Tuesday, January 10, 2012

"Americans Elect" and Political Dirty Tricks

“They say, 'Don't look a gift horse in the mouth,' but when it's a Trojan horse, you do.” - Eric Johanson

Americans Elect (AE), the new political party that claims to be a non-partisan non-party, is now on the California ballot. What a shocker! The left coast is the first big state to endorse a staking horse! After reading a piece in American Thinker, a Beverly Hills Courier reporter called AE HQ to inquire about the “dirty tricks” potential of third party candidacies. Predictably, their spokesperson, lleana Wachtel, denied any trickery and claimed that the new party was formed to give America a “real choice.” Spokesmen for AE continue to insist that the sources of AE’s funding can not be revealed because donors might be intimidated. Non-profit status protects such organizations from too much scrutiny.

Choice indeed! The chances of AE electing anyone are nil; but, their potential to skew close races is enormous. After the two Bill Clinton victories (1992 and 1996), wife Hilary should have sent Ross Perot a case of cognac. In one race, Perot’s revolutionaries siphoned off 20% of the national vote. No coherent analyst could argue that Perot supporters would have voted for Clinton had there been no Perot.
Indeed, Perot's candidacy may have been more personal than political. More than a few analysts have run up the spoiler alert. Perot couldn't abide George H.W. Bush and made no secret of that animus.


Then as now, the vast majority of the disaffected. Libertarians included, fall on the right side of politics – just as a near totality of AE principals and their media supporters today come from the Left.

Donald Trump tells anyone who will listen that he is being courted by the AE crowd as a potential third party presidential candidate. Ego aside, it’s hard to believe that Trump doesn’t see through the smoke and mirrors of this well-timed electoral scam. But then again, engorged egos love to play the spoiler.

Beyond folks like Trump, the Republican dilemma is further compounded by the usual RINO inertia. The Savannah Morning News calls Americans Elect an “air sandwhich.” Such cynicism may represent a dangerous slice of conventional wisdom. Conservatives seem unwitting or unwilling to expose the liberal puppeteers behind Americans Elect. Most of today’s political discontent (i.e. Tea Partiers, independents, and Libertarians) is boiling on the right hand side of the political spectrum. The hard Left is content with Barack Obama, thank you; or at least not unhappy enough to throw him under the bus.

A large restive mushy American center is in play in 2012; a center which Obama has probably lost already before another presidential vote is cast.. With Americans Elect, the Left is poised to exploit or neutralize a center of discontent with a “third way” charade. Sadly, with conservatives, inertia is often the loudest voice in the room. If the polite Right refuses to light up the AE Trojan horse, then maybe the malcontents will stay at home - or vote for the Pinocchios, just as Democratic Party strategists seem to expect. Sometimes we get what we want and sometimes we get just what we deserve; another four years of Barak Obama.

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This article originally appeared in American Thinker

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About Me

The author is a native of the Bronx, a transplant to DC. He is a Vietnam veteran and former USAF Intelligence officer with tours at all of the major 3 button Intelligence agencies. He is a graduate of the Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. School and Cardinal Hayes HS in NYC. He also has several degrees from less illustrious institutions. Check Six writes primarily at G. Murphy Donovan and Agnotology in Journalism. His work has appeared in various political, national security, and Intelligence journals.