Forty-eight-odd hours after it promised us an announcement about its future, Americans Elect delivers… something. It’s a combination of words in the modern American English language, at least.
[T]he rules, as developed in consultation with the Americans Elect Delegates, are clear. As of this week, no candidate achieved the national support threshold required to enter the Americans Elect Online Convention in June. The primary process for the Americans Elect nomination has come to an end.I asked the best-polling Americans Elect candidate, Buddy Roemer, for his reaction. He said he’d quit the race if Americans Elect didn’t pick him. What was his next move? “I’m digging deep for words,” he said, “but all I’m coming up with is bullshit.” So it’s over. Americans Elect still exists, though. Its bylaws prohibit it from putting up an actual presidential candidate in 2012 in the 29 states where it’s won ballot access. State laws prohibit the organization from scrapping the ballot lines – it would violate the rights of the voters who signed their petitions. The organization finds itself in the same place as the political system it wanted to change – blank, motionless limbo.
