Waterston Explains What Went Wrong with Unity08

Sam Waterston was an advisor to Unity08, a campaign to draft a bipartisan presidential ticket in 2008 via Internet balloting. Waterston has portrayed Executive Assistant District Attorney Jack McCoy on "Law & Order" for the past 13 seasons. Waterston is a six-time Emmy Award nominee, who won the award for hosting the 10-part NBC informational series "Lost Civilizations." In addition, Waterston also earned an Oscar nomination for Best Actor for his performance in "The Killing Fields," and Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actor and Most Promising Newcomer for his portrayal of Nick Carraway in "The Great Gatsby."

Sam Waterston: I joined the effort because it was founded by people I respected and trusted, among them an old friend, wise in politics, Jerry Rafshoon, who had been Jimmy Carter's press secretary and his campaign manager before that. And I joined because they were attempting to restore consensus and cooperation to our politics, which is a goal many of us have long longed to see, using very modern methods to accomplish a very old goal, which is to eliminate Faction from our government, which the Founders rightly dreaded, as the greatest threat to Democracy, dwarfing even Treason or Foreign Invasion. And I joined because, though politics has rarely been a central passion of mine, I am certain we must act very soon on the long list of problems we've let go unattended in this 25 - 35 year period of Faction we've been stuck in, or we will pay dearly for our inaction. Chief among these problems, to my mind, is climate change and degradation of our land, air, and water.

AH: Unity08's co-founders have said that the organization was suspending its efforts due to a funding shortage and disputes with the Federal Election Commission—what were these concerns in greater detail?

SW: The FEC hasn't had enough members for a quorum since at least last December. The members of the commission are appointed by the two parties, the Republicans and Democrats. It ruled that Unity08 must operate within the limitations imposed on political committees, thus limiting the amounts of money it could raise. Unity08 might have made up the shortfall from small donations, but, even on the Internet, it takes money to raise money, and the FEC ruling made it hard-to-impossible to raise this much-needed seed money. A lawsuit is pending, but the decision, conveniently for the two parties, will be too late to matter in this election.

AH: What does it say about the modern American political climate that the organization was unable to nominate a bipartisan alternative as it promised?

SW: It's hard to say. Unity08 takes responsibility for some of its difficulties. For instance, Unity08 began without a candidate, asking people to join in a nominating process without any predetermined outcome. This is a hard sell, since our presidential politics depend so much on personality, and that's what voters are accustomed to seeing. On the other hand, the two established parties have a vested interest in preserving the two-party system. They are at pains to protect it, making it hard for a third party to get any footing, from the Byzantine labyrinth that qualifying for primaries is, with all the attendant possibilities of signature challenges, etc., to qualifying for the debates, which are also run by the two parties themselves. The public is rightly cautious about third parties, however, and the two party system has served well enough for a long time. The difficulty isn't with the two party system. It is with the fact that they have both evolved away from the center, and discovered the attractions of Faction. The great question is whether anyone can figure out a way to win office as the leaders of the great, unrepresented center, which is where most of the voters are. The parties force voters to choose between extremes. The large majority of voters are already in the center, but have no one to vote for that represents their consensus. Someone will eventually figure out how to take advantage of this. Will they do it in time?

AH: Since becoming inactive, Unity08's efforts evolved into a movement to draft Mayor Mike Bloomberg to run for president. Were you also supporting the mayor's bid?

SW: I didn't. Not that I didn't think he would be a good candidate, but because I was advocating for a process.

AH: Now that Bloomberg has firmly rejected a possible bid, how are you advocating an Independent presidential ticket?

SW: What time I have for issue politics is now going to the Clean Campaigns movement, an ingenious form of campaign finance reform that has shown itself to be highly effective in several states, presents no constitutional difficulties, and has the virtue of simplicity. I encourage everyone to Google it and support it. I'm convinced, whoever wins, given the size of the challenges and the lack of focus on them, they will have been elected without a clear mandate to deal with them, and, whatever happens, won't be able to do anything significant to deal with them alone. So I think we should all be looking past the election, to how we intend to get out of the bus and push to make sure the big issues are faced and dealt with.

AH: In his new book, Sen. Chuck Hagel writes that America needs a "political reorientation" and calls for the creation of a modern third-party. You seem to share this sense completely. Have you spoken with Sen. Hagel about a possible independent bid?

SW: No, but his name was frequently on the lips of people involved with Unity08.

AH: Is Ralph Nader a viable Independent option if a centrist candidate doesn't emerge?

SW: Ralph Nader is not a centrist candidate.

AH: What would be your ideal bipartisan ticket—maybe Bloomberg-Hagel, as David Broder proposed in The Washington Post some months ago?

SW: The train has left the station, but it was a nice idea then.

AH: What was your reaction to the campaign (and the high expectations and modest results) of your former Law & Order co-star Fred Thompson?

SW: I had expected he would do much better.

AH: And the remaining three candidates—Clinton, Obama, and McCain—are they striking any bona fide bipartisan rhetoric on the campaign trail? Many suggest Mayor Bloomberg sat out (as will other potential Independent candidates) because in an Obama/McCain contest, one or both candidates would appeal to centrist voters.

SW: It isn't unusual for candidates to run to the extremes in the primaries and then toward the center in the general election, but the problem remains what has become of the parties in the last quarter century or so. They are much more ideologically pure. This is something politicos longed for back in the days of the Old Democratic Party, which included Southern Conservatives and Northern Liberals and made it hard to get things done. Be careful what you wish for. There will always be differences of view about where the center is located and what is reasonable compromise. Consensus is easier when party loyalty is exerting pressure to agree rather than to fight ‘til the last dog dies.

AH: Finally, is Obama the new JFK, as some are forecasting -- how does his political phenomenon and the wave of youth engagement we've seen today compare to what you observed as a student?

SW: They are alike in some ways: they both went to Harvard; television likes them; they speak more eloquently than their next 10 competitors; they feel like the future. JFK's program, however, was largely effectuated by Lyndon Johnson. He had hard days getting things done in Congress. He famously said that, after years of hard work and good luck to get your hand on the tiller, you finally succeed in reaching the Oval Office, grab the tiller, push on it hard, only to find out it isn't connected to the rudder. I wish the winner the best of luck. I don't care who it is. There are jobs that have needed doing for too long. I care about them.