There’s a new political force on the US political playing field, and at first glance it looks like a pretty good deal. The idea, spelled out on their website, is to create an “online” third party whose candidates and platform will all be selected by an innovative “online convention” process. This ought to appeal to conservatives dismayed by the mealy selection the GOP currently has on offer for the 2012 Presidential race, and Democrats discouraged by a President who espouses their ideals only to compromise and trash them at the first sign of squawking (or even the faintest suspicion that it might be coming) from his political opponents. The News Hour on PBS last night interviewed two of the wigs of this organization. The segment can be viewed, or at least listened to, here.
Through a vigorous organizing drive “Americans Elect” are poised to have their presidential candidate on the ballot in all 50 states in 2012.
Two big questions, however, present themselves.
Question #1: “Americans Elect” has received substantial funding from somewhere, yet they refuse to reveal these sources or even discuss them, replying that their “hope is that our funders will reveal themselves.” Huh??? For all the president’s faults and wishy-washiness, the funding for his campaigns has always been very straightforward. You can always find out who has donated to his cause. This is not the case with the GOP, who have been perfectly happy to accept secret dollars from such sources as Karl Rove’s Secret Jillionaire PAC, David Koch and the über-stealth ALEC organization (scroll down and click the Kathy Beavin link for info on them). So the refusal of “Americans Elect” to identify where their juice is coming from is a big fat red flag.
Question #2: This concern is probably even more dangerous—there appears to be no way to ensure that “Americans Elect’s” “delegate selection”, “candidate selection” and “platform selection” will be done in an open manner that cannot be manipulated. So, for example, if “Americans Elect” is really nothing more than another tentacle of the stop-at-nothing rightwing dirty tricks octopus, the GOP would benefit enormously from a seemingly innocuous “third party” whose candidate and platform have been specifically tailored to bite directly into President Obama’s support. At best this would evenly split the progressive vote and allow the GOP nominee to win states outright, at worst it would throw the election into the Republican-dominated House of Representatives. Guess how that would turn out. Well then, what are the guarantees that the candidate “Americans Elect” will present to the voters in 2012 was picked honestly? Actually there are none, and when you quiz the guys at “Americans Elect” they say, essentially, “Relax, just trust us.”
“Relax, just trust us”. Same number of syllables as “I am not a crook”.
First things first. I urge everyone to contact “Americans Elect” and pester them until they publicly supply a list of their donors, and account for every cent of their funding. The “Feedback” link on their website is just a bullshit loop that doesn’t go anywhere, but you can call them—(541) 933-5328. Keep bugging them until they cough up who’s bankrolling their bingo game.
1:13 PM PT: Wow, thanks guys for all the detailed info you've supplied on this group. First I heard of them was yesterday, and had no idea others have questioned their motives previously.
So the verdict seems to be--"Americans Elect" = conservaBS