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Activism See other Activism Articles Title: UNITING THREE PARTIES IN MARYLAND When I began my run in Maryland for the U.S. Senate, I decided that I could not be comfortable with either of the two old parties. However, I also recognized that any one of the small alternative parties could not successfully challenge them. So, I set out to create a Unity Campaign that would bring together the Libertarian, Populist and Green Parties of Maryland, along with voters registered Republican, Democrat and independent. According to Richard Winger, the editor of Ballot Access News and a top expert on the history of third parties, the Libertarian and Green Parties have never nominated the same candidate. Having worked with both parties over the years, I understood their differences, but when I looked at the most important of issues of the day, I also saw many areas of agreement. In addition, I knew there were conflicts between the Populist and Green Parties. The Populist Party of Maryland was formed to put Ralph Nader on the ballot in 2004 when the Green Party nominated David Cobb. This was a bitter split, so bringing them together had its challenges. But now they have done something that they have never done before anywhere in the United States - they have nominated the same candidate for the U.S. Senate. Why did they take this historical step? Both recognize that the United States faces serious problems that the two old parties refuse to address. Our economy is at risk from massive trade deficits, record federal deficits, a rising U.S. debt ceiling and very high personal debt. The growing divide between rich and poor is shrinking the middle class and increasing poverty while a class of extreme wealth has more money than ever before. The wealthy get wealthier in large part because their political donations to the two parties have allowed them to warp the free market to favor their interests. There is an urgent need for change. Thus, the three parties have endorsed my "Unity for Change" Campaign. We cannot change course in any significant way unless we break the straight jacket of the two parties as they are indentured to the status quo. More and more voters see the two old parties are equally corrupt. Enormous campaign contributions keep both deep in the pockets of wealthy special interests whose preferences often conflict with the welfare and necessities of the American people. The public sees that neither old party has solutions to the problems faced by Americans; the respective players waste time debating issues to excite their base - such as flag burning and gay marriage. According to the Economist magazine, only 17% of Americans say they feel that their federal elected officials represent their interests. Americans like to believe they live in the greatest representative democracy in world history, yet 83% feel un-represented! Alas, these Americans are right. The focus of elected officials is not the concerns of voters but the concerns of those who put them in office - the moneyed special interests. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) describes our electoral system as "nothing less than a massive influence peddling scheme where both parties conspire to sell the country to the highest bidder." After leaving office, former Senator Ernest Hollings (D-SC) called the Senate "a whore house." He said that the special interests were buying access, meaning: "They write the bills and we vote for them." No wonder Congress is even less popular than the unpopular president. It is also no wonder why both parties have higher negative than positive ratings for the first time in polling history. The alternative political parties in Maryland looked at the political landscape in our state and saw the need for another choice - one that could effectively challenge the two old parties. On the Republican side, the Senate candidate is sure to be Michael Steele. He is the lieutenant governor and his campaign strategy avoids taking any positions as he raises money from the Bush family (they've all been fundraisers for him). He sticks to a vague script about building a "Bridge of Steele" to the future. The leading Democrat, Congressman Ben Cardin, is in the process of being anointed by the Democratic Party that is trying to ignore former Congressman and NAACP Director Kweisi Mfume - his strongest, but not only challenger. Cardin is a classic corporate Democrat, a big supporter of corporate trade agreements. He waffled on the Iraq War, voted for the Patriot Act and is blindly supportive of Israel - under all circumstances. Then the three parties looked at the issues they agreed on: * The Iraq War is wrong and the occupation is doing more harm than good. We need a rapid, responsible exit strategy and need to avoid future unnecessary wars of aggression. * The Constitution has been seriously weakened by the Patriot Act, eavesdropping by the NSA, the secret review of financial records, and other executive actions, allowed by a complacent Congress. * Corporate welfare has reached over $300 billion annually, primarily going to national and international corporations, thereby warping the free market and creating unfair competition for small and medium-sized entrepreneurs. * The tax system takes too much money from working families while allowing wealth to funnel up rather than trickle down, creating the largest rich-poor divide since the 1920s. * The checks and balances of government no longer exist as the opposition party remains silent or ineffective in the face of an imperial presidency that seizes more and more power. * Democracy has become a mirage as legislators redistrict so they do more to pick the voters than voters do to pick their legislators. At the same time they keep out independent challengers by creating barriers to participation that silence their voices. * Under both Democratic and Republican administrations, the merger of big business and big government has warped the priorities so that their interests come before the people's needs. On these issues as well as those of health care, money in politics, Internet independence, and the opening up of our democracy, the two established parties and their candidates in Maryland fail to represent the public. Of course, on the most important issue where there was agreement was to break the stranglehold of the two parties who increasingly shared the same funders, as well as the same positions on critical issues. The three parties initially had concerns about working with other parties, but they saw that the time was right for a challenge to the two old parties, and they had enough in common on which to build a Unity Campaign. Further, we recognized that even where we disagreed on the solutions - we agreed on the problems and that was an important first step. The time seemed right to mount a real challenge to the two parties. The fastest-growing group of voters in Maryland is those voters registering outside the two-party system. Even mainstream Democrats and Republicans are looking for alternatives. Nationally, former staff members of the Carter and Ford Administrations, along with Angus King, a former independent governor of Maine, are behind Unity 08 - an effort to create a third political force in the next presidential election. They report that 74% of Americans want more than two choices in the 2008 presidential race. It is hard to find more mainstream old party members than former presidential staff members, and now even they are trying to break away from the politics as usual of the two parties. Challenging the two entrenched parties that have stacked the deck to keep new parties from fully participating in elections is an uphill battle. In many ways, we are upstarts fighting two bullies. And, these bullies have massive fundraising bases from the special interests while we have to build our fundraising base primarily from a financially stressed middle class. But, more and more Americans are recognizing that if we want our democracy to work, it needs major change. Not only am I getting support from voters in Maryland, but we've also noted people from throughout the country are contributing on the Zeese for Senate Web site. If the Unity for Change Campaign succeeds, it will spur an independent political movement and have the potential to wake up the two old parties. Maybe they will recognize that they have to take voters seriously and represent their interests rather than the interests of their funders. By having a successful outside political force, voters will be able to say to the two old parties: "represent my interests or I have somewhere else to go." They will not be able to take voters for granted or manipulate them with emotional side issues while shaping the economy to suit their donors. The key to making this race successful is to convince voters that they need to vote for what they believe in and not be fooled by the two parties' claims of how bad the other candidate is. Voting for a lesser evil, a candidate with whom you have disagreements on important issues like the war, deficit, civil liberties and the economy, ensures that you will get what you don't want. The only way to get what you want is to vote for what you want. The only wasted vote is a vote against your own interests. The three parties represent different parts of the political spectrum; having them behind me lends credibility to my candidacy. When this race is seen as a three-way race, with each of the three candidates having the potential to win, then voters will be free to vote for what they want. Perhaps when Americans can vote for their desire for positive change, we will get America back on track again. Regards, Kevin Zeese for The Daily Reckoning Editor's Note: Kevin Zeese is a candidate for U.S. Senate in Maryland. He has two Web sites: http://www.ZeeseForSenate.org and a wiki campaign site where people can help develop policy together, www.Zeese.US
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