Letters: Americans Elect wasn’t grass-roots enough

Re “A party no one attended,” Opinion, May 17

I disagree with Doyle McManus that Americans Elect failed for lack of a charismatic leader. The”tea party”didn’t have a charismatic leader; its success in 2010 was based on a powerful message to its targeted audience and a grass-root movement. Americans Elect lacks both.

I have advocated a third centrist party in Congress representing moderate Americans, folks with principles but realistic enough to know that governing is possible only through compromise.

When I signed up as a delegate in the hope that this new party would focus on local elections, I was told that the focus was solely on electing a presidential candidate. This strategy has never worked for a third party and never will unless it has first established strong representation across the country. It’s too late for 2012, but it is not too late to change focus, now, for 2014 and 2016.

Joseph Sterling

Temecula

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