Americans Elect is endorsing an entirely new political process. |
The new political group “Americans Elect” has quietly been collecting signatures needed for to get on statewide ballots in the 2012 general elections. But the group doesn’t plan to run a candidate, and it doesn’t have a platform or an ideology. “This isn’t a third party,” Elliot Ackerman, the group’s chief operating officer said. “It’s a second process.” Americans Elect is endorsing an entirely new political process, and here’s how the whole thing goes: All registered voters are invited to participate in a two-week online convention in June 2012. Voters will fill out questionnaires and will be able to see a list of candidates who share their policy positions. All online, a party platform will be drafted, and the field of candidates will be narrowed down to six. Each of those six will choose a running mate — from a different party. Finally, voters registered at AmericansElect.org will choose one of the tickets, and those candidates will take over the ballot line secured with signatures by the group. Sound complicated? It seems that way. But Americans Elect believes Americans will support it. Recent polls find US voters are disenchanted with both Democrats and Republicans. A large majority of independents, 68 percent, support the creation of a third party. The group has strong financial backing. So far, about 50 donors have loaned $20 million to the cause, and they’ll be repaid if the group raises enough money in smaller contributions. Americans Elect plans to accept donations of up to $10,000, and to refuse money from political action committees and interest groups. Its members come from different political parties and backgrounds, including a former communications director for Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, a Democratic pollster, CEOs and college professors — all with the common goal of attracting disenchanted centrists to challenge the Washington status quo. Americans Elect has collected enough signatures to get a ballot line in eight states, including Michigan and Missouri. It plans to submit an astounding 1.6 million signatures in California. (Read by Renee Haines. Renee Haines is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
新生政治團(tuán)體“美國(guó)人的選擇”已經(jīng)悄然開始行動(dòng),為2012年美國(guó)大選的全國(guó)投票征集選民簽名。不過(guò)他們卻并不打算推出自己的候選人,也沒(méi)有自己的政治綱領(lǐng)或者政治思想。 該政團(tuán)的首席運(yùn)營(yíng)官艾略特?奧科曼說(shuō),“我們不是第三黨,而是另一種運(yùn)作方式?!?/p> “美國(guó)人的選擇”支持的是一種全新的政治程序,其運(yùn)行過(guò)程是:在2012年6月召開為期兩周的網(wǎng)絡(luò)大會(huì),邀請(qǐng)所有登記注冊(cè)的選民參與討論。選民們填寫調(diào)查問(wèn)卷之后,就可以看到一張和他們持有相同政見的候選人名單。 一切都是通過(guò)網(wǎng)絡(luò)進(jìn)行的:網(wǎng)上起草政黨綱領(lǐng),將候選人的范圍壓縮在六個(gè)以內(nèi),然后六個(gè)候選人各自挑選一個(gè)來(lái)自不同政黨的人作為競(jìng)選伙伴。 最后,所有在此網(wǎng)站注冊(cè)的選民進(jìn)行投票,而團(tuán)體募集的簽名將保證候選人達(dá)到選票線,獲得候選資格。 聽起來(lái)很復(fù)雜?好像是那么回事。不過(guò),“美國(guó)人的選擇”相信美國(guó)人會(huì)支持他們。最近的民意調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn),美國(guó)選民對(duì)共和黨和民主黨都大失所望。大多數(shù)獨(dú)立黨人(68%)都支持建立一個(gè)第三政黨。 “美國(guó)人的選擇”擁有雄厚的資金支持。迄今為止,他們已經(jīng)得到了約50位捐贈(zèng)人提供的2000萬(wàn)美元的貸款,并將在募集到足夠的小額捐款之后償還這些貸款。他們計(jì)劃接受10000美元以下的捐款,但是不會(huì)接受任何政治活動(dòng)委員會(huì)或者利益團(tuán)體的捐款。 “美國(guó)人的選擇”成員來(lái)自不同的政黨,擁有不同的政治背景,其中包括馬薩諸塞州州長(zhǎng)德瓦爾?帕特里克的前任通訊主管,一位民主黨民意調(diào)查員,一些公司總裁以及大學(xué)教授等等。他們都有一個(gè)共同的目標(biāo),就是將那些對(duì)兩黨倍感失望的中間派成員吸引在一起,對(duì)美國(guó)的現(xiàn)狀進(jìn)行革新。 在包括密歇根州和密蘇里州在內(nèi)的八個(gè)州,“美國(guó)人的選擇”已經(jīng)收集了足夠多的選民簽名,獲得了候選資格。他們打算向加利福尼亞州遞交這數(shù)量驚人的160萬(wàn)簽名。 相關(guān)閱讀 網(wǎng)絡(luò)趕超報(bào)紙 或?qū)⒊蔀槊绹?guó)第一傳媒 美國(guó):網(wǎng)絡(luò)和手機(jī)成中期選舉報(bào)道先鋒 美國(guó):網(wǎng)絡(luò)對(duì)政治影響越來(lái)越大 民調(diào):多數(shù)美國(guó)民眾認(rèn)為國(guó)家路線不正確 (中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津 實(shí)習(xí)生高美 編輯:陳丹妮) |
Vocabulary: platform: the aims of a political party and the things that they say they will do if they are elected to power (政黨的)綱領(lǐng),政綱,宣言 endorse: to say publicly that you support a person, statement or course of action (公開)贊同,支持,認(rèn)可 disenchanted: no longer feeling enthusiasm for somebody/something; not believing something is good or worth doing(不再著迷的;不再抱幻想的) |