Law and Order's Other 2008 Presidential Character: Sam Waterson

Since I already blogged about Congress for the week, I thought I'd pass this interesting little story along. Sam Waterson, or Jack McCoy as he's called on Law and Order. The gray-haired, opinionated, and independent-minded actor doesn't care for the partisan extremism of the two major parties and their primary systems. Interestingly enough, though, he doesn't want to see an end to either party, just a variation in the way we think about them. He is the current spokesman for a group called Unity '08. What is this all about? Well, basically, it's an effort to create a Presidential ticket with a Democrat AND a Republican. That's right, if the presidential nominee for Unity is a Dem, his VP has to be GOP and vice-versa. All of the convention selection process and everything takes place over the internet through online voting. The group has a fair amount of money and it does threaten both parties in that the candidates will most likely be centrists. Interestingly, these candidates don't have to appease the extreme right and left bases of their respective parties to win the primaries; they just have to get along with moderates from either party. Also, this leaves the door open to moderates that are currently running for President for a major party. McCain said yesterday that he'd hire a Democrat for his cabinet, but would he take a Democrat as a running mate should he lose the Republican primary? What about Giuliani? Neither hold traditional Republican positions on choice, gay rights, etc... Likewise, would Clinton, Obama, or Edwards choose to go this route after a loss early in the Democratic primaries? The possibilities are endless! The most interesting part is that no new party is formed, just a combo of the big two. Here's the Unity '08 site if you want more information on it: www.unity08.com