The question of why Unity08 does not plan to adopt a formal platform has been the subject of some pretty intense discussion lately on our message boards. The criticism boils down to this: How can we possibly attract delegates if we don’t stand for anything besides basic bipartisan cooperation?
I completely understand that line of thinking. But I think we actually stand for something much bigger than a platform. Look at it this way:
Every political party adopts a platform, addressing any number of issues, big and small. Since no one in the general public ever reads these, this is the chance for the parties to toss some red meat to their bases and interest group establishments.
But what matters is what a President does when he or she takes office -- and their actions are rarely if ever guided by what was in their party’s platform.
The idea behind Unity08 is a powerful one: that a bipartisan team can, for one four-year term, break through the paralysis and polarization in D.C. and produce practical results on some of the major problems that have long vexed our country.
To that end, we propose that next year the Unity08 delegates decide what handful of issues are the most crucial to the future safety and well-being of the United States (as opposed to those that are important, and maybe worthy of discussion, but not crucial to the future safety and well-being of the country). These issues will represent the “New American Agenda,” and anyone seeking the Unity nomination will be required to present -- in blog and video posts on our web site -- detailed and unsparing responses to questions about each issue that the delegates will draw up.
We are not dictating what issues should be included in the New American Agenda -- that is up to everyone here. But the soaring national debt (now approaching $10 trillion), the lack of health insurance for 47 million of our fellow citizens, the threat of global climate change, and the long-term solvency of Social Security and entitlement programs are perfect examples of festering catastrophes on which partisan polarizations has prevented meaningful results.
Every party can have a platform, and then everyone in that party can get upset when its elected officials ignore 90% of it once in office. Our idea is to nominate a bipartisan team that will campaign on the New American Agenda -- and not getting distracted by wedge issues and other topics that they don’t plan to address while governing. And this way, the Unity team, if successful in the election, will actually have a meaningful mandate from the public to implement its agenda.
