Thursday, April 12, 2012

Road-Testing Americans Elect's Declared Candidates: Try Before You Buy

Inspired by a brief Twitter exchange yesterday with AECorp declared candidate TJ O'Hara, we have laid down (via Twitter and email, and herewith) this sensible challenge to all of Americans Elect's leading declared candidates: What will you do, as individual candidates or (better) collectively, to demand and actually achieve immediate reform of Americans Elect Corporation?

Specifically, how will you address:
It's simple, really. If you can't...or can't be bothered to...clean up your own house first -- to fix Americans Elect first...how on earth can we believe that you would be able to tackle the much harder task of fixing America itself? And if you're unwilling to bite the hand that feeds you at Americans Elect, why should we believe that you're fundamentally different from All The Usual Suspects -- the conventional political candidates who go along and get along and sleep with the devil in order to advance their personal political careers?

Consider this a road-test. Let's take these babies out for a spin, open 'em up, and see what they can really do. Try before you buy (or, in this case, before you click). And don't settle for hollow "I have demanded that..." explanations. First off, Buddy Roemer has already tied up that gambit. Secondly, real leaders don't just 'demand' and then move on. Real leaders roll up their sleeves and get the job done. Lead, follow, or get out of the way.

We encourage our readers, followers, well-wishers, and fellow caucus members...heck, even our detractors... to contact the following candidates and ask them yourselves, "What will you do to fix Americans Elect first to demonstrate you deserve my vote?" And be sure to link to this article so they know what the heck you're talking about.

You don't have to already be an Americans Elect member to send these folks a message. Remember, the whole strategy behind Americans Elect is that a candidate draws his or her potential supporters to join. So even if you're not a member...even if, right now, you wouldn't even dream of ever becoming a member...you still have a say: send 'em a message. While you're at it, encourage them to sign the AE Reform Petition. Heck, why not sign it yourself?

In alphabetical order, the leading declared candidates at Americans Elect Corporation are:
(This list does not constitute an endorsement of any of the above candidates. We acknowledge that there are other minor declared candidates in the Americans Elect derby as well, but the above list constitutes the top declared candidate vote-getters as of today; we just had to draw the line somewhere).

ATTENTION CANDIDATES: We will be happy to publish (without editorial comment) your personal statements regarding how you intend to fight to fix Americans Elect. Submit them to aetransparency(at)gmail(dot)com.

7 comments:

  1. I'm your huckleberry. Done!

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  2. Vote for the Teacher on Americans Elect. Not a professional politician. Just a regular working stiff.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, but this isn't a site for promoting a particular candidate. Two such posts are enough, please. Further ones must be deleted.

      Delete
  3. Looks like AE Transparancy has a transparency problem.

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  4. So, here is the opportunity for a third candidate to get on the ballot. Here is an opportunity for this group to FORCE the two party system to talk about critical issues facing our country. I am an activist, I have no desire to be a politician...I do want to be of service to our country and begin to review and solve our problems. At this point in time, the rules are "unfair" to candidates, because our system favors "those known or celebrities". This does not mean that they are the most qualified. yet, they actually have to do less work to get to their qualifications for nomination. yes, there are a number of things wrong with AE, but I have met with the core team, and despite what you may think there team is committed to creating change. I do think that there were some serious miscalulations. For example when you introduce a new technology, there is the EARLY ADOPTER stage. This isn't when the technology is accepted by the "mass" but a small percentage of technically sophisticated and fearless- AE needed to create a SIGNIFICANT marketing strategy to get people to the site...and get engaged. AE spent an enormous amount of money on the site, and did not plan for a support team to help people who have trouble getting on or are locked out of the system. I could give you a complete run down of the missed opportunities. That said, I can't take away from what they are attempting to do. I also will defend them in some of their lack of transparency. There are many people who are FEARFUL of their parties wrath for stepping out of line. I have seen it first hand, myself.

    What we should all be focused on is getting people engaged on the site, so that there COULD be another choice. Change is never easy, but it's never been needed as much as it is today.

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    Replies
    1. So, to summarize: candidate Risley declines to fix AECorp first.

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Join the debate. What's your take on this?