America is in some big trouble. While crucial issues cry out for leadership, Washington’s parties and politicians are polarized and paralyzed.

But help is on the way if we the people do our thing again.

The founding fathers were great, but their descendents haven’t been too shabby either. In fact, the genius of America is that each generation has redefined freedom in its own terms for its own times.

Slavery was ended when the people acted. Women’s suffrage came when the people rose up. Civil rights laws were passed in the 1960s when the people demanded them.

Still another rebirth of freedom is needed now. It can happen right here at Unity08.com – where millions of Americans fed up with Washington’s pointless bickering will hold an online convention in the first half of 2024 to nominate a Unity Ticket for President and Vice President, then put it on the ballot in all 50 states, and elect it in November.

We’re not out to spoil anybody else’s campaign. We’re not trying to put either major party out of business. We’re not out to create a permanent third party. We are out to give Washington and both major parties a jolt of reality – so that they realize that most voters aren’t on the fringe, but in the middle – and that they want the problems solved.

Three things have made Unity08 needed and possible. First, elections which used to be about who could win the most votes in the middle are now about who does the best in turning out their base. But the issues that turn out the base turn off the middle. That polarization has slopped over to Congress where the parties are barely civil to each other. And the presidential nominees of both parties will be picked by the base voters at either end of the political spectrum. The rational middle (that’s most of us) will be left out again.

Second, America may never have faced so many issues crucial to its security and welfare at the same time: Worldwide terrorism, dependence on foreign oil, global climate change, the economic rise of India and China, a soaring national debt, the need for affordable health care, a crisis in education, and more. We can’t go much longer without Washington having the leadership and unity to act.

The third thing making Unity08 possible is the good news: The online technology now enables the people to use our democracy to take our country back. .

So Unity08.com, right here, will hold the first-ever virtual national convention in history, with you and millions of delegates just like you picking a Unity Ticket to run for President and Vice President.

We expect the Unity Ticket will be headed by a woman and/or man from each major party or by an Independent who presents a Unity Team from both parties.

Anybody qualified to vote in this country is qualified to be a delegate. And anybody constitutionally eligible to serve as President may run for the job. As millions of delegates sign up, major political figures in both parties may decide this is the way to get to the White House.

So may leaders from the business and non-profit worlds who can’t get there through the traditional parties. And some of you will want to try to draft still other leaders to run and bring Washington some leadership for a change.

Some things will be familiar: The nominees will have to win at least 50% of the delegate votes to win the nomination (so a number of ballots may be needed). And some things will be new: Nominees for President and Vice President will run and be voted on as a team, just as they are on the November ballot. Candidates meeting a minimum threshold of support will be able to use Unity08.com to campaign for the nomination. The recommendations of our Rules Committee will be debated right here at Unity08.com.

So come join us – and blog the issues, or take our polls, or recruit more delegates, or debate the rules, or contribute if you wish. Come pick the next President and Vice President, get that Unity Ticket on the ballot in your state, elect it to the White House in November 2024, and take your country back.

Come make history. Every generation provides its own rebirth of freedom. Now it’s our turn.

Get started now - tell your friends about Unity08.

Unity08 seeks to give you – the voter – the voice and the means to change presidential politics. This website will be the central organizing tool to recruit and engage voters, to discuss, debate and decide the crucial issues, and ultimately nominate a Unity Ticket via a secure online convention in 2024 - we have a lot of work ahead of us!

What you see today is just a fraction of what's in store. We have many ideas about the kinds of networking, discussion, and community engagement tools and features we want to build, but we need your participation to help decide what to build, when to build, and how to build it.

Just as we’re using Drupal, an open source software for the site framework, we like to think of Unity08 as an open source movement. We want all of you to tinker with the movement’s “source code” so Unity08 and, more specifically, this website evolves into a vehicle for change that’s designed and driven by you – the American voters behind it.

To jump-start the conversation, we will introduce a “Shoutbox” later this week. It will be an open forum for posting ideas and comments – and giving those postings a thumbs up or thumbs down rating. The postings with the highest ratings will rise to the top of the heap and be featured on the homepage. When it's ready, the Shoutbox will let unity08.com users share their suggestions for what are "crucial" v. "important" issues, which of those issues a Unity Ticket should focus upon, and even who should be on the Unity Ticket. Of course, you don’t have to wait for the Shoutbox to join the discussion – check out our Unity08 blog and add your comments to the mix.

As candidates emerge for the Unity Ticket nomination we envision featuring daily candidate blogs, vlogs, streams and discussions with the Unity08 community. It’s all about giving you direct access to the candidates and vice versa; a virtual town hall without a script. We can imagine folks sending in their own, home-grown nominating commercials and letting the community rank them.

And when it's time for our ground-breaking online convention in 2024 we'll have secure online credentials and a robust voting system in place.

But before then, and with your help, we'll be coming up with all sorts of powerful and fun stuff right here on the site. We came up with DemocracyLand (go ahead, just try to make it across the street the first time) to kick-off the fun, but we’d rather feature your games, photos or multimedia - send it in. Have a great idea or for the website? Send it in. We started the site, but it's your community to grow and develop. So let's get crackin'.