John Anderson discusses the Bloomberg Effect
June 21st, 2007
Paul
Paul Fidalgo was Communications Director at FairVote.
The Journal News of Westchester, NY is one of many news organizations losing sleep over the juicy prospect of a Bloomberg independent presidential candidacy. Wisely, they got hold of FairVote’s chairman (and former independent presidential candidate) John Anderson to talk about the effect someone like Bloomberg could potentially have on the 2008 race.
In the interview, John recounts his own experience on the difficult third-party trail to the White House, and posits, “I think the stars are in alignment for what could be a real shakeup in the traditional political constellation, to be as dramatic as I can be.”
You can read the whole article by Phil Reisman here.
If you caught “Nightline” last night, you also saw John talk with Jake Tapper, eloquently, on the same subject. This Monday morning, Louisianians will be able to hear John Anderson on the Jim Engster Show on Louisiana Pubic Radio, which airs at 9:00 am CT.
Other posts by Paul
- Nomination by Attrition - October 25th, 2007
- Cary Voters Sing the Praises of IRV - October 25th, 2007
- FairVote Announces Upgrade Democracy Video Contest Finalists! - October 23rd, 2007
- The Senate Loses its Cool: The Undemocratic Ways States Fill Senate Vacancies - October 12th, 2007
- Of Campaigns and Crosswords: Pluralities as Poor Political Reflections - October 4th, 2007
- The Primaries' Premature Nomination Problem - September 28th, 2007
- Barry Bonds, Blast-offs and Ballots: What the Fate of a Baseball Teaches Us about Voting - September 20th, 2007
- The President of Everyone? Crucial Issues Suffer when Most Voters Don't Matter - September 13th, 2007
- Upgrade Democracy Video Contest News Update - September 11th, 2007
- The First Shall Be Last: The Dangerous Decline in Primary Turnout - September 7th, 2007
June 28th, 2007 at 8:20 pm
I am a huge fan of John Anderson, having been his petition coordinator in my city back in 1980, and having been thrilled to meet him finally in 2000. But (and you knew with a set-up like that, there was a “but” coming), has anyone kept count of how many times in the last 26 years he has said that the upcoming election could be a real opportunity for a shake-up of the 2-party system? I know this is not the first time he has said that since 1980!
June 29th, 2007 at 12:17 am
Depends how you define “shake-up.” I’d define it as a third party capturing such a significant percentage of the popular vote as to bring the party alignment into question. In terms of popular vote share, 2000 is more of a “misfire” (though there was in that year, for whatever reason, a slice of the electorate dissatisfied enough to leave the Democrats).
Misfire or shake-up, IRV is sensible way to deal with spoilers in a two-party system.