New at Reason

Brian Doherty tells Sam Waterston what a real third party movement should do... and why Unity08 isn't doing it.

Comments

de stijl | February 12, 2007, 12:39pm | #

Will they offer subsidized robot insurance for the elderly? What will happen to me or my loved ones if robots should run amok?

lunchstealer | February 12, 2007, 12:50pm | #

Well, I learned what "adumbration" means, so I guess Unity08's had some useful impact on the world.

Eric the .5b | February 12, 2007, 1:12pm | #

So, these folks want to fight gridlock and encourage more bipartisan legislation.

The word "democracy" and the phrase "getting it good and hard" come to mind.

ChrisO | February 12, 2007, 1:28pm | #

Somewhere, Ross Perot lets out an evil chuckle.

James | February 12, 2007, 1:42pm | #

And the Great Reformers are....Ham Jordan and a couple of like-minded hacks I never heard of?

It reminds me of Hunter Thompson's description of George Wallace's political platform: "See, the solutions to the problems are REAL SIMPLE, but those pinheads in Washington don't want to solve them, 'cause then they'd be out of job!"

It's telling that the Great Reformers won't specify any solutions they plan to implement. It turns out that Americans aren't sick of partisanship. They're all partisans themselves. The real issue is the enormous amount of control the government has come to exert over our lives. Every election is increasingly bitter because the consequences of defeat are greater and greater. "Big Money" is trying to swing the election one way or another because government represents a threat or ally depending on who wins.

Reform THAT, for starters.

Jeff P. | February 12, 2007, 1:58pm | #

People who deny the existence of robots may be robots themselves.

de stijl | February 12, 2007, 2:02pm | #

And when they grab you with those metal claws, you can't break free... because they're made of metal, and robots are strong.

. | February 12, 2007, 2:11pm | #

Unity ain't all it's cracked up to be.

Stretch | February 12, 2007, 2:34pm | #

You don't really need a third party for this. You can just go old school and let the loser of the election be VP.

I wonder if knowing that at least some spot in the White House was assured would lessen the amount of vitriol and money involved in modern politics. Plus, if a divided government is the best we can hope for then this would serve to further divide the power in DC.

Of course, this has even less of a chance of happening than a Unity08 ticket winning an election.

Ugly bald guy in the bar | February 12, 2007, 3:33pm | #

Let's all have a drink, to UNIFICATION DAY!

Graphite | February 12, 2007, 3:39pm | #

I sometimes find these people even more maddening than outwardly corrupt rent-seekers. At least the nefarious ones aren't plagued with this self-righteous, civic-minded naivete about the nature of government and democratic political processes.

Lamar | February 12, 2007, 4:57pm | #

"At least the nefarious ones aren't plagued with this self-righteous, civic-minded naivete about the nature of government and democratic political processes."

At least they're trying to do something to improve the level of politics in this country. I think the primary elections are to blame for most of it. I would have liked to see Bob Graham run against George W in 2004. Instead, we got the world's silliest fop against the dimmest frat boy.

lunchstealer | February 12, 2007, 6:12pm | #

Let's all have a drink, to UNIFICATION DAY!

Ron Paul's coat is kinda brownish.

Akira MacKenzie | February 12, 2007, 6:40pm | #

Everyone go back into the bar, or we'll blow another crater in this little moon!

Paul | February 12, 2007, 7:41pm | #

"If mere thousands of votes across the nation had gone differently, the Senate would still be Republican, so it’s doubly hard to say the overall results represent any strongly held national view."

I dunno, this, to me, seems to be exactly what Unity '08 is all about. It's the Seinfeld of politics. It's a show about nothing-- or a party which doesn't represent any 'strongly held navional view'.

Robert | February 12, 2007, 10:15pm | #

It's just the latest manifestation of something that's brewed since ca. 1989, and whose previous products were named:

Fusion Party
Patriot Party
High Tech Party
Independent Party
Independence Party
Ass'n of Independent Parties
Reform Party

and combinations thereof. Plus that "reality" TV show that never got off the ground because of campaign finance laws, and was pushed to cable anyway because of equal time law.

crimethink | February 12, 2007, 10:43pm | #

Those libertarians are a bunch uh piss-pots and cowards who shoulda been blown off uh every world spinnin.

Daze | February 12, 2007, 11:24pm | #

McKinney/Santorum 08!

mw | February 13, 2007, 10:26am | #

I've been watching the Unity '08 effort with curiosity since it started in May with a flurry of publicity. Coinicidently it started at the same time I started my blog focused on the virtues of divided government (Disunity '06). I found it interesting to use Technorati and blogpulse to compare mentions of "divided government" vs. 'Unity08" in the blogosphere. Unity08 being a well-funded 527 driven by PR professionals and "divided government" being an idea that is kicked around by libertarian columnists, think-tanks and a few blogs. Net net: I concluded that - at least thus far - "Disunity06 kicks Unity08 Butt":

"It is just so painfully obvious that the "unity" in Unity08 will last exactly as long as they support no actual candidates, have no platform, and have no opinion on any actual issues, and will not last one minute longer."

jpc | February 19, 2007, 11:38pm | #

Only if it's Paul/Feingold 2008...