The Time Has Come
By Alex Hammer
Why is that you have hundreds of choices of TV channels, almost unlimited selections of music, countless book choices (e.g. Amazon), many choices of coffee flavors, but only two significant political choices – Democrat and Republican?
Isn’t that strange?
In my state of Maine, we have 39% Independents but not a current single Independent anywhere in the legislature.
As I run for Governor of my great state (I’m sure your state is great too)
I’m now preparing for a court challenge to gain ballot access, despite having enough collected signatures.
Several others in the last couple of years have sued in my state over ballot access issues.
But I’m not here to talk about my campaign. I’m here to discuss your growing impact, collectively, on national politics (and local and state as well). An impact that I believe may reach a tipping point even more quickly than imagined.
In an earlier guest column on this site, Independents Are a Sleeping Giant Part 2 – How We Limit Our Own Success (Guest Voice), I wrote in part:
“Certainly, many obstacles have been put in the path of third party candidates by the powers that be and much can and should be written about that (and has to a certain degree) but with the volume of Independents already in existence in this great nation we must also be limiting ourselves in some ways to not have already gotten further than we have.
The latent political power of Independents, largely unorganized, represents a sleeping giants of individuals disenfranchised by partisan politics and seeking greater solutions from government…
Independents are a major, perhaps the major, block of voters, but we’re currently so fragmented as to be politically essentially invisible in our own right, seen instead solely as contributors to D’s and R’s.
America 2.0
I do not feel that Independents need joint platforms, party-like in nature, on which we can seek to agree. And yet perhaps there may over time evolve some principles extractable across the many Independent and Moderate circles of influence which will become better known.
An Independent Bill of Rights, perhaps, if you will.
What is your Independent Bill of Rights? I ask every one of you.”
Certainly, as has been said, “there is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come”.
While the powers that be can fight to hold politics as one of the last bastions of top-down rather than consumer-driven control, as consumers are empowered across industry sectors how long a consumer driven model of politics can continue to be suppressed is an open question.
Are “they” really more powerful than “us” – the voting public, the consumers of America, politically?
I refer to all of us collectively.
Voters who are upset are far from all Tea Party members. Across the political spectrum people are disheartened by “politics as usual” and feel disenfranchised from their own government.
I see that every day on the campaign trail.
A potential problem with “voting the bums out” is that it doesn’t necessarily change the underlying political system. I talk with legislators very regularly and many tell me that they start off idealistic but then when they get into government they find that the parties increasingly take over. If you want a good committee assignment you need to go along. If you don’t go along your sponsored bills won’t make it out of committee. If you still don’t go along they can threaten to put you on the least important committees. Then they’ll do it. First you may be to spoken to by the party leadership in direct terms (there is also a joint legislative council whose intent is for both parties, at least to some degree, to work together). I know more than one legislator that has been called into a meeting with the Governor to be told what to do! If worst comes to worst and you still don’t cooperate with your party, they’ll fund a primary opponent against you.
Talk with your legislators and see if it is the same where you are as well.
Perhaps the powers that be believe that we enjoy our choices of hundreds of TV channels and consumer power across our society but will still be satisfied being relegated to two political choices.
Perhaps they do whatever they can get away with politically to force us to do what they want in the realm of politics — whether we want to or not.
But America clearly has a history of greater political freedoms than many parts of the globe. We thirst (I believe) for greater political freedom — choices.
We think for ourselves and are Independent thinkers (wherever on the political spectrum we may reside).
Politically, sooner or later, it’s only a matter of time.