We’re now less than 4 weeks out from the 2010 midterm elections and the media is abuzz with rumors, innuendos, conjectures and tell-tale signs that some journalists are paying attention to independent voters…
Third Party Rising (By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN, NY Times) caused quite a stir among the official left blogs who hold onto the DP like a 2 year old to his mama.
We have to rip open this two-party duopoly and have it challenged by a serious third party that will talk about education reform, without worrying about offending unions; financial reform, without worrying about losing donations from Wall Street; corporate tax reductions to stimulate jobs, without worrying about offending the far left; energy and climate reform, without worrying about offending the far right and coal-state Democrats; and proper health care reform, without worrying about offending insurers and drug companies.
Nate Silver has tons of calculus to show that Odds Against Third-Party Bid Not as Long as They Seem…
And Ezra Klein (Washington Post/Voices) made a real good point in Tom Friedman, Naderite? even if he missed some finer points (i.e., there’s more to independent politics than Ralph Nader. In fact there is a growing independent movement with a vital and relevant left wing organizing nationally for open primaries and access to elections for independents and all voters…):
The worst illusion pundits foist on the populace is the idea that if we just elect the right guy (or gal) to be president, everything will be fine. It won’t be. If you don’t like how our laws are being made, you have to change how our laws are being made.
I couldn’t agree more — we need structural political reform. I also think there’s a real shot for the American people to elect an independent President in 2012. The sentiment is growing. And that takes a whole lot of grassroots organizing.
Independents not buying Dems’ core messages (Greg Sargent, Washington Post/The Plum Line) A plurality of independents, 44 percent, agree with the core Dem claim that Dems are better for the middle class. Only 31 percent of indys pick the GOP.
HALPERIN’S TAKE: The Third Man (Mark Halperin, Time mag) If unemployment’s 10 percent and if it’s Bloomberg-Petraeus against Sarah Palin and whoever against Obama, and Bloomberg spends $3 billion, who would you bet on?” With VIDEO
The independent herd – Is the nation in the midst of an unheralded political realignment? (By STEVEN STARK, The Boston Phoenix) The big news in this election cycle is the rise of the Tea Party. Fair enough. But since every action causes a reaction, passing under the radar is an accompanying development that could have even more far-reaching consequences — the rise of an emboldened third force in our politics. This could even lead to the emergence of a new independent party that could alter the outcome of the 2012 presidential election, not to mention the future course of our history.
It’s exactly that under-the-radar force that’s organizing at the grassroots. One voice — Bill King — speaks for millions: This country could use more independent voters (By BILL KING, Houston Chronicle)
Washington must be rolling over in his grave today as politicians from both sides adamantly defend the highly partisan political life we now endure. Many argue that the parties are an essential element of the American political system to justify their quasi-legal status. Sorry, but our Founding Fathers disagreed and so do I.
King goes on to say:
We need more independents who claim no loyalty to any political party. Currently about one-third of us identify ourselves as independents and the number has been steadily growing for the last few years. Perhaps if the number continues to grow we can start electing some independent office-holders who will put their country, states and communities before a slavish devotion to a party platform.
For more news for independent voters, see The Hankster
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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.