Promoting unity is no joke

Had enough yet?

Enough of the most banal campaign in memory? Of the barrage of attack ads? Of an election that so clearly is about power and not about you? It seemed it couldn't go any lower. But this week it did, with the spat about Sen. John Kerry's obtuse joke.

First, there's Kerry, tone-deaf as usual. He says he wasn't mocking the troops. It was the president he meant to insult.

So classy, senator. Will Democrats never learn that personal jabs at Bush alienate everyone but themselves? Bash his policies or his performance. But getting personal is as craven as it is senseless. Especially when you dis his IQ and you're the one who can't get your words straight.

And then there's our president. He's crusading around the country pretending to be morally outraged by a flubbed joke. He could have taken the high ground. Been a statesman. But ginning up fake controversy is easier than confronting real problems. Like, say, a flubbed war.

So I ask again: Had enough? Had enough of the entire bollixed-up mess that is our two bickering parties?

Olympia's Rick McAlister has. He's a Republican who voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004. Last June, he decided he couldn't take it anymore.

Iraq was turning uglier. North Korea was threatening a missile test. It was one of those times, he says, when you figure national leaders will set politics aside to deal with a crisis.

Nope. Republicans spent weeks pushing bans on gay marriage and flag-burning.

McAlister, 55, a retired Intel manager, wrote the White House for the first time.

"My e-mail said: 'If you don't have anything better to work on, why don't you just quit?' "

He's voting Democrat this year. Mostly to rebuke Republicans. Not with much hope Democrats will do any good.

"They'll probably waste the next two years trying to punish Republicans for all that's happened in the last six," he said.

I found McAlister through a new group he's helping, Unity '08. It was created by Republicans and Democrats who feel both major parties are broken because both cater obsessively to the fringes.

The premise of Unity '08 is to reclaim the middle. And in so doing, elevate the issues that matter. Like war. The national debt. Education.

Here's how it would work: In early 2008, an online primary will be held to select the Unity '08 president and vice-president ticket. Any voter can be a delegate. So it could be our first populist, Internet-driven election. The goal is to get 20 million to vote.

The best part: Any ticket must include one Democrat, one Republican. It could be, say, Gore/Giuliani. Or McCain/Obama. The point is the parties are mired in such a polarized rut they can no longer govern. Unity offers a bridge. A way out.

I know, I know. It's a third party. They never lead anywhere. But there hasn't been one that blends the two parties we've already got. And does it using the movement-building power of the Internet.

Says McAlister: "Why not try it and see if it works?"

Yes, why not? Anything's better than another campaign like this one. Check it out at www.unity08.com.

Danny Westneat's column appears Thursday and Sunday. Reach him at 206-464-2086 or dwestneat@seattletimes.com.