Americans Elect was believed by many to have ended when they failed to recruit a presidential candidate who met their standards, after spending eight figures to get millions of signatures and getting on the ballot in about 30 states.
However, late in the election season they spent a non-trivial amount of money to help elect independent Maine US Senator (and former Governor) Angus King, who was already solidly ahead in the polls before they intervened.
Michael Bloomberg is now officially known to be involved with Americans Elect. Many people suspected this all along, but it was never made public during the time that Americans Elect was getting on the ballot in numerous states and publicly presenting itself as a non-ideological movement which would back any candidate who gathered enough public support through its online system.
However, Americans Elect now no longer attempts to seek a public vote to decide on which candidates it backs, instead serving to channel the money of several wealthy Wall Street financiers directly to their preferred candidates.
“As Maine goes, so goes the country. The country and Mainers are hungry for problem-solving, independent candidates running for important offices,” said Daniel B. Winslow, senior counsel at the law firm Proskauer, who represents Americans Elect, which is running the ads.
[...]
“If he is successful, Americans Elect will participate in the upcoming election cycle to develop 3, 5, or 10 more Angus Kings representing an independent caucus to bridge the divide between the partisan extremes, to turn the tide of gridlock in Washington, and to put us onto a course of government the American people want and deserve,” Winslow said. In addition to serving as a lawyer for the group, Winslow is a Republican member of the Massachusetts House from Norfolk.
This year, he said, the group has raised a total of $1.75 million to put into the Maine race — Bloomberg’s contribution of $500,000, plus $500,000 from financier Peter Ackerman and $750,000 from Silicon Valley entrepreneur and investor John Burbank.
AE Transparency provides a cynical analysis:
The problem with AECorp’s old strategy was that while “the country [is] hungry for problem-solving independent candidates,” it nonetheless proved to be the case that the country — as represented by Americans Elect’s delegates in its online nominating convention — proved not to be hungry for precisely those candidates which Pete Ackerman and his henchmen personally favored. So it was necessary to destroy the village (the old AECorp) to save it. AE now retreats back to the time-tested cynical strategy of simply enabling a few ultra-rich individuals to throw wads of money around influencing elections, thus handily side-stepping the problem of the inherent untidiness of actual democracy.
…
We here at AE Transparency have been in the business of predicting AECorp’s future ever since its appearance on the national stage, with (we blush to admit) uncanny accuracy. Here’s our prediction for the rest of AE’s future. The Corporation will indeed, as Winslow has warned us, throw tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars in the next election cycle into promoting the candidacies of its hand-picked favorite ‘independents’, with increasingly visible participation by Mike Bloomberg. This cycle’s King’s Gambit is merely a test-drive. Then, with this coterie of nominally independent (but financially dependent) sycophants in its pocket, doing its bidding (for how else could they be re-elected?) and aping its words, AECorp will go after its long-sought brass ring: putting Bloomberg himself in the White House in 2016.
In short, Ackerman Selects has simply abandoned the short con, in favor of the long con.
Michael Bloomberg has a net worth of $25 billion in 2012 and is the 10th richest person in the US. He has been mayor of New York City since 2001 and has been a Democrat, Republican and independent.
Jim Cook at Irregular Times:
Forbes, the magazine of record for America’s financiers, published an editorial by Douglas Schoen, longtime advisor to both Americans Elect and Michael Bloomberg. In this editorial, Schoen praised the decision by three Wall Street tycoons — Peter Ackerman, John Burbank III and Michael Bloomberg — to chip in $1.75 million of their own money to Americans Elect and spend it, through the Americans Elect Super PAC, on the election of Angus King to the Senate. Schoen writes:
Candidate Angus King’s victory in the Maine Senate race is one such ray of hope…. It also involved a coalition between Americans Elect, the group which succeeded in getting 50 state ballot access but failed to recruit a Presidential candidate, its visionary chairman Peter Ackerman and Mayor Michael Bloomberg who made a significant contribution to King’s campaign. Even though the Bloomberg/Americans Elect endeavor — one that I was truly proud to be part of — was outspent nearly 5 to 1, King still managed an overwhelming victory.
Schoen indicates that Americans Elect’s Super PAC spending will continue in future elections, with the $1.75 million in Wall Street money just a “first step,” a “beginning” effort:
The efforts of Americans Elect and particularly the efforts of Mayor Bloomberg around the country are a tremendous first step in promoting the type of bipartisanship we will need to avoid fiscal and economic problems in the near future. They have begun the process of crafting a new, moderate and bi-partisan vision for America, a vision that we so desperately need.
I was proud to be part of those efforts both in Maine and around the country and believe that it is only through the effort to create independent caucuses in both the House and Senate that we have a chance to resolve the endemic problems we face in our country.
Schoen’s editorial calls for the continued spending of big Wall Street money on elections by Americans Elect, spending that happened without any of the input on the decision to which rank-and-file Americans Elect delegates are entitled. In his editorial, Schoen called repeatedly for the creation of a caucus in the Congress to the liking of his employer, Michael Bloomberg.
18 responses so far ↓
1 Dale // Nov 29, 2012 at 2:30 pm
Plurality voting is biased against centrists.
I believe it would be cheaper for Bloomberg to change us away from such biased voting, than it would be for him to out-spend (and likely *still* lose) the Democratic and Republican election machines.
(FYI, instant runoff (aka ranked choice) is also biased against centrists, so that is not a helpful alternative.)
2 ShawnL // Nov 29, 2012 at 4:36 pm
I wouldn’t be so fast to proclaim King’s success to Americans Elect.
King won on his own reputation. When Snowe quit, big names in both the Dems & GOP were racing to enter the race, then suddenly turned around when Angus King declared, sucking the air out of the room.
It was very similar to his reelection race for Governor where the major parties ran token candidates practically ceding the race to King.
If you want to treat King as an AE success story. I think in a couple years you’d be disappointed by the money lost in failed independent races.
If AE abandons it’s attempt to start a moderate party, and just fund handpicked candidates, these candidates will be vulnerable for being in the pocket of wealthy interests, without the facade of faux principles that the major party candidates mask themselves with.
3 ShawnL // Nov 29, 2012 at 4:44 pm
Re: #1
Plurality isn’t biased against centrists. It’s biased for the two party duopoly. When a credible third candidate shows up and polls well, all bets are off, as proven by Angus King, and Jesse Ventura.
In a race with more than two credible candidates the “wasted vote syndrome” that otherwise plagues 3rd parties & indies, becomes completely unpredictable. Two candidates of similar appeal could cancel each other out, but not always. (Again, see King’s races)
IRV is gives more “unique” candidates a better chance in the first round(s) of vote counting, but over the long haul, I suspect the overall results would be a more moderating trend, due to the very nature of finding a candidate that would be acceptable to a true majority of voters.
4 paulie // Nov 29, 2012 at 4:50 pm
From the article:
Emphasis added.
I don’t think anyone said or implied he won because of Americans Elect.
If I have to guess why they blew 1.75 million supporting a candidate who was going to win anyway, I’d probably say it’s so they can claim – however unjustifiably – some track record of success in 2014 when they hit people up to contribute funds or run on their team.
5 Steven Berson // Nov 29, 2012 at 7:51 pm
Michael Bloomberg is the worst of the worst of wanna-be petty tyrants I’ve ever seen. Any organization he supports should be shunned and even fought against!!
6 Richard Winger // Nov 29, 2012 at 8:55 pm
Americans Elect is still on the ballot in 12 states for 2014.
7 Fun K. Chicken // Nov 29, 2012 at 8:56 pm
He’ll be our next president…mark my words!
8 Fun K. Chicken // Nov 29, 2012 at 8:57 pm
Bloomberg, that is
9 Jed Siple // Nov 29, 2012 at 11:22 pm
They should just rename themselves the Corporatist Party of America.
10 Common Tater // Nov 30, 2012 at 12:09 am
@9 Democrats and Republicans might sue for copyright infringement?
11 Solomon Kleinsmith // Nov 30, 2012 at 1:00 am
The only thing we know about Americans Elect is nothing they say should be believed. Beyond that… they’ve lied so many times there is no way to know what they’ll do next.
12 paulie // Nov 30, 2012 at 1:37 am
Well, I think running some candidates similar to Angus King in 2014 is looking likely.
13 Root's Teeth Are Awesome // Nov 30, 2012 at 1:41 am
AE has permanent ballot status in California.
If you pick up California’s voter registration form, you’ll see AE as one of the parties you can register under, along with the Libertarian, Green, Peace and Freedom, and American Independent parties.
Since AE has no real ideology, I suppose that all manner of wannabes will soon be circling, trying to control AE’s ballot access, as happened with the Reform Party’s ballot access.
14 paulie // Nov 30, 2012 at 1:52 am
AE has permanent ballot status in California.
There’s no such thing.
The way I understand the process is that right now they are on through 2014, by which they time they have to get 100,000 or so more voters registered under their line or be taken off.
I’m not sure if the other alternative still exists even in theory – that is they would have to get into the top two in a statewide race (and score at least 2%, but getting into the top two makes that pretty much a given). In 2014.
Otherwise they are off the voter registration form and have to start from scratch.
Of course, if Bloomberg runs in 2016, he can easily afford to get another 1.6 million signatures for himself or 100,000 registered voters for AE, whichever he prefers. Or he can finance a candidate into the top two in 2014.
But if he doesn’t do any of those things they won’t stay on the ballot.
15 Jim Cook // Nov 30, 2012 at 9:04 am
Thx for the mention in the article. I’ve finished scanning in the Americans Elect Mission Report from August 2012. It’s interesting to watch Americans Elect tell a story about itself. You can read it here:
http://irregulartimes.com/index.php/archives/2012/11/30/complete-americans-elect-mission-report-available-for-review/
16 paulie // Nov 30, 2012 at 12:18 pm
Thanks Jim!
You are by far my #1 source on Americans Elect.
17 Dale // Nov 30, 2012 at 9:33 pm
Shawn, @3:
Two wins in 15 years is evidence of a bias against.
IRV would be an ever-so-slightly moderating force (parties would need to hover inside the 25/75% marks of a hypothetical left/right spectrum instead of 17/83%.)
Approval voting has no bias against centrist candidates. Parties would have to move towards the 50% mark to continue to win.
18 D. Lou Shenol // Dec 1, 2012 at 7:25 am
@5 Agreed
@7 Hillary wants it don’t you know ?
@9 Now SIR, you have figured it out. You WIN !!!
@10 lol – they can’t, the 100 million mushrooms might hear and the light come on……, then over half of them would turn it off to cash their gov’ment check!
@11 Friend if you listen closely sounds like Ds and Rs to me, if LIES is an issue…..
Just think, if your Alternative Party had that money they used on Ballot Access for TV ads they could have tripled their membership, easily!
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