On June 9, Doug Bailey died. He had been a top Republican campaign strategist in the 1976 presidential election, and in 2006 he had helped found Unity ’08, which was planned to place a centrist presidential candidate on the ballot in 2008. Unity ’08 was forced to suspend its operations after a U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., ruled that no one could give more than $5,000 to the group. Even though the group then ceased operations, it appealed the decision, and won the case in the U.S. Court of Appeals in 2010. That made it possible for Americans Elect to launch itself. Americans Elect qualified for the ballot in 29 states during 2010, 2011 and early 2012, but then shut down because it couldn’t attract a presidential nominee. See this story about Doug Bailey.

UPDATE: see this reminiscence by Nick Troiano.