Peter Ackerman and Tom Collier are Co-chairs of the Unity08 Rules Committee
Our full committee was announced today (see release here and bios here).
We can’t do our job without your help. And we have a good example to start on right now.
First, let us describe a process we intend to follow. We have some experts and pretty smart people on the Committee, but most of our best ideas will come from right here, on the website. We won’t be shy in asking for your help or in using your good ideas to shape our recommendations.
Before the end of this year we will be recommending a set of rules to the Steering Committee, which will then post what they adopt as the operating rules here on the website. For a period of a couple months, we will welcome any and all new ideas as to how to improve upon them – and then they will be set in concrete so that the delegates, those thinking of running as candidates for the Unity08 nomination, and the media will all understand the process. It all must be open, transparent, fair, logical, clear, and as simple as we can make them.
Now, here is the first way you can help us a lot: Who can be a candidate for the Unity08 nomination for President?
Obviously one answer is that the person must be constitutionally qualified to serve if elected – 35 years old, natural-born citizen, etc.
But here’s the reason we probably should be more specific. Every four years there are hundreds of candidates who file their candidacy with the Federal Elections Commission – people you have never heard from or about and never will. They may believe they can win; they probably have a specific issue they care deeply about; or what they care deeply about is their own publicity.
No one should be denied their chance to run, but is there some additional and fair test that can be applied to Unity08 candidates that qualifies them for use of the website and a slot on the first convention ballot? Remember, the Unity08.com website, as we lead up to the convention, will be used by the candidates to earn delegate support – through, for example, video-on-demand answers to crucial issue questions which you will determine, their own web-logs to engage in a dialogue with the delegates in a personal and meaningful way, and providing Unity08 email messages they want sent to all delegates.
Those website services will be invaluable to the candidates, but can be rendered meaningless (or at best confusing) by hundreds of candidates using them for frivolous campaigns.
So is there a meaningful threshold we should ask every Unity08 candidate to meet to be able to use the website services and to be on the first convention ballot?
This is certainly not an unheard of approach. Nearly every state requires something of a candidate for any office – be it a financial payment of some sort (which seems inappropriate to us) or the collection of a given number of petition signatures by registered voters. While it is probably irrelevant here, one example of a threshold-of-support requirement is when the FEC requires presidential candidates to document $5000 in contributions of $250 or less in twenty separate states before they can receive federal matching funds in their campaigns for the party nominations.
We don’t mean to show personal bias of any kind, but we probably should show a seriousness of purpose by discouraging the kind of candidacy that porn-star Mary Carey provided in the recent California gubernatorial recall election. It is clear that the Unity08 convention will draw a host of candidates, and some early test of their seriousness and/or public support seems wise.
Any ideas? Please keep them simple, easy-to-understand and fair. Thanks.
Rules Committee Links:
- Post your ideas in the Rules Committee Shoutbox forum.
- Rules Committee member bios.
- Rules Committee press release
Subscribe
No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
Anything more or less is what we have today!I can already see the politicians at work inUnity 08.
Sheldon
I'm sure this committee is full of top notch brain trust. But where are the grasss roots people carpenter, policeman, nurses, housekeepers, soccer moms,etc. All the people by their CV indicate they are the special interest of the country. Lets develop a platform and then see if these folks want to support it if not see ya. Take a look at the poll numbers. See if the number are going down, Could this reflect interest in 08??
The constitution is in place . Lets leave it alone . Lets enforse the laws of the constitution. the new "candidate" does not ahve to be be a contender now "Clinton, Gore etc. but some one with the best interst of the USA and its people.
There are basically 300 million Americans. Suppose that 200 million of them meet the Consitutional requirments to be President. No one can seriously propose that the Unity community should form opinions on the electability and policy proposals of every one of the 200 million. Imagine 10,000 people "sign up to be president"... that's still way too many to think about seriously.
What's the most we should be thinking about? How can we focus our valuable attention on people who are worth being scrutinized as possible Presidents. What procedures should be put in place for this to work? Those are the questions we need to be answering.
As the discussion evolves, please keep in mind that there's a place for a collaborative document to be written by the Unity community on this subject. The Unity Wiki has a page on the Unity Convention Rules Committee
-Jennifer
My ideal candidate has the following:
A true desire to serve the public, not special interests;
Believes in a balanced budget;
believes in social programs to raise all levels of Americans to a higher standard of living through healthcare and education for all;
Believes we spend and focus way too much on our military - reduce this spending by 25% at minimum, and make our nuclear policy match what we expect from other nations;
Believes in reforming campaign finances and election procedures to simplify and equalize the process.
General qualifications would include either having held public office at the state level (or higher) before, or gathering 10,000 signatures by petition to be placed on the Unity08 ballot.
with respect, DSM
The $5,000 FEC donations threshold is a good test, as long as it excludes the candidate's own donations. Saying it has to be from 20 states is asking way too much, though. There could be excellent candidates who are only well organized in a few states, but worthy of being heard.
Requiring 10,000 signatures would be ridiculous. Perhaps instead of signatures, approval votes from X-percent of registered Unity08 delegates would work, with a separate forum for wanna-be candidates to appeal for support.
To avoid complicating matters, exemptions could be given to anyone who has served as a state governor, US Senator, or Representative in the US House. To encourage non-politicians, anyone who has been a CEO of a public company of a reasonable size, or attained the rank of general or admiral in the US armed forces, could also be exempt.
I cannot imagine any candidate worth considering not being able to get together 5k from contributors in 20 different states. We're talking about 20 supporters, for God's sake!
And the idea of granting exemptions for subjectively selected groups/individuals? Please! I don't know about you, but I'm a really, really big fan of the 14th Amendment - every American is to be treated equally under the law. No? If its good enough for regular Americans I would certainly hope it were good enough for the members here and for our potential standard bearers...
Mark Greene
Texas Democrat in the Middle
The Republicans once again have shown their true colors by attaching a piece of legislation to a bill to finally raise the minimum wage.
I have been an advocate of doing away with the minimum wage, and replace it with an American Living Wage indexed for inflation. I wrote an essay here not long ago about our nation's economy and how to make it better and fairer for all Americans.
The Republicans have had their way now for over five years, slashing taxes on the most wealthy people in America at the direct expense of all the rest of us... working class Americans.
Now they use majority tactics in the Congress by attaching another one of their large tax give-aways to the most affluent in our society again. They attached that big tax cut for the wealthy to the raising of the minimum wage, a really discusting tactic. Yes, I know there will be those who read this and will say both political parties do the same, and yes, they do. That is why I take this Unity 08 very seriously.
What happend in the Congress last week, is just another example of why this movement must prevail. We the people are tired, tired of the partisanship, and sick and tired of nothing getting done for average Americans.
Polls are showing a movement towards Democrats in November, but I am not at all certain. The polls are really showing a huge dissatisfaction with both the Republicans and the Democrats. On the one hand the American people are not happy with the GOP, and on the other, they don't see any new ideas or direction from the Democrats, only crying about the way things are.
Yes, the minimum wage should be increased, should have, long ago, but come on, put it up by itself, and put up that tax cut proposal by itself, and let the democratic process work, either up or down.
That is the way the process is supposed to work.
Kirk Polizzi
Once again the Democrats show how little they truly care for the plight of the working poor. Even IF you accept the need to keep the estate tax here was an opportunity to raise the wages of millions of working poor and they threw them all under the bus 'for principle' or to prevent the Republicans from being able to claim a victory.
If you are working at minimum wage I sure bet you are happy those millionairs are going to pay some taxes in the future if they don't just find some other dodge.
ANOTHER EXAMPLE of how the current hyper-partisanship harms the nation (from BOTH sides) and why moderates and centrists need to find their poltical voice and work out pragmatic solutions and yes compromises.
vry,
RET
Poliz,
C'mon, its the lack of compromise that is they symptom of our hyper-partisanship.
The left and right would rather crash legistlation our nation needs over 'principal' rather than looking for tradeoffs etc. Solve border security and immigration mess no way treat it all seperateing up or down and nothing gets done and that is just one of many examples.
Our very constition was a set of compromises to include the bill of rights.
Unity08 will be doing plenty of compromising and bundling of issues in order to create consensus or wind up as a splinter footnote.
vry,
RET
I think that all serious people should be considered. One of the major considerations is time. Will somone be able and willing to devote the needed time for such an endeavor?
Clarity on their important issues and solutions for these should reflect whether a person is considered a nominee.
A nominee should also provide an audio file (because I assume public speaking will be a value for a candidate), plus a photo since what you look like, unfortunately does affect voters decision making process.
A brief statement for why you want to run and think there will be a chance for victory.
Perhaps a CV of the person along with what charactersitcs make for a presidential candidate.
The committee should review all entrants and pick the top 20 to 50 people to post. The people will elect the winner from these. Have people rank their top 5 candidates. A number 1 rank gets 10 points, #2 gets 8 #3 gets 6, #4 gets 4 and #5 gets 1.
I think this system of weighted voting, which is used for college football rankings makes the outcome as fare as possible.
Patrick "Armchair President" Fogarty
http://www.armchairpresident.com
American policy for America's interests, not for special interests
PA, I am right with you on your general concept.
However I would cede nothing to a committee.
vry,
RET
Within the two major political parties, the platform is a traditional exercise that enters the public consiousness for a few days during the convention and then fades into oblivion once the chosen candidates face off. For want of a better term, it is a public opinion poll of the movers and shakers within the party and as such, it seldom strays from the familiar partisan boilerplate.
For a new party such as Unity08, the platform serves a far more critical role. It is the consensus document (no matter how bloody the process of writing it is) that defines the major objectives and positions of Unity08 (even if our position on any particular issue is "to agree to disagree") and of the potential voter block that Unity08 represents.
It is the document that we can use to woo potential candidates (i.e. they can opt-in if their positions are in alignment and opt-out if not). To the extent that the document is short and well written, it can be used as a recruiting tool to attract more voters to the cause.
Issue blogs are all well and good, but far too long, disjointed and acrimonious for these purposes.
Therefore, I call upon the organizing committee to establish and draft the outline of a Unity08 Platform Wiki.
In situations where a higher guiding principle applies (such as factual accuracy in the case of Wikipedia) this mechanism can stabilize in a form acceptable to the community that authors it.
Are we strong enough, and do we hold dearly enough to the principle that reasonable people can forge effective policy for a Unity08 Platform Wiki to stabilize around effective policies?
I don't know, but it's a good first test of our prospects for long term success.
-- Vern
"Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people."
- Vice Adm. H.G. Rickover
Earn Snyder on June 30, 2024 - 9:33pm
We face the challenge of no policy base because we come from all political philosophy... This will either make Unity08 or break it... we must introduce a diciplined format for policy creation, which will require direct feedback from the people... Something never before done because normally political parties have a unified base for the most part... in our case quite the opposite, we seek to unify a wide base... Here is and example of what I propose... the first multiple choice question would head us in the right direction... QUESTION: Enviornment: There is no debate that drastic moves need to be made, which ideas do you like best ? 1) [ ] YES [ ] NO : Phase out non enviornmentally friendly process with tarrifs, and give subsidies to the eco friendly replacement so that it costs consumers 1/2 as much to use the eco friendly replacement. 2) [ ] YES [ ] NO : Require all energy sources to be produced within the United States, to prevent ocean oil spills, thus driving up cost and forcing eco friendly alternatives. 3) [ ] YES [ ] NO : Continue to import oil but require double hull tankers. 4) [ ] YES [ ] NO : Begin inland drilling of oil in the Southwest United States rather than offshore drilling. 5) [ ] YES [ ] NO : Institute executive order to suspend any activity that the President thinks is a danger to the enviornment. 6) [ ] YES [ ] NO : Ration non eco friendly fuels to force alternative fules, eventually rationing them out completely. 7) [ ] YES [ ] NO : Rather than tax incentives provide immediate cash incentives for purchase of eco friendly cars, both for the maker and buyer. 8) [ ] YES [ ] NO : Phase out cars as we know them for private transportation with state-of-the-art public transportation, at the corner every 5 minutes. 9) [ ] YES [ ] NO : Force car makers, buyers, and users to park the gas cars now and replace them with eco friendly cars immediately, doing so with tax dollars for the most part to make the transfer a non-expense for all.
10) [ ] YES [ ] NO : Provide the U.S. based car industry billions (or whatever it takes) to stop making gas burning cars immediately.
----
It is the type of questioning in the beginning that gives the people justice in directing us toward policy composition... and is required for this unique movement because we have no core.... www.appyp.com/fix_main.html
The committee has taken the first step. Congratulations! We can compare the members of Unity 08 as proud parents of the committee as they have taken their first step! Most importantly any candidate must have some public service or running/managing a huge organization. Say, someone who was a Councilman, Senator, CEO, General or Ambassador. Then they should have some idea of who will be in their cabinet. Experience is of the upmost. Otherwise they will be a minnow swimming with the sharks! This is even worse than not having a candidate. As for the monetary requirement. I'm split. The person could not be as well known outside of their state. Yet, they could be a jewel. They should have the ability to raise money. Money from both the public and private sector. Keeping funds in balance as not to be owning any group any special favors. Then the Unity 08 members should also feel free to nominate someone. Make a list of issues that are important to Unity 08 as a whole. The deficit, the war, envirnoment, business, labor and other issues that affect our country. We should also keep an open mind that should we not find someone that we can ask someone to run under the Unity 08 banner. This is going to be tough enough for us to let others know we are serious. We need a strong person to run with us.
We have taken the first step now as a proud parent would do we can wait until all the relatives(Unity 08 members)have placed their thoughts and ideas together.
If you make it difficult for an independent to be active or to be a candidate for Unity08, then you have served no purpose. If money, power and name recognition are required then you should just support the current political parties.
I am running because I know I can manage things differently. If I had unlimited resources, superpower level friends, and a famed name, I would still run as an independent, to defy and change the system.
Change is in the hands of the America citizens, not the organization that rallies them.
Create a system which allows each of us to have a chance and you done what the current system will not.
Create a system where we have additional unrealistic expectations and you have done no good. Even if your candidate wins, he or she will be just be another example of how only the most powerful can run things.
If American wants the powerful to win, they can vote Democrat or Republican.
Respectfully,
Bob
Bob W. Hargis
www.hargis.info
bob@hargis.info
It would help greatly if you set a date for the nomination convention will be.
Dick Morris postulates that the two major parties will have their candidates selected by Labor Day of THIS YEAR, so their should be plenty of qualified candidates out there come next spring.
http://journals.aol.com/kweinschen/Veritas/
I think some sort of Petition process would be best to select nominees.
If done by Unity delegates, it may help iron out the bugs that would invaribaly crop up in the convention process.
Just to throw some numbers around, for a candidate to get on the nominating ballot, he or she would have to get support of 5% of Unity 08's delegates.
http://journals.aol.com/kweinschen/Veritas/
Take time to create a list of issues , and let the delagates vote on the list or ad to it ;;;;;;;Limit it to 20 Issues perfect it and vote on it ;;;;then choose a canidate ;;;;;
Why complicate this? the Federal election Commission already has rules INEFFECT for "Presidential Canidates"
If ANYONE qualifies at that level they SHOULD be included.
The rules are written why re-invent the wheel.
There are hundreds of people who run for president (many of then loony-left or right wing-nuts); they should have to have a certain threshold of support to SERIOUSLY considered by Unity08.
Earlier I suggested 5% of the DELEGATES support a candidate, but perhaps a better way would be to have all delegates (once they are vetted) submit a list of say 3-7 potential candidates, the top 15-20 of those could be placed on the first ballot and voting among delegates can begin from there.
http://journals.aol.com/kweinschen/Veritas/