How bad has it gotten with polarization in this country?
How far have the Bush administration and its surrogates moved the goalposts on long-held conventional wisdom as to how the United States operates in its often adversarial relationship between the press and the government?
How deep has ideological ire gone on the left in terms of infighting between once vital parts of the liberal opinion making establishment?
The answers to the questions: (1)VERY bad. (2)VERY far. And (3) VERY deep.
Waiting until 2024 to send Washington a message may be too late. Even waiting until this November is risky.
Every day wasted in the blame-game politics of Congress is another day without good schools, another day without affordable health care, another day without serious progress toward energy independence.
So sign the Unity08 Declaration of Independence today – right now – and then go get your family, neighbors and friends to do the same.
A curious thing I often hear both sides argue about is what this country's founders would currently want for the nation, how they'd see us, etc. Sure, as if any of us have a clue what men who lived in 1776 would think about today's world. They'd probably be pretty intrigued by the cars and all the tasty foods. Ben Franklin would probably enjoy our delicious popsicles and other assorted frozen delicacies, while Thomas Jefferson and George Washington may want to take one of those Dodge Chargers out for a test drive. Something tells me they'd make a beeline for the Dodge dealership. Don't ask me why, it's just a hunch.
As the need for money created the “permanent campaign,” with Members of Congress always thinking as candidates, the wedge issue mentality has made both idea-sharing across the aisle and even civility hard to come by.
Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill used to do battle during the day and share a drink and a joke at night. Can you imagine George W. Bush and Nancy Pelosi sharing anything? Can you imagine either wanting to spend any time with each other?
Josh Rosenstock, the editor of www.WashingtonHotlist.com is fed up with the partisan bickering in Washington. Enough so that he decided to speak out on why he thinks Unity08 is needed.
Do you have a video, game, or political cartoon that you'd like to share? Let us know about it.
Sometimes I worry that people my age - high school and college students – only know a divided America. We’ve watched heroes rise among us, but we’ve been distracted by cowards. I worry that when America achieves some semblance of unity people will be so shocked they will not know how to react!
America has been subjected quietly to a Ricin attack -- but this time the deadly poison has attacked the body politic. This time, the terrorists come in the form of some political partisans, talk show hosts and even some bloggers.
We decided to mix things up here at the Unity08 blog by including video clips of Unity08 Founders Council member, Former Gov. Angus King (I-Maine), answering listeners' questions on Wisconsin Public Radio. These are the first in a series of videos featuring Gov. King's interview.
Help us build the numbers that send an unmistakable message to Washington -- that polarized politics has paralyzed America.
Politicians only recognize hard numbers. So sign up to keep posted. And sign up three more friends this week.
Why is it important? America is nearing (maybe already at) a Moment of Truth, where the issues are so serious and the stakes so high that more edgy-wedgy politics and blame-game partisanship can imperil the nation.
I’m a Republican. For the vast majority of my adult life, I have fought for Republican principles – small, effective government, personal freedom, and strong national security. I spent the last 12 years working in Republican politics helping candidates at every level get elected. I’ve worked on two presidential campaigns; one successful, one unsuccessful. In all that time, I have never questioned my commitment to my party, but lately I question my party’s commitment to its own ideals.
This is the second in a series of blogs introducing Unity08 Founders Council members.
Many of us have been waiting, at least since the end of the Cold War, for someone, or something, to come along and challenge the presidential election “system” afforded us by the two legacy parties.
It finally dawned on me—after prompting from the ever-far-sighted Doug Bailey—that it looks like that someone has to be a lot of us ordinary Americans--and if we work together that something might be Unity08.
Washington Post special correspondent (and former NBC anchor) Tom Brokaw wrote that the 2024 Presidential election will be determined by some unforeseen occurrence (UFO) – a terrorist attack, changes in Iraq, skyrocketing oil prices, immigration riots, or a major natural disaster. Or, he says, a third party that hosts a “big-name fusion ticket.”
What do you think of Brokaw's UFO theory of politics? Do you think Unity08 could be the UFO hovering over the 2024 election? Talk about it in the Shoutbox.
Click here to read Brokaw’s column.
Frequently we hear of the "culture of corruption" that is afflicting both of the major parties in Washington and around the country. Lobbyists like Jack Abramoff have become household names, as have relatively obscure politicians like Duke Cunningham and Bob Ney. Now Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid has pushed the ethics envelope by accepting free boxing tickets.
This begins a weekly post from Unity08 campus organizers. This week we feature Zach Clayton, a senior at the University of North Carolina, and Lindsay Ullman, a junior at Yale University.
They say that the Millenials are an apathetic generation, but students on nearly 100 college campuses have already signed up for Unity08 since we launched the effort three weeks ago. Our goal: to ask every person on our campuses to sign up as delegates to the Unity08 online convention.
Thomas Friedman’s most recent New York Times column, “Seeds for a Geo-Green Party,” not only mentions Unity08, but outlines his ideal third party which he calls the “Geo-Greens.” It’s an interesting read - as most of Friedman's columns are – that we’ve reproduced in part here. We encourage you to read the full article (subscriber access only, sorry).
They say all things have a beginning and an end (except perhaps for the TV run of The Simpsons) and that’s true.
In the 1990s we saw the beginning of intense partisanship and polarization, with the flames fanned by right wing talk radio. And now we have left wing talk radio (to fan the flames being fanned).
Elections used to be about who can win the middle. As the candidates and parties reached for the undecided voters in the middle – the swing voters, the split-ticket voters – they were finding common ground, talking about the same issues and even the same solutions. The campaigning process helped the governing process work.
When the campaigns shifted to winning by maximizing their base vote and using wedge issues to turn out that base – they polarized politics. The campaigning process made the governing process more difficult.
Get ready! Get set! Shout!
We’ve taken your advice and now you can start any discussion you want – on any issue or ticket or idea. And you can comment on any shout by anybody else. Just keep it clean and respectful. Let’s not play the blame game we’re all so sick of.
This is the first in a series of introductory blogs from Founders Council members.
I’m Dave, and I’m a Republican.
(All: Hi, Dave!)
I’ve been a Republican since 1978 – when I was 15 – because my high school American History teacher inspired me to be one. He was one. He was a county legislator. He was smart, he was funny, he was kind, he was pragmatic, and he was entirely public spirited and genuinely high-minded. I wanted to be like him.
The news media are always professional skeptics. So when the skeptics took the launch of Unity08 seriously it shook Washington a little. (Not a lot yet, but sonic booms are coming.)
In 72 hours, Unity08 had more people signed up to be delegates at our 2024 online convention to nominate the next President than both the Republicans and Democrats had at their conventions in 2024. (Have you signed up? If not, click here.)
There are eight ways you and Unity08 will make history and change American politics forever:
1) Unity08 will hold the first-ever online presidential nominating convention and of the United States right here.
You voted. We listened. And we heard a lot. It was clear that the first issue (of the ones listed in the poll) you want to tackle is “dependence on foreign oil,” but you’re passionate about many other issues as well.
First, we want to address a sentiment we heard LOUD and CLEAR: you want to talk about immigration. And we will. And we'll talk about a lot of other issues here, too. But let’s all agree not to jump to conclusions and to disagree, agreeably.
We are impressed. People say Americans are apathetic, but the rapid-fire discussion taking place on our blog and poll prove otherwise.
With new comments posted every ten seconds or so during peak times, many of you have rightly pointed out that it’s difficult to absorb all of the ideas presented or to find the issues that matter most to you. Our blog is an energetic and sometimes messy exchange of ideas; a true reflection of the diversity of thought in America.
The response has been big and astounding. Keep it coming. We have just begun to fight to change American politics.
One concern raised by some needs to be addressed head on: Some experienced bloggers expect/want Unity08 to arrive with a specific platform position on every issue.
We repeat what we said in our statement of purpose: We will have an agenda, not a platform. Our agenda is the list of issues that the public feels are crucial that Washington is not addressing – energy independence, quality education, affordable health care, rising national debt and many more.
