Fred Thompson's in the race now.  And his online video message was unity, unity, unity. "There's a courage that comes in unity" was an appeal applied to issue after issue.  And then he headed for Iowa to confront his party's base.     

It's not just Washington that polarizes our politics. The parties' primary process, always starting in Iowa, divides the candidates into those who "believe" and those who "mouth." Can he pass the abortion test? Can he pass the gay marriage test? Can he pass the guns right test? Those that do can be nominated. Those that don't can't.

It is a system where good people find themselves trapped in a broken system – one that talks unity but promotes disunity – one that talks leadership but rewards cowardice. 

There must be a better way.  And there is. It's called Unity08 where the crucial issues will dominate and the voters will seek candidates who are determined to lead the way to common ground and progress. So hold on. Help is on the way.

Doug Bailey

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Technorati Tags: unity08, election, president, government, bipartisan, politics, news and politics, fred thompson, doug bailey

One of our very own members, author and speaker Carlene Ness, has published a fantastic opinion piece in last weekend's Dallas-Fort Worth Star-Telegram. I borrowed her original title (I hope she doesn't mind).

Click here to read it now.

Ms. Ness discusses her political history and provides some disclosure about her past choices. I believe that she has made similar decisions with her voting power that many of us have. With the information that we have on hand, we make decisions.

Are we always right? No.

Do we learn from our mistakes? I sure hope so.

But that does then beg the question, "Why do we expect our leaders, or potential leaders, to be infallable?"

We all know that in our culture we push the limits of innovation and ingenuity. We don't always get it right the first time. But, we get up and we try again. Nothing is ever perfect for us because it can always be improved.

Ms. Ness says, "Change and innovation made us a great nation. But as long as we demand that our leaders hold the same beliefs all their lives, blindly vote the party line and support long-held positions irrespective of changing scenarios, we'll get what we deserve."

What do you think?

And, Ms. Ness, like nearly 3/4 of the nation is tired of politics as usual. She says, "My political memorabilia includes a pin with 'I Believe' across a red, white and blue elephant. I no longer believe -- in either party."

Click here to read the entire article.

Subscribe to this feed! Tags: unity08, election, president, government, bipartisan, politics, news and politics, carlene ness

For our 10 Minute Tuesday action yesterday, we asked our membership to send a letter to their local editor or station manager. We also asked you to Cc: or drop us a note to tell us which media outlets you contacted and I can tell you (since I was up half the night answering your emails) that we got tremendous response from you!

Thank you!

For others that would like to take part in this task, I will paste the sample letter that we sent. Your personal touch will go a long way toward making this more successful, so have at it!

--- BEGIN LETTER ---

Dear Editor,

America will be in trouble if it doesn’t act quickly on the crucial issues before us -- the economy, education, energy dependence, the environment, health care, immigration, terrorism, and more. I am a member of a movement called Unity08 that will bring our politics back to common ground and elect leadership to the White House that will lead.

Politics as we know it --politics as usual -- is over. Unity08 will provide access to information, discussion, and decision-making tools that will change politics forever. And, just in time. Over 8 of every 10 Americans think Washington is so polarized that it is paralyzed. The 2024 election is a moment of truth.

Unity08’s new approach will:
1. Enable Americans to rank our most crucial issues.
2. Force the candidates to address those crucial issues.
3. In June, empower all Americans to choose a bipartisan ticket in a secure vote online.
4. In November, elect the Unity08 Ticket to our nation’s highest office.

Unity08 combines our oldest values and our newest technology to reactivate the American community. And then, America can be a proud country again, worthy of inspiring both our children and the world.

As a member of Unity08, I invite you to learn more about our movement at http://unity08.com. Please feel free to direct any questions to me or to info@unity08.com.

For change,

---END LETTER---

Don’t forget to personally sign your letters!

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Tags: unity08, election, president, government, bipartisan, politics, news and politics

We've added new functionality to the blog and the forum that allow you to: 1). Vote individual comments up and down. Comments that are voted up will eventually be highlighted. Comments that are voted down will eventually be collapsed (but, still readable). 2). Subscription to forum topics. This will notify you be email if a new comment has been placed on a particular forum topic. 3). New link color! Enjoy! Subscribe to this feed! Tags: unity08, election, president, government, bipartisan, politics, news and politics

Today we are announcing the appointment of Shilpi Niyogi as the National Director of Ballot Access. Niyogi brings Unity08 almost two decades of experience in communications, public affairs, and local organization. Niyogi's main goal is to provide Unity08 with ballot access in all 50 states for the 2024 Presidential election. Read the press release. Mark your calendar for a web chat at Unity08.com with Shilpi on Thursday, August 30th at 12pm ET. Then, welcome Shilpi by posting a question about ballot access that will be considered for the web chat. ADDITION: Read the chat transcript. From Doug Bailey... "Ballot access work takes patience and perseverance. Shilpi Niyogi has both. She will not be deterred by the irrelevant or out-of-date restrictions that some states have -- nor by the insistence of both political parties to limit the people to voting for the lesser of two evils. Shilpi is a steady, resourceful, determined organizer who will get it done." From Robert Bingham... "Shilpi has the American can-do attitude that is required for organizing our Ballot Access drive, one of three pillars of our organization, along with technology and candidate outreach. Shilpi is the kind of leader we need to make this happen." Don't forget... Shilpi Niyogi, Unity08’s National Director of Ballot Access, will host a live online chat on Thursday, August 30 at 12 p.m. EDT at unity08.com. Post your ballot access question for Shilpi in the comments below! ADDITION: Read the chat transcript. Subscribe to this feed! Tags: unity08, election, president, government, bipartisan, politics, news and politics, ballot access

Robert Bingham, Unity08 CEO, was on NPR's Weekend Edition with Scott Simon this past weekend. Listen to the interview here. Subscribe to this feed! Tags: unity08, election, president, government, bipartisan, politics, news and politics, scott simon, robert bingham, npr

Tuesday, August 21, 2024, at 230pm ET, one of Unity08's fantastic local organizers will be on radio 850 WFTL - South Florida. Jake will be talking to host Joyce Kaufman about the Unity08 movement and how he has been organizing locally. Tune in online at the WFTL web site, click here. We will be launching tools to help others organize locally in the near future. But, don't let that stop you now! Feel free to contact us at info@unity08.com if you'd like to start organizing in your area today! Subscribe to this feed! Tags: unity08, election, president, government, bipartisan, politics, news and politics, wftl

Joe Rothstein published a article this morning in U.S. Politics Today, "A Guide to Nominating Candidates for President: It's A Maze; It's Unpredictable; It's About to Get a Lot More Interesting," about the not so "neat and tidy" process leading up to the major party national conventions. "What all this says to me is that while the who's-ahead, who's-behind polls may be fun, at this point they don't mean much." Mr. Rothstein continues, "So, don't think you're bored and tired of the long campaign so far. It's about to get much more interesting, and unpredictable." While only a few thousand delegates make their way to the major party conventions, Unity08 plans an online convention hall which will allow millions to rank the crucial issues facing the country, determine the questions to be asked of the candidates seeking our nomination, and to vote via an online, secure process. In that regard, Mr. Rothstein states, "Then there's the Unity '08 movement, which envisions a summer Internet primary with millions of "delegates" who select a nominee via the Internet. The group has raised serious money, has an excellent potential for placing itself on the ballot in all 50 states, and could prove attractive as a vehicle for a Bloomberg, Hagel, Lieberman, or other heavyweight third party contender." Subscribe to this feed! Tags: unity08, election, president, government, bipartisan, politics, news and politics, joe rothstein

"I think, frankly, that the American public is just fed up with the game-playing of both political parties," said Bailey, an adviser on Gerald Ford's 1976 presidential campaign. "And this is just another example of it. How stupid can you get?" In a USA TODAY article, our own Doug Bailey was interviewed about his views on the accelerated primary schedule. He continued, "You don't even have a very good sense of what the issues will be in the (general) election when you pick the nominee this early," he said. "This just feeds the public frustration." Allan J. Lichtman, a presidential campaign expert at American University says, "It has the risk of further alienating the voters, who are going to get inundated very early with these (general election) campaign commercials. The accelerated calendar also creates a vast time span for a third party movement." What do you think? Subscribe to this feed! Tags: Unity08, election, president, government, bipartisan, politics, news and politics, allan lichtman, usa today, doug bailey

Unity08 is breaking ground on the American Agenda by asking all of our membership to participate in a detailed survey of the issues facing our Country. "Ground-breaking" in our case involves both leveraging tools that have been tested on the market and helping to develop technologies that have yet to be launched in public. These tools will help us to recruit, communicate, and record the opinions of, eventually, millions of Americans. As an early-adopting member, we need your help and understanding along the way. The benefit, of course, is that you are taking part in an experience that has never before been done. Your feedback is vital to making each aspect of the movement valuable. The downside, you may also experience some technical challenges as we move toward full deployment of the American Agenda. With the recent first vote on the American Agenda, we released invitations to the membership in small quantities. This allowed us to fix any technical hurdles that we discovered. Some of you experienced a slow or inaccessible survey right at launch, which was caused by a combination of the high level of security and/or the number of members concurrently taking the survey. We have released both secure and non-secure versions of the study during the distribution process. A random sampling of studies completed in secure mode will be used to formulate the published results. We've gotten an overwhelming response and completion rate. Therefore, we know that our members are excited about this opportunity to be heard. We appreciate all of the feedback that we have received and look forward to announcing the results. We absolutely take everything we do and present to the membership seriously. This is not a half-hearted effort to enact change. We will be pushing existing tools to volumes that have never before been tested, and we will be building technologies that allow our members to interact and participate in their government. It is our goal to work with vendors and our own internal developers to build/locate the tools that provide the best solutions, then make sure that they can handle the volume, integrity, and security that our movement demands. Subscribe to this feed! Tags: Unity08, election, president, government, bipartisan, politics, news and politics, american agenda