FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 7, 2007 … CONTACT: Shane Kinkennon,
202-536-2792, shane@kinkennoncommunications.com
Unity08 Opens Doors to Delegates; Americans Now Can Reserve Their Seat in First-Ever Online National Primary
As candidates compete earlier than ever for big money and turn increasingly partisan, Unity08 officially opens its doors to fed-up, left-out voters in the political middle
Becoming delegate means opportunity for direct participation in choosing who becomes president
Washington, D.C. -February 7, 2007 - Unity08 announced that beginning today, American voters can reserve a seat at a history-making online political convention Unity08 will host over the Internet in the spring of 2008 – the first-ever “national” presidential primary.
Up until now, Americans have been able to sign up on the Unity08 Web site (www.unity08.com) to learn more, but not to actually register to be a delegate in Unity08’s national political primary. Today, any American can sign up on www.unity08.com to reserve their spot as one of the millions of delegates who will select a bipartisan Unity Ticket over the Internet in the spring of 2008.
“Opening this delegate registration is the most important move Unity08 has made since our launch,” said Unity08 founders council member and president and CEO Doug Bailey. “Unity08 has a simple but powerful vision. It is to use America’s remarkable online technology to empower the American people to take their country back – by embracing an idea as old as America itself: Every American generation redefines freedom in its own terms for its own times. Now it is our turn, so we’re calling on Americans to sign up and join us today.”
The announcement comes at an opportune time. The presidential race has heated up far earlier than ever before, and is revealing the degree to which everyday Americans have startlingly little say in who actually wins the nominations of the two major parties. Front-runners are being ordained by the media almost solely on their success at raising big checks from lobbyists, and the candidates are becoming predictably partisan solely to appeal to voters in primary states. It creates an unfortunate yet “perfect storm” in which Unity08 believes it will achieve success.
“The ultimate nominees of the two major parties will be selected without 99.8 percent of Americans getting a word in edgewise,” said Bailey. “Fat cat lobbyists and the media will have had a tremendous say in the nominating process. The rest of us will have had virtually no say. It demonstrates just how broken our political system is. We’ve got a way to fix it, and we need Americans to join us.”
Today’s launch signaled a sharpening of Unity08’s focus on its number-one task – articulating its vision to the American people so they raise their hands to join the movement and enable Unity08 builds a delegate community of millions. With millions of delegates “in the hall,” Unity08 will have the momentum and foot soldiers to succeed on the many fronts it must, such as raising a campaign chest through small-dollar donations, gaining access to the ballot in all 50 states, and recruiting the technology experts and resources necessary to host a bombproof political convention over the Internet.
“I believe that signing up to be a Unity08 delegate presents citizens like me an opportunity to right the ship of American politics – to bring honesty, clarity and progress on crucial issues back to our broken system. So I urge Americans to join us at www.unity08.com today,” said Unity08 volunteer and advisory council member Sam Waterston, of NBC’s Law & Order. Waterston is in Washington, D.C. today talking about the importance of Unity08’s delegate-recruitment efforts.
“Without a better way, the result of the 2008 presidential election will be more partisan paralysis in Washington, and continued inaction on the crucial issues. We will be left once again with elected leaders only looking for something to attack on the other side,” said Bailey. “I urge Americans to register as a delegate, no matter their political affiliation, and help us take our country back from lobbyists, fringe special interests and incessant bickering in Washington.”
Unity08 is a recently established political movement attracting Americans deeply concerned with the polarization of our political system. Unity08 will provide American voters access to a new and highly participatory process to nominate and elect a bipartisan ticket to the White House in 2008, unconstrained by the limitations of the current system. Learn more at www.unity08.com.
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