Election 2008 - the Two Party Political System is Broken

Our "Two-Party" political system has fallen apart! Our American Dream is slipping away! Time is running out for us Americans and we need to get things back on track - quickly.

Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats reflect the aspirations and desires of the majority of Americans - certainly not the will of "We the People". Both parties have polarized and alienated the majority of Americans. Both parties have become platforms for single-issue groups. Both parties have become overly focused on raising money, and not determining what it is that the MAJORITY of voters want to see accomplished by their government.

From the early 1900s through the 1980s the election of the President of the United States focused on winning the votes of the Americans in the center of the political spectrum. The election of Jimmy Carter marked the last campaign in which the vast center of America's political spectrum was targeted for presidential voters. Commencing with the campaign that resulted in the election of Ronal Reagan, in which the Republican Party focused on turning out the right-wing fiscal conservatives and Christian conservatives, ensuing Presidential elections have focused on the turnout of each party's special interest groups.

Political positioning of Congressional candidates now mimics the same flaws. Special interest groups - the extreme right and left edges of political thought have come to define each of the two major parties. The result has been that the combined total of each party's so-called "base" represents only about twenty percent of the American people - leaving the vast political center without a party or candidate that represents their views and concerns.

It isn't that the leaders of both major parties are not well-intentioned people - they are simply trapped within a broken system. The polarization of the two major parties has resulted in neither party being relevant to the issues and challenges that the majority of Americans feel are important, and most of us believe that they have become totally ineffectual in dealing with the contemporary burning issues - witness the "Do-Nothing" 109^th Congress.

Mainstream Media, unwittingly or not, have become spokespersons for the views of the glitterati - the extremists in the entertainment world, or for those who, by virtue of their personal fame or notoriety, make news just by espousing their own opinion on political issues. This practice by the media of giving wide coverage to these "Notables of the Nation" has even resulted in the media "creating" a whole new segment of media personalities - called "expert spokesmen" (also referred to by many, as "talking heads") - people who are willing to provide an appearance of expertise on various topics, and who appear to support the positions espoused by the glitterati.

As a result, most Americans have not been enthusiastic about the limited choices for President of the United States in recent elections, the so-called "key" issues on which they ran, or the manner in which they conducted their campaigns. The current two-party political system works to deny access to the ballot by independents and third party candidates. Establishment of a third party is purposely impeded by state election laws that were designed and implemented by legislators firmly imbedded in the system of "two-party" politics. Voters are often frustrated that they cannot participate in elections in the primary process that would permit them to vote for candidates, based on their individual merits, because primary voting is limited by party affiliation declared on voter registrations.

The best hope for fixing the problems that exist in the current political system is unfettered ballot access. There is no reason that good candidates must be "party-affiliated". One bright spot on the political horizon is "Unity-08".

Unity-08 purports to act to assure that an alternative ticket is presented to the American voters in 2008. Their declared aims are to set a limited number of specific goals, and to work in the best way possible to achieve them. According to their website[1] their first goal is the election of a Unity Ticket for President and Vice-President of the United States in 2008 - headed by a woman and/or man from each major party or by an independent candidate who presents a Unity Team from both parties.

Their second declared goal is "for the people themselves to pick that Unity Ticket in the first half of 2008 - via a virtual and secure online convention in which all American voters will be qualified to vote". And their third goal is to "...effect major change and reform in the 2008 national elections by influencing the major parties to adopt the core features of their national agenda. With a group of voters who comprise at least 20% of the national electorate, Unity-08 feels confident that their voters will decide the 2008 election".

Unity-08 believes that meeting their goals will "include new choices for voters, new opportunities for candidates and new uses of modern technology as well". They believe that in pursuing their goals, they will be following the law and they claim that they are seeking the opinion of the Federal Elections Commission to interpret the law in instances where they feel that they may be breaking entirely new ground.

Unity-08 claims that they are not looking to build a new and permanent political party. But it seems to me as if that "ain't necessarily a bad idea, and it could very well happen if they are successful in the 2008 presidential election. They claim that their real objective is to fix the problems which they see in the current two, old, parties. They feel that a successful Unity-08 ticket elected to office for one term, or just taking part in only one election can result in the adoption of new ideas, new integrity and the promotion of new leaders in the public consciousness.

Their declared approach is to not waste time assessing blame - they feel that both parties (and the American people who have been active in those parties) share responsibility for the current political mess. Through their efforts, they hope to return the focus of our politics and policy to the common good - ideas and traditions which unite and empower us as individuals and as a people.

Unity-08 claims that they strongly believe that the corrupting influence of special interest money is a major cause of today's fundamentally broken political system. They feel that lobbyist money AND pandering to the intense ideological bases by both parties results in "The Blame-Game" and partisan bickering that destroys voter confidence. Unity-08 declares that "No other issue will get solved until this one does".

So what's Unity-08's solution? Fix the broken system by electing a bipartisan "Unity Ticket" to the White House in '08 in an election campaign that is funded solely by small-dollar donations from everyday Americans. They feel that this approach will result in the election of a Unity-08 President and Vice President who will take office with no favors owed to lobbyists and special interests - AND with a clear mandate from the American people to cooperate and provide courageous leadership on the most crucial, complex issues facing our country.

And just what does Unity-08 feel ARE the important issues facing the country? They divide them into two categories: the Crucial Issues - those issues on which the future safety and welfare of the country depend; and Important Issues - those issues that while vital, will not, in their estimation, determine the fate or future of the United States.

Unity-08 states that they feel that the Crucial Issues include: Global terrorism, the national debt, America's dependence on foreign oil, the emergence of India and China as strategic economic competitors (and either being our allies or enemies), the proliferation of nuclear weapons, global climate change, the corrupt Washington lobbying system, education of our young people, universal health care, and the disappearance of the American Dream for many Americans - presumably they refer to home-ownership here.

On other issues, such as gun control, abortion and gay marriage, Unity-08 feels that while they are important issues, and are worthy of debate and discussion in a free society, these subjects ought NOT dominate, or even occupy a place, on the national agenda. Unity-08 feels that we have spent way too much energy and effort debating these "important issues" and not nearly enough time debating the "crucial issues" with the result being that both the Republicans and the Democrats have been built agendas to address the interests of their "base" but have failed to address the issues that most Americans feel is important.

Personally, I feel that Unity-08 is on the right track. The American people know that the current political system is broken and that it's in really bad need of being fixed - the sooner the better. A solidly-funded movement sizeable block of Americans can be built, online, in order to meet the objectives of Unity-08. Namely: nominate a Unity Ticket of their choice for 2008. When the two existing parties' leaders see the success of Unity-08's movement, it just might provide the jolt that our broken political system needs to get it back on track - if not, perhaps the Unity-08 movement will survive and morph into a new third party that will satisfy the needs and desires of the majority of middle-Americans.

Most importantly of all: with a success by Unity-08 perhaps the 25-30 million Americans who have not been voting, out of disgust and disappointment with the current system, will get out and vote for a ticket that represents a new type of leadership and a new approach to politics..

I like Unity-08!