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All the ills of democracy can be cured by more democracy
– New York Governor Al Smith
vice.run is an entrepreneur’s approach to changing American politics.
Founded by education and workforce entrepreneurs Mikel & David Blake, vice.run is an answer to President Lincoln’s age-old call for new thinking and new solutions: “As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew…and then we shall save our country.”
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The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present…as our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.
Abe Lincoln
Vice.run grows from a kernel of an idea: “All the ills of democracy can be cured by more democracy” and that the vice presidency is an undemocratic anomaly in American politics. It’s an extremely important elected office whose occupant we do not choose.
Mikel & David launched vice.run to “act anew” to fix this anomaly and reinstate the vice presidency as a democratically elected position. Vice.run’s goal is to create a vice presidential ballot line in the 2020 election in all 50 states.
Since national elections are managed at the state-level, we have state-level goals and are growing our state-level operations. Our very first organizing effort is collecting ballot-access pledges calling on states to create a separate ballot line for the vice president.
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…the least understood, most ridiculed, and most often ignored constitutional office in the federal government…
Imagine a democratically elected vice president. That changes everything!
A vice president whose ideas and plans are tested and reviewed through an electoral process, just like the one every other elected official goes through.
A vice president with a mandate from voters to get things done. To unite the country. To help Congress and the White House work together. To solve real problems, like America’s long-term economic plan.
We can have this vice president, but only if his or her power derives from the people.
Join us in reclaiming our right to a democratically elected vice president.
Dave and Mikel Blake’s commitment to positive, systems-level change has moved from the future of education and work to an even bigger stage: the future of American democracy itself. David and Mikel cofounded vice.run, an effort to reclaim Americans’ right to a democratically elected vice president. Today David and Mikel live in San Francisco, with their three children.
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Endorsements
Pledge your name
It’s time to reclaim the vice presidency. The Constitution gives the American people the right to choose the vice president. That right was taken from the people by the party ballot, weakening the office and the democratic principles we stand for. Why is this important now? Because the vice presidency is uniquely suited to negotiate complex issues in an era of partisanship and divided government. Only the vice president has a formal role in the executive and legislative branches. Only the vice president has the power to pull the parties together with the tie-breaking vote in the Senate. By signing this pledge, I call on my state to create a separate ballot line for the vice presidency in 2020.It’s time for us to elect the VP.
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Join our movement to reclaim the vice presidency.
Paid for by Americans for Common Ground