Liberal Talk Radio

David Broder continues to swoon for “Unity08,” yet another attempt at a third party that stakes out the political “center,” as it is imagined by the Washington elite (and virtually no one else). I’m not much interested in this sort of imagined comity, but there is noteworthy component of Unity08′s design: the internet nominating convention.

Broder quotes Douglas Bailey, one Unity08′s chief backers:

Second, Bailey said, “the likelihood is that the nominees of both parties will be determined by the first three or four primaries, which means that 99 percent of the people who will vote in November will have absolutely no say in the names that are on the ballot. It’s not surprising that they may be looking for an alternative.”

This is absolutely true. I’ve spent my entire adult life as a Democrat, paying oh-so-close attention to the primary races every year, but unable to participate because I don’t live in Iowa or New Hampshire. It’s infuriating. The closest I came was in ’04, when there was still a slim chance that Edwards or Dean could still pull out an upset.

Still, I’m mostly shut out of the process.

Which is why the idea of an internet convention would be interesting for the major parties, not just Unity 08. Imagine if the DNC were to have an Internet primary, where registered Democrats could sign up to vote, if they agreed to not vote again in their state’s primary. Based on the number of nationwide Democrats who signed up for the “internet caucus,” a percentage of primary delegates would be assigned.

The upshot would be that the people who cared the most about the Democratic party’s future could have a say in it, not just those who happen to live in a blessed couple of states. I could finally participate as a full-fledged member of the Democratic party! (hey, a guy can dream).

There are two main obstacles to this idea: one technological, the second political. First, you’d have to ensure the integrity and security of the online vote, no small task in an era where many states are backing away from electronic voting altogether (after the fiasco in Florida’s 13th district last year).

Second, any attempt to create an internet primary would weaken the state parties, by creating a parallel power center. However, the state parties disenfranchised by the current system (a.k.a. the other 48 states) might support such a system. If any national party chair could make this happen, it’s Howard Dean, who showered attention and funding on many neglected state parties and also happens to be the darling of the netroots.

Update: here’s a sympathetic take from tech trendsetter Tim O’Reilly.