. The differences between them are relatively unimportant when you adjust to the meta-view that for the last century or so it has been Republicans and Democrats and THEIR supreme court cronies ripping away our constitutional rights while dumbing down the population for even more fun and games.
Kinda puts a poo-poo on the importance of "Americans Elect" and the misdirection they,the one party and this article are providing.
I imagine many hotheads with mod points out there are dying to Troll me, but if they really thought about it, it's just bad news,not a troll.
Not here to lie, just to point out that the King wears no clothes and his winky is kinda dinky.
Yup, one party when you think about it. I'm not into all the tin foil hat stories about trilateral-scientologists or anything, even though a stopped clock is right twice a day. Thats not what this is about. This is about starting out going the wrong direction and taking worse directions as time wears on. It brings out the powerhungry freaks who pimp us out for the Gucci's on their feet. We have corrupt criminals in D.C. by and large. Discounting some College Football Hero Astronaut who may get elected on the up and up, even he will get sucked into the D.C. cesspit. You know the score with their crimes, their gall and for Gods sake, they eat their own.
Maybe its time to shut up the Repubmocrat sympathizers who keep regurgitating the bleated " you throw away your vote if you vote for anyone who isn't Republican or Democrat because no one will work for them and they're all extreme wackos who will ruin the economy".
Weeeelllllll, now, let's look at this economy. If it were toilet paper, I'd say it was used and wouldn't buy it. How 'bout you? I'm pretty sure we got a pocket full of nothing but debt and will only be able to continue this "economy" charade as long as we keep selling out our rights and freedom to "get in step with the world", who incedentally holds the note on our national debt. Sorry man, I can't kite credit from card to card to live, neither can the country. It will take some "wackos" if that means "people who see another way to save us". Frankly, the day to day farce of legislating unconstitutional crap as a smokescreen while doing so only by giving yourself the power is about to piss even the morons amongst us off.
Is it that bad out there? Forget the press, they won't say anything that will shut the D.C. faucet off to their organizations, don't count on them for truth. Pundits? Yeah right. Radio hosts? Sorry still just newsclowns under contract.You have only yourself to ask. Look at history. Look at the evidence. Then I guess you're man enough to mod me up or down.
Re:Good in theory (Score:4, Insightful)
I think many are like me...slightly liberal on the social side, and slightly conservative on the fiscal side.
I'm not sure how many are with me on shrinking the Federal govt both in power and money...but I get the feeling I'm far from being alone on that one too.