Yesterday my partner Albert and I sat down with the people behind Americans Elect. For those that don't know, Americans Elect is an online third party movement. In their words, "Pick A President, Not A Party."
Here's how it works (in short):
They are going to get on the ballot in all 50 states this fall. They've already gotten on the ballot in many of the states.
They have created a website where anyone can choose to run and where candidates can be drafted. Here's the current roster of candidates.
Over the summer, they will conduct an online convention and a single candidate will be nominated to run on their ticket.
That's basically it.
There are a number of cool things about the online service they have built. You answer questions about issues and they build an online profile of you. Then they match you with candidates that share your views. If you want to try that out, go sign up and you will be taken through the questions in a few minutes. It's fun to see where you end up even if you have no intention of voting for a third party candidate.
I'm sure a lot of people think this is a nutty idea. But I don't. So many people bitch and moan that they don't like our current system. Yet the do nothing to change it. The people behind Americans Elect have done something about it. That's progress.
