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Visit the Americans Elect website and you’ll see a notice that there are only 22 days left until the first round of caucusing gets underway. The problem with that is, as of yet, no declared candidates have collected enough support to participate in the caucus.
I wrote earlier in the week about Buddy Romer and Rocky Anderson, both semi-serious presidential candidates who are struggling to collect backers for the AE nomination. Things haven’t gotten any better since I published those posts.
On Tuesday evening, Roemer had just crossed the 3,000 mark among total delegate support, with about half of his delegates in his top 10 states. Americans Elect will require Roemer to gain the backing of at least 1,000 supporters in each of 10 states to move forward. In the four days that followed, Roemer added a whopping 142 delegates to his total! If he continues to average about one-half of his support in his top 10 states, and he continues to add support at the rate of about 36 total delegates per day, then it looks like Buddy Roemer is in an excellent position to qualify for the Americans Elect ballot… by August of 2013!
Rocky Anderson, who has fewer supporters than Roemer on the site, must collect the endorsement of at least 5,000 delegates in each of his top 10 states. If he can maintain his current pace, Anderson appears to be on track to earn a spot on the Americans Elect caucus ballot for the 2024 presidential election. And no, I’m not joking. Also, I’m not pointing out these numbers to make fun of Mr. Roemer or Mr. Anderson, both are very serious men with important things to say and substantial credentials to back them up.
The problem here is less with the candidates and more with Americans Elect the organization, which has set a totally unreasonable standard of support to qualify for the first round of caucusing. With three weeks to go before their nomination process kicks into high gear, it is essential that the AE board meet and revise their requirements immediately.
At this point in time, it is doubtful that there are even 10 states with 1,000 fully qualified voting delegates registered in them at this point. Perhaps the better requirement for Americans Elect to set would be that a candidate had to get the support of 10% of the total delegates registered in at least 10 states? The current system of 1,000 delegates in each of 10 states discriminates against smaller states, as Roemer and Anderson are both focusing on racking up their totals in places like California, New York and Florida. Enacting this suggested rule change would make it not only possible for at least a few candidates to make the threshold, but it would also restore some geographic balance to the whole nominating process.
Buddy Roemer is the best talker in the presidential election campaign. When I heard him speak I was impressed and became a supporter and donated to his campaign. When he switched to Americans Elect after receiving a pathetic 4/10 of 1% vote in the New Hampshire primary, however, I started to do research about him. He is not the wonderful candidate that he appears to be.
He has adopted a technique often used by political demagogues. He relies on the dissatisfaction of the American public toward politicians. In essence, his strategy is to attack everyone in politics and the whole system and then have the public presume that he will be able to fix it. He condemns politics and all other leading politicians in order to present himself as someone different — an honest politician.
The trick Mr. Roemer uses is to attack the system for its obvious and undoubted deficits. That is like betting the sun will rise tomorrow. He can’t lose. (See the 1987 NY Times article about Buddy, cited below, where he says he uses his poker technique in politics). He claims the system is corrupt and all other politicians are corrupted. Almost everyone likes what he says. He is betting on the hope they will think that voting for him will fix it.
The real question is not whether there should be campaign finance reform, as Buddy harangues with convincing ferocity. The question is whether Buddy is the man who can and will fix it. To answer that question, we need to look at his history to learn if he really was as good a congressman and governor as he claims.
Many people accept everything Buddy says about himself as true (as I did). That is a dangerous assumption when dealing with a politician. Let’s look at the record.
Roemer just says he is an honest politician who cannot be bought. His actions speak with greater honesty than his words. He is seeking the nomination of Americans Elect because he wants to be bought. AE is a secret organization controlled by unknown big money donors who have an agenda. We do not know who they are or what agenda they intend. They have the control of the Americans Elect from behind the curtain. They can override the public internet “supporters.” They may also control the counting and the reporting of the AE vote. This appears to be a set-up job with Roemer’s mentor Lessig on the Board. Go to irregulartimes.com and look at their articles on Americans Elect.
Roemer talks against corruption and argues for transparency, then seeks the AE nomination, effectively using AE’s $20 – $30 million financed by unknown donors to launch his campaign. He limits contributions to $100 because he does not need it. AE will provide the funds.
Roemer did the same thing in the past. In 1991 he was such a bad governor that he could not hope to be re-elected as a Democrat, so he cut a deal with the Republican party to switch to Republican if they would finance his campaign. See this history:
http://www.salon.com/2011/03/03/roemer_duke_president/
In 1987 he won election because he could mesmerize the crowd with his preacher-like talk condemning corrupt politics. But once elected, he did not have a clue how to govern. His personality is that of a loner, a curmudgeon, damning the world with such passion and skill using his “Buddy Talk.” See this fascinating history as to how he struggled to try to figure out what to do as governor.
http://www.hamiltonmixon.com/Ballad.pdf
He turned out to be one of the worst governors in Louisiana history. He could not get along with people. He could not put together a competent staff. He lacked the political common sense and ability to pass legislation. He did not work hard and seemed to love the adoration of his campaign followers but had no ability to govern. To see Buddy’s ineffective record as governor and congressman look at this excellent history of Louisiana’s governors, pages 259-268:
http://books.google.com/books?id=Y-0-kmu4vk0C&pg=PA259&lpg=PA259&dq=%22Often+wrong,%22+Roemer&source=bl&ots=GXt38E_jVv&sig=poXJMn9QbCUESjDIP2-foOb3YLY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=n-xjT7CXDOORiQL8n_SiDw&ved=0CGMQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=%22Often%20wrong%2C%20but%20never%20in%20doubt%22%20Roemer&f=false
As a congressman he was inept. He chaired no committees and did not author any significant legislation. His only accomplishment in Congress was that he won money at poker. Yes, he was a convincing bluffer.
A NY Times article from 1987 describes Mr. Roemer’s record in his eight years in Congress.
http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/10/us/washington-talk-avocations-networking-at-the-poker-table.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
Mr. Roemer plans to use his same technique again if he returns to Washington as President. Note his statement in this article, the fourth paragraph from the end, beginning with “If elected,”:
http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/nov/01/roemer-attacks-political-corruption/
He says he “would emphasize listening and working in a bipartisan way, through poker games.” Incredible!
Most of the things Buddy says about his past are false. See this web page where he obtained a reputation in Louisiana for mendacity (that continues to today).
http://www.first-draft.com/2011/09/rubberband-man.html
A PPP poll of Louisiana voters, just released, shows that here in his own home state he has the worst rating of any candidate for president. Two out of three of the people who know him best have an unfavorable opinion of him. (28% favorable, 56% unfavorable). He is Louisiana’s UNfavorite son. See http://race42012.com/2012/03/23/poll-watch-ppp-d-louisiana-2012-republican-primary-survey/
Americans have been deceived by slick politicians in the past. Let’s try to investigate what candidates have done rather than gullibly accept what they say. Buddy Roemer will not withstand that scrutiny.