The Washington Post Chris Cillizza has these must read comments on the failure of Americans Elect and the significance of that failure. The failure was for any potential candidate to reach the national support threshold the group itself set. And the failure will go down as yet another instance in American political history where those who yearn for a strong, viable third party getting fired up, putting their hearts, minds and money into it and ending up with bupkis.
That’s a somewhat remarkable — and ignominious — end for a group that carried a number of high-profile backers in the political strategist and donor community and who, as of earlier this month, had secured ballot access in more than half of the 50 states.
And it’s a telling indication that, despite widespread discontent with the two-party system and near-record numbers of people saying that they would be open to voting for a third-party candidate, the future of another major political party emerging any time soon is more pipe dream than practical.
“Good and qualified people see politics as so poisonous today that they simply don’t want to participate,” explained Mark McKinnon, a former adviser to President George W. Bush and a major player in the Americans Elect movement. “It’s just damn difficult to break the iron grip of the two-party system.
McKinnon added: “This may not be a death knell for third-party efforts, but it’s a pretty good shot to the groin.”
Any political science student knows: the American political system is, in effect, “rigged” against the emergence of a strong, competitive third party. And as anyone who studies comparative politics (as I did a college) knows, many countries have a variety of parties, but their systems are set up in ways far different than the American system. The problem is that increasingly American national elections are coming down to a decision on which candidate and party voter hate the least.
While there had been no serious — and by “serious,” we mean someone who could actually win — third-party candidate since Texas billionaire Ross Perot ran in 1992 and 1996, Americans Elect was widely regarded as the last, best chance for those who believed there was a silent majority pining for another option.
As I’ve noted here, Perot (like Teddy Roosevelt) was a strong third party candidate because he had the charisma to get the public and media attention he needed to transcend the constraints in the American political system.
Rather than repeat the mistakes of waiting for a candidate to emerge before doing the necessary legwork to get him or her on the ballot in enough states to be viable, Americans Elect started with ballot access in hopes that clearing that logistical hurdle would be enough to entice a candidate to run.
In theory, that was the right approach. (To quote Homer Simpson: “In theory, communism works.”) But, without a candidate to rally around, there was a deficit of enthusiasm for the online convention that was supposed to choose the nominee.
Americans Elect “took a ‘Field of Dreams’ approach: if you build it — a virtual nominating convention — they will come,” said Will Marshall, president of the Progressive Policy Institute. “But political movements are built around compelling personalities or causes, not technology. Neither materialized in 2012.”
The old saying is “Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door.” In this case, the mousetrap is just sitting out there.
In the end, no candidate was able to clear the relatively low 10,000-vote threshold to “win” the Americans Elect nomination. The candidate who came closest was Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who boasts a decidedly ardent group of supporters but is far from the centrist problem-solver the founder of Americans Elect had in mind when they hatched the idea. (And Paul wasn’t even a “declared” candidate for the Americans Elect nomination; former Louisiana governor Buddy Roemer, who got north of 6,000 votes, did the best of that group.)
McKinnon and other true believers in the possibility of a third party insisted all was not lost. “The results are disappointing, but until confidence is restored in the parties and our institutions of government, disruptive ideas will continue to emerge,” said McKinnon.
Added former Utah governor Jon Huntsman, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination but since dropping out has been a major advocate for a third party: “Today’s pathetic political environment will be upended either by visionary solutions-based leadership or by the kind of disruptive organizing technology being fine-tuned by Americans Elect.”
Maybe. But the failure of Americans Elect to field a candidate in 2012 is yet more evidence that there is a cavernous gap between the idea of running a third party candidate for president and the reality of doing so — a gap no one has figured out how to bridge just yet.
It’ll be environment and personality. There are some big personalities (New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg) but they clearly don’t see third parties as (at this time) a winning proposition.
OTHER TMV POSTS ON AMERICANS ELECT:
Americans Elect Throws in the Election Towel
“Really Bad Political Idea” Bombs Out
Also: John Avlon’s must read:
Americans Elect Failure to Find Candidate Threatens Third-Party Dreams
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.