One of the reasons the Americans Elect corporation failed to attract significant public support in its bid to run a privatized candidate for U.S. President in 2012 was that it declared something in public, then actually did the exact opposite in practice — not just once but over and over and over and over and over again. That practice damaged trust.
Americans Elect was such a damaged brand by the end of 2012 that it ditched its name and rebirthed itself as Level the Playing Field. But by whatever name you call it — Level the Playing Field or Americans Elect — the game this corporation plays unfortunately seems to be the same: say one thing, do another.
Take, for instance, the website owned and operated by Level the Playing Field called changetherule.org. You can see in this screen capture of changetherule.org that it is avowedly a copyrighted property acting as a project of Level the Playing Field:
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
On the “FAQ” [Frequently Asked Questions] page of changetherule.org, Level the Playing Field provides these seemingly straight-up answers to questions about its aspirations:
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
“Q: Are you supporting an independent candidate for President in 2016?
A: No.”
Seems so straightforward, doesn’t it?
But Level the Playing Field isn’t just talking to the public. Yesterday, it filed a lawsuit against the FEC. You can read the full text of that lawsuit here. That lawsuit says something entirely different:
“Plaintiff Level the Playing Field (“LPF”) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit corporation not affiliated with any candidate or candidate committee. Its purpose is to promote reforms that allow for greater competition and choice in elections for federal office, particularly for the Presidency and Vice Presidency. LPF is the successor to Americans Elect (“AE”), which obtained signatures sufficient to qualify for ballot access in 41 states in connection with the 2012 presidential election. LPF intends to recruit qualified independent candidates to run for President and Vice President on an LPF ticket in the 2016 election.”
“LPF intends to recruit qualified independent candidates to run on a nonpartisan presidential ticket in 2016. If the CPD’s rule remains in place, it will injure LPF’s ability to field a 2016 ticket, just as it injured AE’s ability to do so.”
1. Say one thing 2. Do another. 3. Lose credibility.
Those three steps go together. When will the hedge fund operators behind Americans Elect and Level the Playing Field learn this simple truth?
