My old boss Dr. Doug Bailey — he hired me at the Hotline, what, 11 years ago? — was in the Washington Post yesterday.  His new initiative: Unity08.  The goal:

offer an alternative to the two major party choices — a unity ticket that will emerge after secure, online balloting that they hope will include millions of Americans. In an announcement statement, Unity08 said its efforts are a reaction to a system that has “polarized and alienated the American people” through partisanship and interest-group politics.

The project is online-based, so as you can imagine, online communities have taken notice.  How’s it playin’ — in the blogosphere?  Here’s a sample:

ronnibennett.typepad.com/weblog/: It’s a big goal, but as was proved in 2004 the internet is now a force in politics, one that is, so far, uncontrolled by establishment politics.

chrisyeh.blogspot.coml: Dare we hope?

correntewire.com: Splendid. Nader 2000 all over again. I guess these guys would rather lose, and keep their contracts, than win.

dowire.org: Any effort online or off to get millions of people to sign up (their goal is 20 percent of the U.S. voting public) will face quite a challenge. I recommend they set interim goals, like one million by X date, 5 million by Y date and then the big number in time to get their candidate on enough state ballots.

thecarpetbaggerreport.com/: Unity08 can take steps to address real problems by tapping into online activism, a centrist platform, and a bipartisan ticket.  Unfortunately, the idea is not without flaws.

micah.sifry.com/: Unity ‘08 is mostly a media play, at least for now.

screamingcentrist.blogspot.com: Looks like something I could get behind. Tell your friends.