Will Americans Elect be hijacked?

[Yelnoc]

Assume that Americans Elect gets on the ballot in all fifty states + D.C and makes it into June without going bankrupt.  At its online convention, will the "moderate voice" it seems to be catering to actually select the ticket?  I have a strong feeling that if Romney wins the nomination, SoCons will organize a take-over and run a Buchanan-like candidate.  Similarly, if the "discontented liberals" manage to organize, we could see a new Ralph Nader emerge.  Thoughts?

[Disarray]

If it's Romney on the I think your probably right, but I don't think it will be Romney.

On the left.......

If this was the pre tea party GOP I have no doubt Obama would have a Nader like candidate shave a couple of points off him, but I don't see it happening now that the GOP's economic policy has been completely radicalized.

I think the candidate will be Perry, but even if it is Romney we already know hes going to

A. Propose even more tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy
B. Propose Cuts to Medicare and perhaps social security

Forget how bad the policy of such a plan is just think of how bad the politics are there! It's mixing gas and fire, it's literally the most unpopular, economic plan ever proposed to the American people in the history of our country. (Which is why I think people on this board and abroad are giving the GOP far better odds than reality says they deserve.)

My point is it's going to be pretty hard for any Nader like candidate to gain any steam when the Democratic party starts hammering home that if the GOP wins you are going to loose your Medicare so that Millionaires, the only people who have experienced any wage growth in the last thirty years and in some cases pay less taxes than you can have ANOTHER tax cut.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

No, it will probaly be split, and nominate a Ron Paul/Wynona LaDuke ticket that goes no where.

[minionofmidas]

Looking up this "Americans Elect" thingy... a party with no purpose whatsoever? Wtf?

[Bacon King]

Americans Elect is on the Internet. It'll be hijacked by Anonymous, of course.

[Oswald Acted Alone, You Kook]

Americans Elect is on the Internet. It'll be hijacked by Anonymous, of course.

So Ron Paul would win.

[Simfan34]

It will go nowhere, and it may be hijacked along the way, but it will go nowhere for sure.

[Ⓐnarchy in the ☭☭☭P!]

Its on the internet, which means anons which means Ron Paul

[°Leprechaun]

What happens if nobody gets a majority?
Do they go with the plurality winner or have a run off?
Or do they have state by state primaries like the Dems and Repubs?

[Averroës Nix]

Americans Elect is not only a really silly idea, it's antithetical to democracy as it exists in the United States. We have a two party system - an election is effectively a choice between two alternatives. Third party candidacies can serve a purpose and send a message, but it's not honest to approach an election with the expectation that any other candidate will win. Moreover, a President needs to work with Congress, and it's difficult to imagine a candidate who is not affiliated with a major party doing so.

Editorials calling for an third-party alternative are usually barely-veiled calls for a magical candidate whose Presidency magically effects whatever policy agenda the author favors without any regard for the system of checks and balances that actually exists. Americans Elect is the product of a similar kind of fantasizing, except that it's even worse: this group doesn't have any particular message it's trying to get across other than the simplistic assumption that government dysfunction is the product of pure idiocy and selfishness and totally unrelated to, you know, actual disagreements.

Will Americans Elect be hijacked? How can that even be defined? A group with no actual philosophical or policy positions is nominating a candidate by electronic referendum. Unless they nominate a bowl of oatmeal, they'll have been "hijacked" by someone.

[I Am Feeblepizza.]

Anything like Americans Elect is destined to be hijacked sooner or later.

[© tweed]

Looking up this "Americans Elect" thingy... a party with no purpose whatsoever? Wtf?

politics for the post-political era.

[zorkpolitics]

I'm looking for a Bloomberg-Gates ticket

[JohnnyLongtorso]

Just because they can get on the ballot doesn't mean anyone will care. Unless they have a mega-rich candidate who can self-fund, they'll be another minor party with a <1% showing.

[Daleworld]

What is the chance of Jon Huntsman accepting the nomination or Chuck Hagel?