teachers, social workers, members of every wroin and talking to them on one on one or one on a couple hundred. and over time, we kind of realized that together we had to find a solution. and i think that process and involving the unions and involving the union membership was critical. because they realized themselves that something had to change. as far as how we go ahead. i think jimmy makes a wrong comparison. it s not that the republican governments were trying to bust unions, it s that they saw a chance to score republican points no, they were trying to bust the unions also. they were trying to take away the bargaining rights and make changes that gina said they weren t trying to do and rhode island was part of the change that s not true in all cases. we re not going to have time to re-litigate all of that. jimmy, i m not going to let you finish your ten-part question. we ve got a minute left, gina. bill clinton talks a lot in his new book about the need for us to to be
institute. even a democratic policy guru like will marshall, who people may remember ran the progressive policy institute that was part of the clinton surge in 1992. the policy infrastructure. what do you attribute are they getting a lot of flak from their traditional colleagues for stepping out in this way and supporting this process? add to your list, republican christine todd whitman, who ran new jersey as governor and dennis blair, who was the national intelligence adviser to the president. gncç=ñ[ó democrats, republicans, and independents are gathering together and doing what americans always do when they see a problem. we think americans elect can be a solution. it s the first time ever that there ll be an open competition, where every american voter can participate in what is essentially a national primary, to put real leadership on the ballot in 2012. this hasn t happened before, and what i think you re seeing is that people are willing right now to reach across the ais
30 states. we ll be done with all 50 by summer. in january, the process opens up for candidates to begin to step forward. the american people who are coming to americanselect.org, at half a million people a month, are ready for an alternative. you pointed it out. iowa and new hampshire and a 100-year-old primary system are antiquated. what people are looking for is an alternative. we think it s a bipartisan ticket, running in 2012, talking about the issues that the american people care about, not, you know, failed super committee bargains or two-month extensions that aren t pushing the middle class forward. now, what s your what are you actually going to increase public awareness of this? right now you ve got some opinion leaders that are engaged in this. i know you ve -q stuff going on in various states, but it s a very short time for you to get from, you know, just that smaller group to really millions of americans being aware of this. are you guys going to be advertising? are y
country, a bus tour that will go from new hampshire to florida this spring. but most importantly, it s candidates beginning to step forward, talking about the issues that people care about. you talk about the republican party in one way, but here s one thing they did prove with all of these candidacies that are flare-outs, is that somebody can create an impression about what they think is right for america, in a very quick period of time. and between now and april when our national primary opens and our convention in june, we think that several candidates are going to step forward to articulate what the american people are laooking for. that s solutions, decisions that are going to make this country great again. now, who do you think you guys must be talking to folks around the country who are potential candidates, briefing them on this process. who do you think may become part of this? there s talk sometimes that a jon huntsman, if he doesn t you know, if he kind of phases out i
nominating contest. so this event is interesting. it s being sponsored by the south carolina democratic party but being co-sponsored by all the other southern state parties. by the democratic parties of alabama, florida, kentucky, mississippi, north carolina, tennessee, texas, mississippi, virginia. so it s a big event, especially for democrats trying to figure out how they re going to compete in the south. it will take place at the winthrop coliseum, at the university in south carolina. now, there has been controversy in the democratic party this year that the party has officially sanctioned only six debates for the democratic candidates this year. looks like the republicans will probably have twice that number. but this newly announced forum in south carolina i have to tell you it does not affect that fight over the number of debates. this thing that i will moderate is a forum, which means the