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Right Minded Opinions

Politics, News, and Conservative Ideals

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Unite08 - An Unrealistic Political Opportunist's Favorite Third Party.

Again, history is on the path to repeat itself in American Politics. It seems like for 2 different reasons America's citizens have felt the need for a third party in politics. Either they believe in one or two political issues that they feel are not given a big enough role in either of the two big parties platforms or they don't believe in anything and are annoyed with how democracy and debate work to solve political issues in society.

The green movement in American politics showed that the first of the reasons for forming a political third party actually are useful way of having an impact on politics. The main reason the American political system has only two parties is the ballot setup and how political elections are won. As we all know, it takes a majority or 51% of the vote to win most elections in politics and 51% of the state's citizens votes to win all of the state's electoral college votes.

The majority system in politics pits two candidates against each other and gives no incentives for only winning 15% of the votes. The contrast to the American political system is Great Britain, which has a proportional system. Because of this system, politics in Great Britain are different at their core from American politics. In a proportional political system, if there are 10 seats available and a political party wins 20% of the vote then they win 2 seats out of 10. I'm sure you can imagine how this influences the whole art and strategy of politics in this system.

Ok so what is unity and what do they have to do with all of this?

Unity08 on the surface is trying to sell itself as the party of the people and uses polls and catchy marketing to try to convince people to join their cause. They are a wannabe third party that has no core issue(s) that are not covered by the two major parties. They actually claim that they take on the more crucial issues rather than the somewhat important issues that don't actually affect people.

They show base for their support by citing a polls that show the American public agrees with some things that are totally unrelated to a third party in politics. Things such as dissatisfaction with the way the country is headed and polarizaton. Also they polled on hypothetical questions of a different unity ticket and probably asked whether they agree or disagree with the idea. Good political pollsters know that people are always more likely to agree on any question when given the choice.

Ok now what do they have to do with third party politics? Well technically, they claim they do not want to be a third party. No No....They want to influence the big 2 political parties by giving them a wake up call. Oh it gets much better than this. They seem to contradict themselves a lot. They don't want to leave their political parties but they want a moderate candidate or one person from each big political party to join together and run under their ticket.

So on some of their crucial political issues of national debt, nuclear proliferation, health care for all, and the disappearance of the American Dream they just want one candidate from each party to come together and run?

Ok Ok....Slow me down if I am wrong about this but is their differences on how to go about these issues what makes America the model democratic republic? Did our founding fathers not set our political system up with just that clash and debate?

I feel like I am under the Capitol Dome looking at the painting of Thomas Jefferson apparently stepping on John Adams toe and unity asking Mr. Jefferson if they could shake him up and then to embrace Mr. Adams like his political best friend. The political founding fathers setup the American system on the ideals of Newtonian physics where 2 political parties would both butt heads and the equal opposite reaction would end in a balance.

You cannot expect to take bits and pieces from each different approach given by the major parties, throw them into a blender and out comes the perfect solution. Most moderates in politics today hold views on political issues that are held by both political parties. However, they are affiliated with a certain political party because they believe in their core platform.

Finally, if unity08 plans to have one prominent member from each party on their presidential ticket for the 2008 political elections then how do they decide which party holds the President and which one holds the Vice President. I feel like I shouldn't need to say this but unity08 makes it out like they do not see the huge difference in power between those two political offices.

So my final thought is this...The main founders and backers of unity08 are in this thing for exactly one reason. *Drumroll* MONEY. Plain and simple. Unity08 said they are seeking an advisory council from the FEC to see if they can be considered not a political committee. This means they do not want to be bound to FEC rules. Also nothing states that they are a non-profit and therefore I have to wonder whether they are not just a for-profit company.

Finally, one of the main founders bio on their webpage states this...

"Hamilton Jordan, Atlanta, Georgia. Carter White House Chief of Staff, writer, investor; focused on for-profit and non-profit start-ups; most importantly, father of three."

This could mean nothing but it sure sticks out...investor;...for-profit and non-profit start-ups. Also, most of these former political people would not have wasted their time on this if they couldn't control the cut they'll make as consultants for unity08.

hmmm...This thing smells of scam and unrealistic dreams that not only contradict the founding fathers political setup for America but are also bad for America. The 2 party system is and will always be the best system for America. Does America need political advocates and higher citizen engagement? Of course! Conflict and honest debate is the best path to the perfect solution.

So to end let me say, unity08, no thanks.

here's a link to their site. I feel like it is doing them a service but for my readers that don't know what I am talking about I feel I must.

Unity08