I don't know much about Americans Elect. There was an article in Time about them. On the surface, the idea of a 3rd Party candidate "in the middle" doesn't sound too bad. (I think we have a candidate "in the middle" now and the empty space is on the left, but that's a different issue.)
Then I read more about them. It seems that their "Candidate Certification Committee" can either veto candidates, or add their own candidates that don't otherwise qualify. Their candidate qualifications include "holding elected office of a certain level, running a large company or university, attaining flag rank in the military, for example " (sounds like the 1% to me). I think I read that the Committee is allowed to override the final online delegate vote and select the final nominee themselves.
And who is the Committee:
Each proposed candidate must be certified by the group's Candidate Certification Committee ... The members of the Candidate Certification Committee are appointed by the Board of Directors.
So people with money created an organization and named Directors, who select the candidates and then the nominee. Just a reminder of a similar system:
The governing body of the CPSU was the Party Congress ... Party Congresses would elect a Central Committee which, in turn, would elect a Politburo. Under Stalin the most powerful position in the party became the General Secretary who was elected by the Politburo ... To become a party member one had to be approved by various committees and one's past was closely scrutinised.
And at the end, the founders get their money back - "He states that the major donations are technically low-interest loans, the bulk of which the organization says it intends to pay back as it widens its contribution base so that no single individual will have contributed more than $10K."
Is this as corrupt as it sounds? Does anyone else know more about them? And are they going to nominate candidates for the Senate, the House and State offices?