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DEL.ICIO.USBut please, leave Simon off the debate panel
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Imagine, if you would, a Giuliani-Nunn ’08 presidential ticket. Or a pairing of Michael Bloomberg, the Republican New York mayor, with Kathleen Sibelius, the Democratic governor of Kansas. Or Bill Bradley, the former senator and basketball player, on a ticket with Carly Fiorini, the former Hewlett-Packard boss.
Those are among the intriguing possibilities floated by Gerald Rafshoon and Doug Bailey, the odd couple of ’08 presidential politics, when they make their pitch for Unity ’08.
In 1976, Rafshoon and Bailey were the opposing ad men for that year’s Democratic and Republican presidential opponents.
“As Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter became good friends, we have become good friends, independently of our bosses,” Rafshoon told a group which gathered in the offices of the architectural firm Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates Tuesday night to see their presentation.
Although they welcome checks in support of their cause, the Rafshoon-Bailey roadshow appears chiefly designed to win influential citizens like those who came to see them here that this isn’t just a wild idea concocted by the Democratic ad exec who went on to become a movie producer and the Republican strategist who went on to found The Hotline.
Unity ’08 is a brash yet centrist scheme to upset the political applecart next year by choosing a bipartisan ticket next summer through a nationwide online convention that would last several weeks as the contenders are winnowed down. The group’s founders, who also include Carter strategist Ham Jordan, don’t particular care what combination of Democrat, Republican or independent their process produces, so long as it gives voters an alternative to what they view as the deepest partisan rut the nation as ever been in.
We got the impression they don’t exactly welcome the inevitable comparison of their proposal for an internet selection process with “American Idol,” but the resemblance is precisely why you can’t discount Unity ’08 as a fanciful notion.
The rush of states to the earliest possible primary date is likely to mean both parties will have selected their presidential candidates by next February, Bailey pointed out, leaving plenty of time for buyer’s remorse to set in.
Bailey believes Unity ’08 can recruit 10 million Americans to participate in their convention, which will be open to any registered voters, whether they’ve already voted in one of the party primaries or not. If they could come anywhere close to that in the dead spot before the Democrats and Republican hold their conventions, they’d get a ton of media attention as the competition comes down to the finalists.
And the more unlikely the combination, probably, the better for capturing the nation’s fancy. Let’s see… Stabler-Perdue?
Comments
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By Tom
March 14, 2007 12:53 PM | Link to this
I’d vote for a Giuliani-Nunn ticket in a heartbeat! Heck, I wish a GOP prez had made Nunn SecDef years ago!……Sam’s probably the last Dem I voted for in a US Senate race!
By Dave
March 14, 2007 1:24 PM | Link to this
Had it been Gore-Nunn in 2000, the world would be a better place today.
By Hank
March 14, 2007 4:17 PM | Link to this
So true, Dave. 9/11 probably wouldn’t have happened, because Gore would have paid attention when he was briefed that bin Laden was determined to strike in the USA. And even if it had happened, Sam Nunn would have taken care of business and quickly disposed of al Quaeda.
By MrLiberty
March 14, 2007 5:04 PM | Link to this
That’s right, we have serious political problems in this country so let’s have a game show settle things.
Third parties are disenfranchised by laws passed by democrats and republicans all over this country. People are disgusted by the choices the two loser parties give them and eveyone works to make sure that is always the case.
Instead of a game show, why not just end ballot acceess laws, end public financing of conventions and campaigns, and let the marketplace of ideas have a chance at the candidates.
I know, what would the media do if they didn’t get to control the election????????????
By Sam Sludge
March 14, 2007 8:41 PM | Link to this
You forgot the most intriguing ‘08 pair - Gov. Mitt Romney & Gov. Sunshine Perdue = “Mitt & Twit”
By keith
March 15, 2007 10:32 AM | Link to this
IF OBAMA WINS THE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY I WOULD LOVE TO SEE A OBAMA-NUNN TICKET BECAUSE YOU WOULD HAVE A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE FROM THE MIDWEST & VICE-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE FROM THE SOUTH & COULD HELP DEMOCRATS WIN A SOUTHERN STATE OR TWO SUCH AS GEORGIA. NOW THAT’S MY DREAM TICKET.
By Hank
March 15, 2007 11:22 AM | Link to this
Thanks Sam - you made my day with that one…
By tribalecho
March 15, 2007 5:12 PM | Link to this
Nunn/Obama in ‘08
By Gracie
March 21, 2007 11:33 PM | Link to this
Nunn??? Pure Dixiecrat “Republican!” Come on, folks, the Conservative Agenda is dead and deserves a well-earned burial. “Trickle-down Reaganomics” has destroyed the Middle Class and created a “Third-world” nation for the working poor. Greed and Corruption so deep the whole lot deserves to be impeached, a police state, a War for Oil with Hailburton/Cheney the major beneficiaries, non-existant health care for the masses, and jobs shipped overseas in the name of “free-trade”. What’s wrong with this picture? If “business as usual” is all you can offer, you might as well keep GWB for another 10 years, assuming he doesn’t declare martial law and put himself in as the “official” dictator.
By Kris W
March 23, 2007 8:28 PM | Link to this
Rather interesting to compare Unity08 (of which I’m a delegate) to “American Idol” (which I hate), but I understand the point you are trying to make.
By Virgil Anderson
March 26, 2007 10:00 PM | Link to this
Lets get Mark Warner on the Unity 08 Radar. Forget Obama - we haven’t elected a president without governor or other serious administrative experience in a lot of years, and I doubt that it will happen this time. Proven ability and track record matters a lot. Governors have track record and proven administrative skills. Senators have political skills. Someone please tell Mr Edwards to forget about being president, until after he gets himself elected Governor of North Carolina. Forget all the declared contenders since they will be so politically bruised by convention time that all of them will be completely unelectable.