Americans Elect is endorsing an entirely new political process.
The new political group “Americans Elect” has quietly been collecting signatures needed for to get on statewide ballots in the 2012 general elections. But the group doesn’t plan to run a candidate, and it doesn’t have a platformor an ideology.
“This isn’t a third party,” Elliot Ackerman, the group’s chief operating officer said. “It’s a second process.”
Americans Elect is endorsingan entirely new political process, and here’s how the whole thing goes: All registered voters are invited to participate in a two-week online convention in June 2012. Voters will fill out questionnaires and will be able to see a list of candidates who share their policy positions.
All online, a party platform will be drafted, and the field of candidates will be narrowed down to six. Each of those six will choose a running mate —from a different party.
Finally, voters registered at AmericansElect.org will choose one of the tickets, and those candidates will take over the ballot line secured with signatures by the group.
Sound complicated? It seems that way. But Americans Elect believes Americans will support it. Recent polls find US voters are disenchantedwith both Democrats and Republicans. A large majority of independents, 68 percent, support the creation of a third party.
The group has strong financial backing. So far, about 50 donors have loaned $20 million to the cause, and they’ll be repaid if the group raises enough money in smaller contributions. Americans Elect plans to accept donations of up to $10,000, and to refuse money from political action committees and interest groups.
Its members come from different political parties and backgrounds, including a former communications director for Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, a Democratic pollster, CEOs and college professors —all with the common goal of attracting disenchanted centrists to challenge the Washington status quo.
Americans Elect has collected enough signatures to get a ballot line in eight states, including Michigan and Missouri. It plans to submit an astounding 1.6 million signatures in California.
新生政治团体“美国人的选择”已经悄然开始行动，为2012年美国大选的全国投票征集选民签名。不过他们却并不打算推出自己的候选人，也没有自己的政治纲领或者政治思想。
该政团的首席运营官艾略特 奥科曼说，“我们不是第三党，而是另一种运作方式。”
“美国人的选择”支持的是一种全新的政治程序，其运行过程是：在2012年6月召开为期两周的网络大会，邀请所有登记注册的选民参与讨论。选民们填写调查问卷之后，就可以看到一张和他们持有相同政见的候选人名单。
一切都是通过网络进行的：网上起草政党纲领，将候选人的范围压缩在六个以内，然后六个候选人各自挑选一个来自不同政党的人作为竞选伙伴。
最后，所有在此网站注册的选民进行投票，而团体募集的签名将保证候选人获得候选资格。
听起来很复杂？好像是那么回事。不过，“美国人的选择”相信美国人会支持他们。最近的民意调查发现，美国选民对共和党和民主党都大失所望。大多数独立党人（68％）都支持建立一个第三政党。
“美国人的选择”拥有雄厚的资金支持。迄今为止，他们已经得到了约50位捐赠人提供的2000万美元的贷款，并将在募集到足够的小额捐款之后偿还这些贷款。他们计划接受10000美元以下的捐款，但是不会接受任何政治活动委员会或者利益团体的捐款。
“美国人的选择”成员来自不同的政党，拥有不同的政治背景，其中包括马萨诸塞州州长德瓦尔 帕特里克的前任通讯主管，一位民主党民意调查员，一些公司总裁以及大学教授等等。他们都有一个共同的目标，就是将那些对两党倍感失望的中间派成员吸引在一起，对美国的现状进行革新。
在包括密歇根州和密苏里州在内的八个州，“美国人的选择”已经收集了足够多的选民签名，获得了候选资格。他们打算向加利福尼亚州递交这数量惊人的160万签名。
Vocabulary:
platform:the aims of a political party and the things that they say they will do if they are elected to power （政党的）纲领，政纲，宣言
endorse:to say publicly that you support a person, statement or course of action （公开）赞同，支持，认可
（编辑：薛琳）
