Americans Elect, a centrist group that shows more promise of nominating a viable independent candidate for president than anything we have seen in many years, is starting to make its presence known.
At its first national press conference held on Wednesday, the group outlined its momentum, milestones and goal: a nonpartisan presidential ticket on the ballot in all 50 states in November 2012.
Americans Elect delegates will hold the first-ever nonpartisan direct nomination of a presidential candidate. Through an online “convention,” the process will be open to the public and any registered voter can become a delegate.
“The American people are dissatisfied with the two-party system and the limited choice it offers,” chief operating officer Elliot Ackerman said at the National Press Club.
“Voters deserve an alternative, and Americans Elect is that alternative,” Ackerman said.
In its effort to obtain 50-state ballot access, Americans Elect has already gathered 1.9 million signatures nationwide.
Earlier this week, Americans Elect hit a major milestone by qualifying for the ballot in Ohio, bringing the total number of states it is certified in to seven, including the swing states of Florida, Michigan and Nevada. Americans Elect is awaiting certification in California, Utah, Hawaii, and Arkansas and is on the ground collecting signatures in 13 other states.
Democratic strategist Doug Schoen, a former advisor to President Clinton, said the public discontent with the two-party system has soared to 57 percent, increasing the potential that a third option could crack open next year’s presidential election. In an ABC News/Washington Post poll published on Wednesday, 61 percent responded positively to the idea of an independent running for president against the two major-party nominees.
Americans Elect bills itself as an organization with leadership from across the political spectrum that will make its June convention open to candidates of all persuasions. It’s assumed that the group will nominate a moderate, centrist presidential ticket, possibly consisting of one Republican and one Democrat.
In just three months, one year before the general election, and eight months before the Americans Elect online convention, they list these accomplishments:
- Over 1.2 million people have visited their website at www.americanselect.org.
- Over 140,000 voters have registered as delegates.
- Nearly 7.1 million questions have been posed and answered by people curious about the group.
- Almost 350,000 Facebook fans have “liked” their page.
- More than 2,500 volunteers have signed up for the effort.
- And students on 135 campuses have formed chapters.
