Ah! Unity!

Here’s an interesting idea…Unity08. And yeah, I’m using the word “interesting” in that vaguely disparaging, not quite approving while not disapproving, sort of way. I saw two spokesmen for the Unity08 movement on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal this morning and was curious enough to check out their web site. The basic premise of Unity08 is to select and elect a bi-partisan ticket for the 2008 presidential election—one Republican and one Democrat. The founders of Unity08 see the internet as the prime mover in this effort; their constituency is supposed to be alienated middle-of-the-road Americans. Here is how they state their goals:

We have set three specific goals, and are exploring how best to achieve them.

1. Goal One is the election of a Unity Ticket for President and Vice-President of the United States in 2008 – headed by a woman and/or man from each major party or by an independent who presents a Unity Team from both parties.

2. Goal Two is for the people themselves to pick that Unity Ticket in the first half of 2008 – via a virtual and secure online convention in which all American voters will be qualified to vote.

3. Goal Three, our minimum goal, is to effect major change and reform in the 2008 national elections by influencing the major parties to adopt the core features of our national agenda. With a group of voters who comprise at least 20% of the national electorate, we feel confident that our voters will decide the 2008 election.

The new ground broken in meeting our goals will include new choices for voters, new opportunities for candidates, and new uses of modern technology as well. In pursuing our goals, we will both follow the law in every instance and seek the opinion of the Federal Elections Commission to interpret the law where we are breaking new ground. (In fact we are currently seeking an FEC advisory opinion to guide our early decisions.)

We are not looking to build a new and permanent party. That might happen, but our objective is to fix the old parties. A Unity Ticket in office for one term or even taking part in just one election can bring new ideas, new integrity and new leaders to the fore.

So…they state they are not trying to be a Third Party, although they also say “that might happen.” I’m not quite sure how one goes about “fixing” the old parties when the old parties seem so diametrically opposed to each other's goals and objectives. It’s extremely difficult for me to envision any two individual Republicans and Democrats “coming together” on a single ticket, given the current state of political (non)cooperation in Washington. But perhaps my way of thinking is illustrative of the old politics-as-usual mindset.

So. Where does Unity08 stand on the issues? I read what they have to say on the subject and my bottom line is: I have no clue. There’s not a lot of substance on the website. Here’s their entire position on “the issues:”

Unity08 divides issues facing the country into two categories: Crucial Issues – on which America’s future safety and welfare depend; and Important Issues – which, while vital to some, will not, in our judgment, determine the fate or future of the United States.

In our opinion, Crucial Issues include: Global terrorism, our national debt, our dependence on foreign oil, the emergence of India and China as strategic competitors and/or allies, nuclear proliferation, global climate change, the corruption of Washington’s lobbying system, the education of our young, the health care of all, and the disappearance of the American Dream for so many of our people.

By contrast, we consider gun control, abortion and gay marriage important issues, worthy of debate and discussion in a free society, but not issues that should dominate or even crowd our national agenda.

In our opinion – since the disintegration of the Soviet Union – our political system seems to have focused more attention on the “important issues” than the “crucial issues.” One result: The political parties have been built to address the interests of their “base” but have failed to address the realities that impact most Americans.

That’s it, and that’s all. As one pundit noted: where’s Social Security? Where’s immigration? And what’s this “disappearance of the American Dream” crap? I’ll give Unity08 the benefit of the doubt because it’s still very early days. As an example, Unity08 lists global terrorism as a crucial issue yet they make no effort at all in explaining how they would tackle the issue. Do they agree with the Bush Doctrine? Would they sustain or repudiate it? We have no clue. As I said, it’s still early days, but I want, no, I need specifics.

I agree with a basic, yet unstated, premise of Unity08: there are a lot of disaffected voters in the country, and I’m not talking about the small numbers of folks on the radical right who feel betrayed by Dubya, or the radical fringe Left, who are paralyzed by Bush Derangement Syndrome. I think Unity08 is designed to appeal to the large numbers of Americans in the moderate center, people who don’t believe the current system is serving the nation well, if at all. Check that…it’s not the system so much as it is the idiots working within that system, and by that I mean the congress. I don’t think a “Unity” ticket will fix the congress, unless the leaders on the ticket have the strength to define a national agenda both parties will support and implement. It’s difficult for me to see that happening. I’m not ready to sign up yet, but Unity08 bears watching. And then there’s the one over-riding question: Who gets to be on top?

It looks like I’m getting out of Dodge just in time. The Weather Channel sez P-Town is in for a ten-day run of very high 90s – low 100s. Today: 99. Tomorrow: 102. I can handle — thrive in, even — temps in the low 90s. 100 degree weather wears me down, however. Maine’s cool temps look awfully appealing right now!

The Stanley Cup Finals begin Monday evening — Carolina vs. Edmonton. My money’s on Edmonton. We’ll see. Or maybe we won’t, literally. I’ll get to watch Games one and two, the rest are up in the air for me, schedule-wise. But you can rest assured I’ll find a way to watch, assuming a way is at all possible, as many of the games as I can. Just sayin’.