[LD22exec] FW: An article from www.theolympian.com

[John Cusick]

I certainly share Jim's concerns about the United States' propensity to 
sell candidates or ballot measures to voters, along with 
pharmaceuticals, cars, celebrities and all the other crap!

The influence of money on our campaigns in unique among nations, and I 
think of the conversation Christi and I had with Virginia, with whom we 
stayed in Wellington, NZ last winter.  She's very politically savvy, 
living the capital and all, and connected with elected officials at all 
levels of government.  Yet, when I spoke about attending "fund raisers" 
for candidates, she didn't know what the hell I was talking about.  She 
eventually realized I meant what they call "meet and greet" coffees or 
similar events.  No money changes hands, they're just opportunities for 
citizens to talk with candidates.  Novel concept, huh?

It's curious Jim sent this note just after I listened to a long, long 
phone message from a local woman who is extremely concerned about 
"Unity08," an organization with which I was not familiar until I checked 
it out a bit after hearing of her extensive concerns.  Perhaps others 
are already aware of it, but, if not, it's essentially a web-based 
effort to create a new political party that represents the "middle" and 
is not so "partisan."   As Joshua Green noted in this piece 
<http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200701/green-unity08>earlier this year 
in _The Atlantic_, its made up of disaffected but experienced D's and 
R's.  And, as this website <http://irregulartimes.com/unity08watch.html> 
notes, they're not acting entirely consistently with their stated 
values.  No surprises here!

The woman who left the voice message seems to fear that "Unity08" is 
developing into something that will suck away voters from the "middle" 
that might otherwise support a Democratic nominee for President next 
year.  From what I saw after hearing her message, I don't think they 
will.  But, it would certainly be an interesting switch from Nader 2000, 
wouldn't it?

John

Jim Cooper wrote:
>
> As we move into one of the most important political seasons ever, I 
> think non-partisan pollster Mr. Elway has really hit the nail on the 
> head with his opinion piece in today's Olympian (below).  Please check 
> it out and let's make sure we remember the "middle" as we gear up our 
> 2008 work.  In my opinion this passage sums it up best:
>
> */"/**/Modern campaigns tend to devalue politics by treating voters as 
> consumers more than as citizens."/*
>
> I am definitely guilty of trying to think like "big corporate 
> marketing" in order to /sell/ a candidate to the community.   The 
> question is can we employ modern political marketing tactics to appeal 
> to the citizen, or do we throw it all out and go back to "soap box" 
> debates in the square?  I am leaning more and more to the latter, 
> having recently worked on one of the most expensive races in Lacey 
> history I often found myself wondering if the candidate would ever get 
> a chance to talk to enough real voters with all of the fundraising and 
> interest group interviews/forums that were necessary to be competitive.
>
> So as we prepare for 2008 how can we reengage the "middle" without 
> losing sight on our base and the values we stand for?
>
> Just some thoughts,
>
> Jim
>
> jim has sent you the following story:
>
>  
>
> Posted on Saturday, Dec. 01, 2007
>
>  
>
> *Both political parties have been taken over by extremists*
>
> /By H. Stuart Elway /
>
>  
>
> U.S. democracy depends upon the middle: the middle class and the 
> middle ground. Both have been under assault for a generation.
>
> 1960s liberalism sought government --- tax supported --- solutions for 
> every societal problem. The Great Society left the tracks when middle 
> class voters perceived that it was not working for their benefit. 
> Further, that it was working against their values of hard work and 
> responsibility and got us mired in a war for reasons that were obscure 
> and that the country came to oppose.
>
> For the conservatism of Reagan and Bush, government is always the 
> problem, never the solution (except the military).
>
>  
>
> Read More... <http://www.theolympian.com/opinion/story/286696.html>
>
>  
>
> =
>
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