A Movement is Hard to Start

Recently I had started a series of posts in regard to bringing awareness to a long overdue movement to bring more accountability to our political leaders.  I had referred to this movement as voting for None of the Above.  I decided to do a little searching online and stumbled across this website.  It appears that the makers of this website have a similar directive, including putting the call out to have an amendment drafted to the constitution that would put the option of None of the Above on every Federal Ballot.  As great as this sounds, what politician in their right mind would want to sponsor this?  I know this sounds like I may be contradicting myself in regard to this movement, however, it does seem impossible to even get a sponsorship for this type of amendment even if the right amount of signatures could be gathered on a petition supporting it.

Regardless of how impossible it may seem to actually have None of the Above as an official option on a Federal, much less State or local, ballot, there is a rather simple way to do it.  That is obviously the option to just write it in when you show up on election day and enter the booth to place your vote.

Quite honestly I hope it never comes to that, but with coming off the heels of the Iowa Straw Poll, where Michelle Bachman won a nice little victory for herself, it also became clear how little stock other politicians and the media put in this event.  Which of course begs the question: Why did they even bother having it when it literally has no bearing on who eventually becomes the nominee for the Republican party, much less an actual contender for the Presidency of the United States?  Though, I guess one positive came out of it.  It eliminated at least one potential candidate who did not have the stomach for some serious competition.

Then, of course, we see a late-comer to the race in Rick Perry, who describes himself as George Bush on steroids, which really wasn't the best way to launch an campaign by associating yourself with one of the most unpopular Presidents in recent history.

There is also the other option I mentioned in a previous post.  That being the site that allows anyone to setup a profile and eventually debate issues and ultimately will actually choose someone from the general populous to run against the two major parties' nominees.  And possibly Donald Trump, but that remains to be seen.

Let's spread the word, shall we?  And, get the awareness going about the option to vote for None of the Above, if there is no clear choice to lead our great country and get it headed in the right direction again.

You Can Run for President, Too

In an article today on Newsmax they reported there is a group that is making it possible for anyone to throw their hat into the ring and be nominated to become an actual candidate for the upcoming Presidential race.

In addition to the usual two parties that will, of course, be putting up their own candidates there is now the possibility for a third party to enter the fray, without needing to come up with millions of their own money to do it.  This is what the internet has finally afforded us.

In my previous post I identified that Donald Trump is still considering a run for the Presidency, which will most likely be announced prior to June of next year.  This new group will now afford us an additional option.

Of course, I still assert that if, by November 2012, we are still left without a clear choice for President among the available choices we should seriously consider voting for None of the Above.  This new group does make it a little less likely that we will need to take that kind of drastic measure to send a clear message to our resident politicians.

Things are definitely becoming more interesting, and as soon as I find a link to the website that will allow you to throw your hat in I will post it here.

----------------------

Update:


Here is the link I was referring to.  Check this site out.  It is really interesting.  You can setup a profile and they will eventually be adding features that will allow members (free, by the way) to converse/debate about major issues prior to their convention, where they will be picking a candidate for President to run against Obama, and whoever the Republicans end up supporting.

The Pickin's are Slim.

For a while now I have been watching the increasingly heated race among the Republicans who are vying for their party's nomination to represent them in the upcoming Presidential race.  This, at times has been either enhanced, or overshadowed, by the current economic crisis.  Of course the most recent development on that front is the somewhat bipartisan passing of the debt bill.  Which, received a not so glorious reception from the public.  This also came on the heels of a recent announcement by "The Donald" that he would seriously consider running for President prior to June of 2012 if, by that time, the Republicans did not pick someone he felt would not only beat Obama, but also be able to lead this country in the right direction, and if the economy was still in the crapper.

Here is the interview where he discusses this with Hannity from Fox News:

One could possibly argue, and of course Trump would definitely consider this as well, that this revelation is what was the catalyst that forced Congress to finally pass the debt bill thinking this will turn the economy around and prevent the likelihood of Trump running for President.  However, with the recent aftermath of the S&P downgrading the country's credit rating and stocks taking a tumble, this really hasn't worked, so far, the way they expected.

With this and the considerations of who is currently vying for the Republican nomination I do not see any clear front runner that I would willingly vote for.  We are still being forced to choose from the lesser of the available evils.  There is no-one that stands out as a clear choice.  This is why I think it may be time to explore another option.  If, by the time the next Presidential Election comes around, we do not see someone we can enthusiastically get behind that will turn this country around and send it in the right direction, we should seriously consider voting for None Of The Above.

Of course I may be a bit naive in making this statement, but it will only take some perusing of the constitution and election law to discover what this would truly mean.  So, I am making the suggestion that if you enter the voting box in November of 2012 and you do not see anyone on that ballot that you would enthusiastically support for President, then vote for None Of The Above and see what happens.  We just might send the clearest message yet to our politicians that we will no longer be ready to settle on the least of the available evils.

Who's with me?