Rocky’s Difficult Road to the Americans Elect Nomination

The other day we took note of former Governor Buddy Roemer’s struggles to make it to the next round of balloting in the Americans Elect online caucus.  But there’s actually someone who is in even worse shape, under the Americans Elect rules.  Its Rocky Anderson, a former mayor of Salt Lake City and current Justice Party presidential candidate, and the only other “serious” candidate to declare for the AE nomination besides Roemer.

Anderson is in second place in terms of support for declared candidates on the Americans Elect website, registering backing from a little over 1,500 delegates.   However, his controversial decision to seek the AE nomination in an attempt to gain 50 state ballot access caused a significant rift within his campaign, with some supporters calling it a sell-out to a corporately-financed sham.

Unfortunately for Anderson, not only is he taking heat from his own backers, but he has virtually zero chance of collecting enough support under the current rules to move forward to the next round of voting.

Buddy Roemer, as a former Congressman and Governor, needs only 10,000 delegates (1,000 from each of 10 states) to qualify.  That’s because his level of past experience is considered on par with previous Presidents of the United States.  Having “only” been mayor of Salt Lake City, Anderson falls into the second tier of Americans Elect’s system and would need 5,000 delegates from each of 10 states to log-0n and sign-up for him in the next 3 weeks, essentially an impossible hurdle to clear.

With rumbles about fundraising troubles plaguing the Americans Elect organization, and their failure to attract a big name candidate like Michael Bloomberg, some are openly starting to wonder how the group’s board will react if it appears clear that no candidate will achieve the minimum level of support to qualify for their online caucus in May.  Do they change the rules and lower the bar to allow candidates like Roemer and Anderson participate, or is it possible that organizers have soured on the whole concept and will simply shutter AE without choosing a candidate?  That depressing possibility would means millions had been wasted in securing difficult ballot-lines in states like Oklahoma and North Carolina.