In such a heavily controlled political environment we have where the two entrenched parties have their way with the America people, lots of voters are declaring their independence. One Florida partisan answers his own question in his letter below (and those are some pretty good reasons he gives as to why independents are not claiming partisanship!), and Paul Krugman insults the very sector of the electorate that gives voice to the need for innovation, reform and new policy.
Meanwile, the Committee for a Unified Independent Party/ IndependentVoting.org has launched a campaign calling for Congressional hearings on the second class status of indies — the purpose is two-fold: 1) To educate Congress and shine a light on the effect of partisan control of the election process, namely that 40% of Americans have a second class status; and 2) to urge Congress to investigate these biases by holding hearings.
Letter: Independent voters make party choices (By BOB FLIEGEL , St. Augustine.com) If truth be told, the typical independent is already strongly predisposed to vote for candidates of the same party and will always do so 99 percent of the time. Why then do they shrink from acknowledging their de facto party allegiance and seek refuge in the independent label?
Psychodrama Queens (Paul Krugman, NY Times/The Conscience of a Liberal) Oh, and about independent voters: if you think that they’re strong-minded, solid citizens repelled by the partisanship — well, there may be a guy like that somewhere in America. But by and large, given the vast differences between the parties these days, independent voters are basically confused, clueless people — not exactly the kind of people likely to take reassurance from Obama’s stance on entitlement programs. On the contrary, they’re the sort of people likely to be stampeded by “Obama wants to raise the Medicare age!”
Congressional Hearings on Second Class Status of Independent Voters (IndependentVoting.org) New York County Independence Party Chair Cathy Stewart, and Vice Chair, Alvaader Frazier, Esq. met with Congressman Edolphus Towns. Rep. Towns from Brooklyn, who is a member of the Subcommittee on Government Organization, Efficiency and Financial Management. Rep. Towns unhesitantly said that he would like to help, that Congress should hold hearings to explore the barriers independents face, and that it is important to work to expand the number of people that are participating. Read the campaign’s first newsletter here for more about what’s going on around the country.
More news by, about and for independent voters at The Hankster
Provocateur/ pundit/ organizer Nancy Hanks is a long-time activist in the independent political movement who’s done it all: petitioning to put independent candidates on the ballot from New York to Texas and points east, west, north and south; fundraising for the independent think tank, the Committee for a Unified Independent Party (CUIP), and its online counterpart, IndependentVoting.org; running as an independent for New York City Council from Queens, New York City’s most diverse borough; serving as the current Treasurer of the Queens County Committee of the Independence Party of New York (of the IP NYC Organizations); conducting research for the Neo-Independent, a magazine that addresses the concerns of independent voters.