IS THIS HOW OBAMA WIN WILL BE GUARANTEED?

Group with ties to president engaged in massive 3rd party drive--A mysteriously funded, highly organized effort to secure a place on the 2012 presidential election ballot for a third party candidate has ties to President Obama and top Democrats, WND has learned. The group, calling itself Americans Elect, or AE, seems designed to appear like a massive, grassroots effort involving millions of citizens acting to draft a third party candidate.

However, the organization’s voting process has been called into question and there also are concerns AE’s bylaws may allow the group’s own board members to bypass votes and nominate their own candidate.


AE describes itself as “a non-partisan, non-profit organization founded by Americans from across the political spectrum who are worried that our nation’s deep political divisions keep big problems from being solved.”

AE seeks to hold its own nominating convention on the Internet this June to select an independent presidential and vice-presidential candidate. The group says any registered voter can sign up to participate in the June convention.

AE reportedly has raised more than $22 million so far and already has been certified to be placed on the ballot in 12 states now, including California.

To get on state ballots, AE evidenced mass organizing skills. The group says it collected over two million signatures nationwide in its effort to get on state ballots.

WND found that two of AE’s board members, Kellen Arno and Michael Arno, were paid by the group for helping to run the massive signature gathering drive via their firm, Arno Political Consultants.

Michael Arno is senior adviser to the Podesta Group lobbying and public relations firm, which was founded by John Podesta, who directed Obama’s transition into the White House in 2008.

Podesta is director of the Center for American Progress, which is reportedly highly influential in helping to craft White House policy.

A Time magazine article profiled the influence of Podesta’s Center for American Progress in the formation of the Obama administration, stating that “not since the Heritage Foundation helped guide Ronald Reagan’s transition in 1981 has a single outside group held so much sway.”

AE, meanwhile, reportedly originally was associated with another group that sought an independent candidate. That organization, calling itself Unity08, eventually suspended operations citing organizing and fundraising issues.

Unity08 said it did not back any particular candidate, but two of its founders launched their own national effort to draft New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to run for president.

The Irregular Times documented how AE and Unity08 shared the same Washington, D.C., address. Previously, Unity08 shared its address with the Draft Bloomberg Committee.

Irregular Times also found that the founders of Unity08 “registered the domain name draftmichaelbloomberg.com in 2007 at a time when Unity08 was insisting that it had no candidates in mind.”

Mysterious funding

AE’s funding has been called into question.

In late 2010, AE changed its tax status from a tax-exempt group to what is known as a 501(c)(4), or social-welfare organization, which is not required to show its donor list.

Capital Weekly reported that prior to the change, in the second and third quarters of 2010, AE’s more than $1.5 million in funding came from one person – venture capitalist, Unity08 activist and Obama donor Peter Ackerman.

Ackerman reportedly gave AE a total of at least $5 million in seen money. Many of AE’s other donors are unknown.

AE officials have defended their secretive donor collection practices.



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http://www.wnd.com/2012/01/is-this-how-obama-win-will-be-guaranteed/