Do you remember that childhood game where you imagine two hideous alternatives and quiz your friends and relations about which one they'd prefer? Like:
*Would you rather get stabbed in your eyeball with a fork or have half your tongue chopped off?
*Would you rather die of dysentery or cholera?
*Would you rather boil to death or freeze to death?
*Would you rather lose your arms or your legs?
*Would you rather eat maggoty meat or putrid fish?
If the Quizee, presented with a pair of these grotesque choices, says "None! I don't want either of those!," you say, "You have to choose one."
That's what the 2020 presidential options have felt like to me.
I recently did an informal poll of friends and relations, asking what three qualities they would, ideally, like to see in our president. Frequent answers included compassion, intelligence, empathy, courage, equanimity, competence, and integrity. My own top three are integrity, intelligence, and kindness.
I'm not seeing much of any of that on display in the two candidates in the Take It Or Leave It 2020 elections.
So I was psyched to learn about what I consider an intriguing third option: Unity 2020.
This is the brainchild of biologist Bret Weinstein. Here's my current understanding of the Unity 2020 project:
*Unity 2020 is not a political party; it's a plan. It does seek to provide an alternative on the 2020 ballot to the Trump/Biden dyad.
*The creation of Unity 2020 has been motivated by disenchantment over what toggling "leadership" back and forth between Republicans and Democrats has meant for our country over the past 40 years. Currently, we're entrenched in multiple foreign wars; we're reeling from a mishandled pandemic; we're teetering on the verge of economic catastrophe; most of our major media representatives are either tragically dopey or intentionally dishonest; and we have an ultrarich, elite ruling class that becomes richer by the minute, as the majority becomes poorer.
*So what's the plan? Unity 2020 proposes putting forward two candidates--one from the center right, one from the center left—who would commit to govern together. It's an effort to get away from the habit of modern politicians running for president making oodles of promises, suggesting that they have the solutions to all our problems. How can this feel anything but phony? Rather, with Unity 2020, the emphasis is on selecting two people of integrity who will identify common values and common ground—and who will work together—to address issues and challenges.
*Remember how I asked people in my world about the three traits they'd like to see in a president? Well, there's something about the Magic Of Threes. There are three traits that Unity 2020 has identified as essential for the two candidates. Each must be courageous, capable, and patriotic.
*The two names I've heard floated as the possible Dynamic Duo are Andrew Yang and Admiral William McRaven.
*But the candidates are not what's important, or so the Unity 2020 web site tells us. It's the plan, the alternative, the possibility of something different that’s important.
*Regarding the Spoiler Concern, i.e., the idea that a third alternative might pave the way to office for a candidate you don't want in office: Unity 2020 has a failsafe. This is from the FAQ on the Unity 2020 web site: “[I]f a Unity 2020 ticket has no viable path to the White House by a certain point, we will pull the plug, and all voters can return to their previous corners."
*Even if Unity 2020 has to pull that plug, allowing for a different possibility on the ballot will communicate to those in power that we want to see something not only different, but better.
I think we can agree that 2020 has been unusual and challenging. To have such an important presidential election this year feels momentous.
Wouldn't it be great not to have to choose between Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee?
Unity 2020 is asking those who are interested in supporting the project to read their white paper and to sign up with email addresses. You can do both here: https://articlesofunity.org/