Historic Bond Ties African-Americans and Independents Together

The Historic Bond that Ties African-Americans and Independents Together
By Bob Friedman

Last week I joined Rev. Al Sharpton and the National Action Network on the march from Selma to Montgomery. I am one of the 40% of Americans who are independent of both of the major parties. Back in the days of Ross Perot, the media called guys like me "angry white men."


Along the route, I spoke with many people and brought greetings from Dr. Lenora Fulani, the country’s leading African American independent with whom I’ve worked closely and from IndependentVoting.org, the country’s largest organization of independent voters of which I’m a part.

I have been an independent activist concerned with voters’ rights for many years. In Birmingham, as chair of the Petitioners Alliance, I helped lead the first citywide Initiative & Referendum movement. With Senator Hank Sanders, one of the sponsors of this historic march, I wrote legislation to open access to the Alabama ballot. And with Rep. Demetrius Newton, I designed legislation for proportional democratic selection of presidential electors. As independents, we fight for reforms that not only protect the right to vote. They increase the power of the vote.

For this march, I was proud to have fellow independents Mark Bodenhausen and Lorna Lindsey join me for the historic bridge crossing in Selma. Lorna had never been to a major demonstration before. We added our voices to the call for an end to voter ID laws that suppress the full participation of all our citizens. Independents have experienced disenfranchisement ourselves. We know that when partisan interests wave a flag about so-called voter fraud in an election year, you can pretty much count on the fact that they’re doing it for partisan reasons, not to protect our democracy.

Partisanship is destroying our democracy and making our government incapable of moving our country forward. I far from alone in this concern. Right now, our Congress has a 97% disapproval rating. Most Americans look at Congress and see how partisan its behavior is and feel angry that our government is not working for them.

We need to broaden participation in our democracy, not narrow it. We need to make sure that no American is turned away from the polls because they don’t have the right ID. And that means photo ID, State ID and political ID. In 26 states, independents are prevented from voting in primaries, not because they don’t have an ID, but because they don’t belong to a party! That’s just wrong.

There is an historic bond that ties African Americans and independents together. That bond is based on our shared belief that our democracy must work for everyone, not just the powerful, not just the parties—but for the people!

Bob Friedman
Birmingham, AL 
205-701-2799

college of the city of new york

I'm An Independent - Can I Vote in Super Tuesday's Republican Primary?

Alaska - Open Primary: Parties select who may vote in their primaries. To vote in the GOP primary, a voter must be registered as a Republican 30 days before Election Day.

Georgia - Open: No party affiliation required at registration. However, on Election Day, voters must declare an oath of intent to affiliate with the particular party for whom they are voting on Election Day.

Idaho - Closed: Until 2011, all Idaho primaries were open. Independents intervened in a lawsuit brought by a faction of the Republican Party seeking to close their primaries. However, the GOP obtained a declaratory judgment that mandating open primaries violated freedom of association and was thus unconstitutional in Idaho Republican Party v. Ysura. Subsequently, the legislature passed a bill allowing parties to choose which type of primary they use. Democrats have chosen a semi-closed primary; unaffiliated voters may register a party at the polls on election day, but they are bound to that party affiliation at the next election.

Massachusetts - Semi-Closed: Affiliated voters must vote in the primary of their party; however, unaffiliated voters may vote in either primary.

North Dakota - Closed: The only state without voter registration. To vote in the Republican caucus you must have affiliated with the Republican Party in the last general election or intend to do so in the next election.

Ohio - Closed: Voters' right to vote in the primary may be challenged on the basis that they are not affiliated with the party for whom they are voting in the primary.

Oklahoma - Closed: Only voters affiliated with a particular party may vote in its primary.

Tennessee - Open: No party affiliation required at registration. 

Vermont - Open: No registration by party. For presidential primary, voters must declare which ballots they want.

Virginia - Open: No party affiliation required at registration.

source: FairVote

A Twisted Tale of Partisan Politics

A Twisted Tale of Partisan Politics

by Harry Kresky

Huffington Post
Posted: 03/ 2/2012 5:34 pm

A strange case in Tennessee got my attention. Now it's before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, as the judges consider whether a political party has the right to overturn the results of a primary election conducted entirely in accordance with state law.

Here's the background. Rosalind Kurita ran for re-election to the State Senate in 2008 and beat her opponent Tim Barnes by 19 votes in the Democratic Party primary. Candidate Barnes challenged the result on the grounds that Kurita won because many Republicans and independents participated in the election. But Tennessee, along with some 17 other states, does not have partisan registration. There, voters are just voters, and all are allowed to choose the primary they wish to vote in. So, if they're were not registered into a party in the first place and cast their vote legally, on what grounds were those who voted for Candidate Kurita judged to be Republicans and independents? Shouldn't their votes count the same as those who voted for Candidate Barnes?

In Tennessee, disputed primary elections are referred to the political party whose nomination the candidates seek. Here the matter was "adjudicated" by the Executive Committee of the State Democratic Party under rules adopted after the challenge was filed by Barnes. The "rules" articulated no standard by which the issue was to be determined. The Committee made no specific findings, but voided the election on the grounds that the results were "incurably uncertain." The Party then gave the nomination to Barnes.

Kurita claimed that she was denied due process and unconstitutionally deprived of the election she had won. The trial court rejected her claim on the grounds that the Tennessee Democratic Party was a private organization that did not have to accord due process and, further, that she has had no legally protected interest in the results of the primary election she had won. The decision did not address the rights of the persons who voted for her, or their being deprived of their choice of candidates in a state run and state financed primary. (Apparently, the Tennessee Democratic Party was angry at Kurita because she had supported a Republican for election to the State Senate speaker office the year before she ran for re-election.)

Kurita, like Alice in Wonderland, has fallen into the rabbit's hole of partisan American politics. The parties run the government; they write the laws by which the citizens of their states must finance and conduct primary elections. And when the outcome of an election is not to the party's liking, it can overturn it on any grounds, or no grounds whatsoever, under a set of rules that are adopted for just that purpose.

To add to the madness, the Tennessee Democratic Party rested its right to ignore the will of the voters who participated in the primary election to choose its candidates, on the Party's (not the voters') First Amendment right of freedom of association. Is it any wonder that our elected officials place the rights of their party over the rights of the voters and the interests of the State or country? If they do otherwise, they jeopardize their chance for re-election, the wishes of their constituents voters notwithstanding?

This twisted tale sheds light on why so many Americans don't bother to vote and why a plurality of them have become independents.

Harry Kresky, a New York City attorney in private practice, is counsel to IndependentVoting.org - a national association of independents with organization in 40 states. He is one of the country's leading election attorneys and has represented independent voters, candidates and parties for the past 30 years. He currently represents independent voters in a precedent-setting case in U.S. District Court defending open primaries in Idaho. Kresky recently teamed with attorneys from the law firm of Holland and Knight to prevent the destruction of historic St. Brigid’s Church in lower Manhattan. 

Independent Voters: Youth Turn Away From Party Identification (Rolling Stone)

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Percentage of independent voters climbs in Mass. (Boston Globe) The latest figures released by Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin’s office shows the number of voters not enrolled in any party — so-called “independent voters’’ — has topped 52 percent. That’s up from 2004, when slightly less than half of all Massachusetts voters were independent.
• Independent voters see beyond ideology (LETTER Syracuse NY Post Standard) The Independents are not likely to present a third-party candidate, so the decision will be between the Democrats and the Republicans. That is not to say independent voters are immune to right or left tendencies, but that they can see beyond the party ideologies to the rational arguments presented.
• Letter: Non-Partisan System is Open and Fair, and it Works (Scarsdale Press) I write in response to numerous attacks on the Scarsdale Non-Partisan System by Harry Reynolds, an independent candidate for Trustee in the election on March 20… The fact is that, because of the time-tested and proven system of fair, honest, and responsive government under the Non-Partisan System, Scarsdale has been largely free of the partisan sniping and character assassination that is typical of most partisan electoral systems in this country.
• Why Democrats Have a Problem with Young Voters (By Rick Perlstein, Rolling Stone/ Politics) The turn away from party identification has been a long-term American trend: According to Gallup, 40 percent of Americans don't consider themselves members of a political party, compared to 36 percent in 2002 and 33 percent in 1988. But that trend has been all the more accelerated among young people — and even more so among young progressives.

Campaign Finance Reform - Not a Good Picture

Campaign finance reform as conceived by the 2 major parties won't reform American politics. It's partisan through and through and -- how would you take the money out of politics when we live in a capitalist society?

CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM

The New York Times' Disingenuous Campaign Against Citizens United (By Wendy Kaminer, The Atlantic) Like Fox News, The New York Times has a First Amendment right to spread misinformation about important public issues, and it is exercising that right in its campaign against the Citizens United ruling. In news stories, as well as columns, it has repeatedly mischaracterized Citizens United, explicitly or implicitly blaming it for allowing unlimited "super PAC" contributions from mega-rich individuals. In fact, Citizens United enabled corporations and unions to use general treasury funds for independent political expenditures; it did not expand or address the longstanding, individual rights of the rich to support independent groups. And, as recent reports have made clear, individual donors, not corporations, are the primary funders of super PACs.

Americans Elect Progress in North Carolina and Among Dems

AMERICANS ELECT

• 3rd party nearly on N.C. ballot - Americans Elect will pick its nonpartisan candidate online. (By Jim Morrill, Charlotte Observer) A state elections official says Americans Elect appears to have the required signatures to get on the November ballot alongside President Barack Obama and the Republican and Libertarian nominees. The state could certify them in early March.
• Prominent Democrat Endorses Third-Party Group (By MICHAEL D. SHEAR, NY Times/ The Caucus) “The country is going to really be in deep trouble if we don’t act soon,” Mr. Boren, who is now president of the University of Oklahoma, said in an interview with The Caucus. “I think this is really a cry from many of us who are really concerned for the future of the country.”
• Third-Party Group Wants Internet to Pick Presidential Candidate: Americans Elect, backed by $5 million from the head of a private investment firm, wants to shake up the two-party system (Rebekah Metzler U.S. News & World Report in Chicago Tribune) "There's really only been one successful third party, and that was the Republican party that came about in the wake and collapse of the old Whig party over the issue of slavery," Smith says. "Good government is not really the kind of an issue that is going to motivate people to drop long-standing ties to the party of their birth, so to speak, and take up with another party that isn't really a party."

Libertarians Looking for Tactics in 2012

LIBERTARIANS

• Nick Gillespie Talking Election 2012, Independent Voters, with Jon Caldara of Independence Institute (Nick Gillespie, Reason.com) The awesome Independence Institute in Denver, Colorado invited me out west last week to debate Ann Coulter about whether libertarians and conservatives could and should work together to defeat liberals such as Barack Obama.
• Gary Johnson and the possibilities of a third-party candidacy (Jim Galloway, Atlanta Journal Constitution/ Political Insider) Truth be told, the better third-party bet was in Athens this weekend, attending the state Libertarian party convention. Gary Johnson is yet another former governor – this time from New Mexico – who failed to scratch in the Republican contest. But when Libertarians have their national gathering in Las Vegas in May, Johnson is likely to emerge as the party’s candidate – just as Bob Barr did four years ago. Johnson left the GOP contest in December. Again, not that many noticed.

Political Theater: Sally & Tom (The American Way) Reviewed by Black Star News

POLITICAL THEATER
Sally and Tom at the Castillo (By Deardra Shuler, Black Star News) Given Jefferson’s anti-slavery position he would be delighted to see a black man as President and perhaps disappointed to see although President Obama expressed “change,” little has changed, given the unbridled hatred, disrespect, hostility, and disgusting behavior demonstrated by many members of Jefferson’s own race toward the presidency of Barack Obama.

Harlem's Hottest Cultural Happening: Interviews by a Black Independent -- Dr. Lenora Fulani to Host New Schomburg Center Director Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad Friday

Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad will be Dr. Fulani's guest at this month's Interview by a Black Independent. Dr. Muhammad is the new Director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. He is a prize winning author. In a recent NY 1 profile , Cheryl Wills had this to say about Dr. Muhammad: "A former professor of history at Indiana University, Muhammad recently authored "The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime and The Making of Modern Urban America." He says he is ready to take the Center into the digital age and is eager to enlist the next generation to help him achieve his goal to keep history relevant." Please join Dr. Fulani for a lively conversation with Dr. Muhammad on Friday, February 24th at 6pm.

 To RSVP, please call 212.962.1699

Friday February 24th, 6pm

Harlem State Office Building

163 W. 125th Street, Second Floor

For the first time in living memory -- independent voters will play a major role in all of California's elections

Independents will be key to upcoming California elections (Jason Olson LETTER Sac Bee) In 2012 -- for the first time in living memory -- independent voters will play a major role in all of California's elections.

Re "Democrats go at GOP, each other" (Capitol & California, Feb. 13): In 2012 -- for the first time in living memory -- independent voters will play a major role in all of California's elections.

Thanks to open primaries and redistricting reform passed by voters in previous elections, all candidates now must run against each other in an open field, where all voters can participate. To get elected, candidates now need to win the support of independent voters. Independent voters have no intention of giving that support away for free.

Independents are deeply concerned about a political dialogue dominated by what's best for the parties rather than what's best for the American people. Independents want critical reforms to our political process to shift that balance of power away from the parties and towards the voters. Candidates looking to win their elections should take note of the independent movement for nonpartisan reform.

-- Jason Olson, San Francisco

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/02/16/4268925/independents-key-to-upcoming-elections.html#storylink=cpy

New York Legislators Say No to Independent Redistricting

INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING
Lawmakers Pledge to Reform, But Gerrymandering Keeps Getting Worse (by John Avlon, Daily Beast) In New York, 186 state legislators swore to support non-partisan redistricting efforts when they ran for office in the angry, anti-incumbent year of 2010. Most came down with convenient amnesia when they got back to Albany. The brinksmanship has continued despite promises by Governor Andrew Cuomo to veto nakedly partisan district lines and the efforts of good government group coalitions like ReShapeNY (on which, full disclosure, I serve on the advisory board.) Not only are New York’s redistricting maps still not set, initial glimpses have shown the same old partisan games, with potential rivals drawn out into different districts by incumbents seeking to preserve their power at almost any cost. Mediators and judges are now looming over the legislative impasse. One key dynamic to watch is whether a deal is struck that would at least try to move a state constitutional change forward to create an independent commission in ten years’ time. The principle of short-term self-interest predictably outpaces ethics or honor. New York is one of only two states in the nation to have not yet even voted on lines that will be on the ballot this fall.

National Black Touring Circuit's Black History Month Presents "I, Barbara Jordan"

POLITICAL THEATER
National Black Touring Circuit's Black History Month Play Festival to Present I, BARBARA JORDAN (Broadway World)
The National Black Touring Circuit’s Black History Month Play Festival will present “I, Barbara Jordan,” a dynamic look at the first African American woman from the South to be elected to Congress, at the National Black Theatre, 2031 Fifth Avenue from February 24-26.

“I, Barbara Jordan,” which stars Toni SeaWright, is directed by Woodie King and written by Celeste Bedford Walker.

On Saturday, February 25, psychologist and political activist Dr. Lenora Fulani will have a presentation on Jordan.

Third Party Candidate? We Need Independent Voices

THIRD PARTY

• A Third Voice for 2012 (By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN, NY Times) I know what I’d pay good money to see: an intelligent independent candidate just taking part in the presidential debates, because it would make both Obama and his Republican opponent better. One independent I’d like to see play that role is David Walker.
• We Need More Independent-Minded Voters (David M. Walker, Former Comptroller General of the United States; Author, 'Comeback America'; Huffington Post) I was honored and humbled that syndicated columnist Tom Friedman this week suggested I consider running for president, putting me forward as a third choice to voters. But our need is bigger than for me -- or any other third-party candidate. And his column taps into a need that goes far beyond my work on fiscal responsibility and government transformation. Every day, I talk with people around the nation who take their vote seriously enough to not align themselves with one particular party. They are the new independent-minded voter. And we need more of them.
• The Radical Center We Don't Need (Robert Kuttner, Co-founder and co-editor, 'The American Prospect'; Huffington Post) We already have a centrist party. It's called the Democrats. Obama's Democrats are to the right of Richard Nixon on most domestic economic issues. If Democrats had not joined Republicans in financial deregulation, we never would have had the economic collapse of 2008.
• The Third-Party Myth (By Josh Kraushaar, National Journal/ 2012 Decoded) But in reality, third-parties only thrive when there's a political vacuum to be filled. Despite being a nominal independent, Bloomberg's views aren't much different than your average Democrat. Walker's stand on entitlement reform is embraced by many of the leading Republican pols, led by House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan.
• What makes a strong third-party candidate? (By Jonathan Bernstein, Washington Post/ PostPartisan) Near as I can tell, every third-party presidential candidate who took 5 percent or more of the vote was reasonably well known before the campaign (Anderson became well known in losing the nomination). That’s not to say that Walker or Goode couldn’t possibly “succeed” in some way, but neither of them really fits the profile of past successful third-party candidates. The truth is that the way it really works most of the time is someone with a big ego and the resources to make it happen decides to run and probably then fills in whichever issues seem to resonate. Starting with the issues is pretty much getting the whole thing backward. If you want to push some set of issues, try to get a major party candidate to adopt them. It’s a lot easier.

"Sally and Tom (The American Way)" Opens at Castillo Theatre Featuring IndependentVoting.org's Jacqueline Salit as James Madison

POLITICAL THEATER

• Different Stages "Sally and Tom (The American Way)" opens at the Castillo Theatre Feb17 (By Charles E. Rogers, Amsterdam News) With beautiful music by Grammy-nominated songwriter Annie Roboff, this dramatic musical follows Hemings and Jefferson's love affair over a quarter century as it becomes a scandal in the press, produces five children and forces Hemings to confront the relative privileges of her life and the injustices of slavery.
• Musical about Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings Comes to Castillo Theatre, 2/17-3/25  (Broadway World) Fred Newman, who passed away in July, wrote the book and lyrics of Sally and Tom, which was originally produced at the Castillo Theatre in 1995. Newman served as Castillo’s artistic director and playwright-in-residence for 16 years and wrote 44 politically engaged, experimental plays and musicals. He shaped the Castillo Theatre from its founding in 1984 into a unique kind of political theatre—progressive without being partisan, artistically and philosophically demanding while being inclusive of diverse audiences.

Musical Drama Explores Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings'
American Story of Love, Slavery and Compromise


Jacqueline Salit, the president of IndependentVoting.org, long a player in New York City and national politics, is currently playing on a different stage - at the Castillo Theatre on 42nd Street, where she's appearing as Founding Father James Madison in a revival of Fred Newman and Annie Roboff's political musical, Sally and Tom (The American Way).

Running at the Castillo Theatre for six weeks from February 17 through March 25, Sally and Tom (The American Way) examines the 30-year relationship between Thomas Jefferson and his slave Sally Hemings, a relationship that produced five children and embodies the wrenching conflict between democracy and slavery,and its legacy of racism that continues to shape America to this day.

In this polarizing presidential election year, with the meaning of "the American way" itself being hotly contested, Salit makes her acting debut in a play that examines the extreme power struggles and ugly campaigning that shaped our nation's course in the early years of the Republic. In an ironic twist, Salit - a political independent who is outspoken against party control of American politics - plays the author of the Constitution, a man who deeply opposed political parties but ultimately founded one.

Salit has a 30-year history in independent and insurgent politics. She managed Mayor Michael Bloomberg's three successful campaigns on the Independence Party line and was a key strategist in the effort to bring non-partisan election reform to New York City. Her book, Independents Rising, published by Palgrave Macmillan, will be in stores in August. "This is a totally new experience," Salit says of her role as a Founding Father. "I've performed as 'myself' at political gatherings and on TV. But it's very different to be playing someone else - a man, at that - who lived over 200 years ago. In this production, Madison is both a man of his time and can look back at his - and the country's - inhuman compromises. Performing the part hits me very hard every time we do the show." Salit shares the role with veteran actor and director David Nackman. The dates of the performances in which Salit will appear can be supplied.

Under the direction of Gabrielle L. Kurlander, the play is performed on three stages in its own surreal "history museum." The audience is seated throughout the performance space and among the exhibits, and is encouraged to interact with the conflicted history of our nation.

In addition to Salit and Nackman, the cast for Sally and Tom (The American Way) features Ava Jenkins and Adam Kemmerer in the title roles, as well as Sean Patrick Gibbons and Brian D. Hills. Musical direction is by David Belmont with Michael Walsh, choreography by Lonné Moretton; sets by Joseph Spirito and costumes by Emilie Charlotte Knoerzer.

The Castillo Theatre (Dan Friedman, artistic director, Diane Stiles, managing director) is located at 543 West 42nd Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:00 p.m. February 17 through March 25. Tickets are $35 for adults, $10 for students and seniors. Group rates are available. Tickets can be purchased through the Castillo Box Office at 212-941-1234 or at www.castillo.org.

SALLY AND TOM (THE AMERICAN WAY)
Book & Lyrics by Fred Newman
Music by Annie Roboff
Directed by Gabrielle L. Kurlander

Castillo Theatre
543 West 42nd Street (between 10th and 11th Avenues)

2012: Polls Show Indies Boost Obama Lead in General Election; Americans Elect Still in Wings

2012

• Santorum Up 9 Points Among Republican Voters, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Obama Edges Santorum, But Romney Is Too Close To Call (Quinnipiac) Although this is Quinnipiac University's first national poll this year, all of the numerous surveys of key states this year, including Florida, Ohio and Virginia, show Romney doing better against Obama than Santorum. In this national poll, the president benefits from his 46 - 41 percent lead over Romney and 49 - 39 percent margin over Santorum among independent voters.
• Third party option? - Americans Elect’s Elliot Ackerman and No Labels’ Mark McKinnon discuss the demand for a third party candidate and the possibility of a viable, non-partisan or bipartisan option in November. (VIDEO and TRANSCRIPT - Chuck Todd interviews, msnbc/ The Daily Rundown) McKinnon: >> well, it starts with leadership. it will relate to policy. it's highly unlikely that whoever is on the ticket will talk about policy that goes to simpson-boles idea. it seems obvious to everyone out there we need more revenue and entitlement reforms. we're talking about unity in the sense that we have to work towards solutions. once that happens at the presidential level, everybody else in the senate n the congress is saying if it's getting that reaction i better look at what's happening at my seat.
• Analysis: Obama pitches middle while GOP eyes base (CBS News) "I think the president ended up looking like the responsible person in the room," said Lanae Erickson of the Democratic-leaning group Third Way, which has studied independent voting trends. "The Republican primary candidates went way out on a limb and will alienate themselves with independent voters," she said.
• Not Too Late for Americans Elect to Win 2012 Presidential Election (by Douglas Schoen, Daily Beast) When Barack Obama and Mitt Romney’s names were used explicitly, support for an independent was still at 25 percent, as one-quarter said they would vote for “an alternative unity ticket with a Democrat and a Republican as president and vice president,” while the rest of the respondents were split evenly. Support for the two major candidates moved up to 37 percent for Obama and 38 percent for Romney, only a very modest 12- or 13-point lead over an unnamed, independent challenger.
• Obama Leads in General Election Matchup (Pew Research, from Santorum Catches Romney in GOP Race - Obama Leads Both in General Election Matchups) Over the course of the campaign, Romney’s image among independent voters has suffered substantially. Most notably, the number who believe he is honest and trustworthy has fallen from 53% to 41%, while the number who say he is not has risen from 32% to 45%.
• Independent voters are rejecting Romney (By John Avlon, CNN) A new CNN/ORC International poll finds that 53% of independents have an unfavorable view of Romney, compared with 44% last month. It has potentially huge implications extending into the fall. Remember that independents are the largest and fastest-growing segment of the electorate -- reaching an unprecedented 40% in the most recent Gallup Poll.
• 51% - Independents Help Obama Build Lead Over Romney (Pew Research) Barack Obama now holds an eight-point lead over Mitt Romney in a hypothetical general election matchup, and he has gained significant ground among independent voters. A month ago, 40% of independents said they would back Obama over Romney – today, 51% say so. The percentage of independents on Team Romney has slipped from 50% to 42% in the last month.

Arizona Independents Advocate Top Two Open Primary System

Arizona Independents eyeing Open Elections/Open Government Act (by Damon Eris, IVN) “We’re actually projecting that independents will outnumber both Republicans and Democrats [in Arizona] by November,” said Ted Downing of Independent Voting in a recent report for KTAR news.

Read more about Arizona Open Elections/Open Government here: Open Elections/Open Government
will fundamentally change and reform our election process by implementing an open primary system where the top two vote getters, regardless of political party, will advance to a run-off election.

This will encourage more qualified and independent-minded candidates to seek elected office – candidates guided by common sense instead of extreme ideology from either side of the political spectrum. Even more important, Open Elections/Open Government will open our election process up to more VOTERS.

South Dakota House Bill 1182 Unfair to Independent Candidates

Why are counties not in planning districts? (LETTER Rapid City Journal by Kim Wright, South Dakota Voice of Independents, Rapid City)
House Bill 1182 unfair to independent candidates
House Bill 1182 seeks to revise the filing deadline for the nomination of certain independent candidates. The proposed revision reduces the timeline for independent candidates to circulate nomination petitions for public office.

When Rep. Mark Kirkeby introduced this bill in the House State Affairs Committee, he explained that there is a growing number of South Dakota voters registering as Independent. This is a national trend.
Currently the percent of registered independent voters exceeds the percent of voters registered with either of the major parties.

When asked his rationale for introducing this bill limiting the time frame for independent candidates to collect signatures, secure campaign resources and engage voters, Rep. Kirkeby responded that it was an issue of “fairness.”

I did not have an opportunity to ask for clarification of “fair.” If considering the concept of fairness, I would ask Rep. Kirkeby: Is it fair that Independent candidates must collect considerably more signatures than their major party opponents in order to seek public office? How fair is it that registered Independent voters are denied the right to vote in primary elections?

I would suggest that the rationale for HB 1182 is much more about maintaining political party control than about equitable opportunities.

Kim Wright, South Dakota Voice of Independents
Rapid City

Dr. Omar H. Ali op-ed The Free Lance-Star

Movements to the Mountaintop
History as Collective Failure: Lessons from the Black populists
Omar H. Ali
February 19, 2012
GREENSBORO, N.C.--Famously, George Washington lost almost every major battle during the American Revolution, yet he won the war. His final victory at Yorktown is embraced as an example of individual perseverance in the face of overwhelming odds.

In our winner-take-all culture, we tend to glorify the winners, emphasizing the individual--from historical figures, such as Washington, to contemporary figures, such as Oprah Winfrey or Barack Obama. We learn about them as individuals who "make it"--on their own, through extraordinary acts, with vision, and a little bit of luck. The formula: They struggled, they failed, but pressed on until they won (glory, money, the war, the vote, the presidency).

But what if in history there is no such thing as "the individual" or "winning"?What if there is only the seamless process of collective creation--no victory (no defeat), only what people do together? Back stories--the ones you don't usually hear--can teach us about collective creativity, about the fleeting nature of winning and about the production of history of many people doing mostly ordinary, but sometimes, extraordinary things together.

What most of us learn about "black history" entails the people and/or movements that succeeded in making political changes--notably, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement. But what about those who didn't make it to the mountaintop? What about the dreams that remain unfulfilled and the movements that failed?

Black populism, the movement of black farmers, sharecroppers, and agrarian workers from 1886 to 1900, was such a movement. It sought, but was not able to make, the economic and political reforms that were so desperately needed by a generation of Southern African-Americans coming out of slavery. Black populism was also the largest independent black political movement in the region before the modern civil rights movement. Read more ...

Omar H. Ali is associate professor of African-American history at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and author of "In the Lion's Mouth: Black Populism in the New South, 1886-1900" (University Press of Mississippi, 2010).

Oscar Internet Voting Plan Smeared With Gumbel Gunk

Andrew Gumbel, the ghost writer for Amanda Knox’s ex-boyfriend’s forthcoming Authentic Autobiography, has had his recent attacks on the Oscar Internet voting plan featured in The Guardian and reprinted in the LA Times as an “original” Op Ed.

He says The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was duped into accepting an Internet voting system for the vote on the Oscars in 2013. In the ghost writer’s opinion, a trustworthy Internet voting system is impossible to achieve with current technology. As “proof” he cites a list of anti-Internet voting extremists, including Ron Rivest and Alex Halderman (who are well known for having bullied West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant in a public forum on Internet voting.)

Leaning on Rivest, Halderman, David Dill, and a couple of others, Gumbel writes, “Computer security experts have warned [of] … cyber attacks that could falsify the outcome but remain undetected.” Well, that is one scary story! Imagine - Anonymous hacks into Oscar’s computer and votes for Bollywood’s Rakhi Sawant in every category, and nobody knows it was him! That would truly be a disaster!

But has anything like that ever really happened?

The answer is a big NO! Internet voting has been conducted in Norway, Switzerland, India, Canada, and here in the US in several places, including West Virginia. In every case, technical and political experts, including officials and the public, were satisfied that there were no undetected Leprechauns who snuck in and changed everyone’s vote.

As if that isn’t gunk enough, Gumbel then reveals that he told “the Academy's chief operating officer, Ric Robertson, … of the near-total unanimity of computer experts [that Internet voting was insecure].” He says Mr. Robertson was shocked at the news.

Only one little problem with Gumbel’s report. In every successful Internet voting event, there were dozens of experts who worked on the project, and who knew it could be done. So, no "unanimity" there.

Come on Mr. Gumbel; stop throwing your gunk at Oscar!

For more on Gumbel’s gunk go to Oscar Hit w/ Gumbel Gunk

William J. Kelleher, Ph.D.
Twitter: wjkno1
Email: Internetvoting@gmail.com

Independent Registration Up in California and Montana

• STATE: Partisan trenches (THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE - Riverside CA) New voter registration totals from the secretary of state once again show that the large political parties hold a shrinking share of the electorate, while the number of independent voters continues to grow. Democrats now compose 43.6 percent of the state’s more than 17 million registered voters, while Republicans make up 30.4 percent of voters. But 21.2 percent of registered voters — more than one in five — now identify with no political party.
• Rise of registered Republicans on the Treasure Coast (WPEC - CBS 12 - St. Lucie FL) Many Independent voters are now registering Republican. Voters tell us it's happening so they can weigh in on such an important presidential primary.
• Poll results show Rehberg-Tester Senate race in virtual tie (By ROB CHANEY of the Missoulian) Republicans made up 28 percent of the Montana poll respondents, while 24 percent declared themselves Democrats. A surprising 46 percent said they were "independent or something else," which was the highest total among the mountain states and far above the national average. Utah was the next closest independent state (35 percent), while only 13 percent of Wyoming residents called themselves that.

Linda Killian Speaks With Independents at Cathy Stewart's Politics for the People

INDEPENDENT VOTERS
4 Types of Independent Voters Who Could Swing the 2012 Elections (By Linda Killian, The Atlantic) They have come to meet Kathleen Curry, their state representative who in 2010 was running for re-election to the legislature as an independent write-in candidate, a serious uphill battle. Bruce Christensen, the mayor of Glenwood Springs, is an independent and a Curry supporter. He's lived in this town for more than 30 years, been an independent for all of that time, and been mayor for the last five. "The way you govern is you build consensus. You meet in the middle and everybody gives a little and you get something done."

Linda Killian spoke at Cathy Stewart's Politics for the People forum last month

Americans Elect - 350,000 delegates

AMERICANS ELECT
Americans Elect is not a Third Party, It’s a Second Nominating Process (By Darry Sragow - Americans Elect advisor, Attorney, Democratic strategist and USC professor, Fox & Hounds Daily) Rank-and-file American voters have never had so much power in nominating a presidential candidate. Already more than 350,000 people have signed up as Americans Elect delegates, and millions more have signed petitions to get us on the ballot in their states. With their participation we’ll pick a president, not a party.

The Ron Paul - Mitt Romney Connection

2012

• Ron Paul’s Long Game (By Jonathan Chait, New York Magazine/ Daily Intel) Paul’s game is to trade his supporters for a seat at the Republican table.
• For Romney and Paul, a strategic alliance between establishment and outsider (By Amy Gardner, Washington Post) The Romney-Paul alliance is more than a curious connection. It is a strategic partnership: for Paul, an opportunity to gain a seat at the table if his long-shot bid for the presidency fails; for Romney, a chance to gain support from one of the most vibrant subgroups within the Republican Party.

New York Partisan Redistricting Fight Continues

NEW YORK REDISTRICTING

Reform defeated; so now what? - Most proponents of independent redistricting stop short of ‘no’ vote (Queens Chronicle) The new lines would set Queens Democrats Mike Gianaris (D-Astoria) and Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst) against each other, as well as Toby Ann Stavisky (D-Whitestone) and Tony Avella (D-Bayside).

Lady Rosa of Luxembourg

MoMA Sanja Iveković: Lady Rosa of Luxembourg

Declaration of Independents (North Carolina to Arizona and All Points In Between)

INDEPENDENTVOTING.ORG NETWORKS

• DECLARATION OF THE INDEPENDENTS (By Omar H. Ali and Donna Moser, News Observer) The widely-discussed yet continually misunderstood "independent voter" is neither ideologically driven nor a closet partisan (be it Democrat nor Republican). We are not "swing voters,"' nor are we "moderates." Rather, we come from across the political spectrum and the one thing we agree upon is the need to minimize partisan control over the political process.
• The Impact of Independent Voters (WUNC) Host Frank Stasio talks with three of the event’s participants: Omar Ali, associate professor of African-American Studies and History at UNC-Greensboro; Donna Moser, co-founder of North Carolina Independents; and Brittany Rodman, a young, registered independent voter.
• Will Open Primaries Shake Up Politics in Arizona? (Pamela Powers Hannley, Huffington Post) Open primaries -- where all candidates regardless of party affiliation are listed on one ballot -- would give voters, rather than political parties, a greater voice in government, says Ted Downing, Ph.D., research professor of social development in the Arizona Research Laboratories at the University of Arizona and one of the initiative's architects.
• Will Arizona's GOP Self-Destruct? (By Terry Greene Sterling, Daily Beast) The Arizona GOP already has a set of challenges that it hasn’t faced before. Herstam notes that an energetic petition drive for open primaries is underway. If it gathers enough signatures in the next five months, it will show up on the November ballot. If passed, the open primary system will likely unseat extremists now in the Arizona legislature. Expect both parties to oppose it.
• Arizona Top-Two Initiative Has Collected 100,000 Signatures So Far (Ballot Access News) It is believed that California multi-millionaire Charles Munger, Jr., is providing much of the financial backing for the initiative, so there seems little doubt that it will qualify.

Florida Primary: Where Are the Independents?

Note: It's too bad that Rob Richie and FairVote.org support closed partisan primaries. This position goes against the increasing ranks of independent voters who want and need to have a say in the first round of voting.

FLORIDA PRIMARY

• Romney sweeps most groups in Florida vote (By Tom Curry, msnbc.com National Affairs Writer) But in Florida, 18 percent of the electorate Tuesday called themselves independents. Romney won 41 percent of them, while Gingrich won 27 percent.
• From msnbc exit poll:
  No matter how you voted today, do you usually think of yourself as a:
  Category     Gingrich     Paul     Romney     Santorum     % Total
  Democrat     -     -     -     -     2
  Republican     33     5     48     13     80
  Independent or something else     27     16     41     15     18
• Independent voters vital to general election win in Sunshine State (Written by John McCarthy, FLORIDA TODAY)
• Florida should adopt open primary system (Written by Francis J. Merceret, LETTER Florida Today) Florida should adopt open primaries such as New Hampshire recently held. If the parties don’t like that, they can fund private elections or hold party-funded caucuses, as is done in Iowa or other states.
• Florida's closed primary system coming under fire (By Jim Ash Special to Treasure Coast Newspapers) "I would like the parties to have a closed nominating system, but we don't want the taxpayers to have to pay for them," FairVote. Org executive director Rob Richie said.

Open Primaries, Up or Down? Missouri, New Mexico, Tennessee

OPEN PRIMARIES

• Lawmaker Wants to Put Squeeze on Open Primaries (by Joe White, Nashville Public Radio) State Senator Stacy Campfield, a Knoxville Republican, has filed a bill to make cross-over voting more difficult.
• Editorial: Let All N.M. Voters Vote (By Albuquerque Journal Editorial Board) Almost 200,000 New Mexicans who have taken the trouble to register to vote have decided not to declare an affiliation with a political party. And every primary Election Day, those almost 200,000 New Mexicans are told not to trouble themselves by casting a ballot.
• Mo. Primary Election Looms (by Don Corrigan, Webster Kirkwood Times) The argument against the open primary in Missouri is that it allows pachyderms to vote on the donkeys' ballots and vice versa. Although I consider myself an Independent, I have upset some of my GOP buddies when I've told them that I've participated in their pachyderm primaries. I think open primaries make sense.

ROMNEY'$ unconditional guarantee!

little known facts in history

Gail Elberg and Lorraine Stevens organizing the unorganized on January 28, 1972 in response to Fred Newman saying -- in an intense collective meeting of diverse (and contentious) collective sixties types who sound off on any given topic - as they please! - AND have the (correct) (and incorrect) positions up the wazoo, as it were:

"I don't care who you are (or what you think about or how you are feeling today)... Go out there and organize the people."

So far, so good!

NH

What if Americans refuse to endorse either of the views that dominate the parties?

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OPINION

by Bill King

Houston Chronicle

Before the State of the Union, I decided to drop by the Smithsonian Institution. I was walking through the Museum of American History and stopped at an exhibit about the American flag that was hoisted over Fort McHenry on the morning of Sept. 14, 1814, that signaled the fort had withstood a furious British bombardment the night before.

Several days before the battle, a young lawyer named Francis Scott Key had been taken prisoner by the British and was confined to one of their ships lying just offshore. Key watched the battle rage through the night and without modern communications, had no idea of the outcome until he saw a huge American flag still waving above the fort in the dawn's early light. His pride in his country's triumph inspired him to write "The Star Spangled Banner."

Seeing this enormous flag (30 feet by 42 feet) only a few feet away from me and thinking about its history gave me goose bumps. While I was looking at the flag, several dozen of my countrymen filed through the viewing area. All seemed to be equally moved in its presence. There were no Democrats or Republicans, no blacks or whites, no Christian or Muslim, just Americans, swelling with pride over the storied history of this flag.

What I witnessed at the State of Union address that night could not have been more different. I am not necessarily referring to the speech itself but rather the circus on the floor during the speech. About every two or three minutes, all of the Democrats in the room would leap to their feet to cheer one of President Obama's lines while the Republicans would sit scowling with their arms crossed. The more partisan the president's line, the more enthusiastic the Democratic response and the more dour the Republican response.

In the last couple of years there have been attempts to get Democratic and Republican members of Congress to sit together, but the efforts have been largely unsuccessful. With some notable exceptions, such as Rep. Jeff Flake, a Republican from Arizona, sitting with Rep. Gabby Giffords, the two parties' seating was mostly segregated. As a result, members in about half of the room kept jumping to their feet while the members in the other half sat on their hands. The whole spectacle could not have been more sophomoric.

There were a few moments that united the room. The longest and loudest applause from every corner of the room came when Giffords entered the chamber. The parties also rose in applause together when the president praised our troops. But those moments were exceptions.

Near the end of the president's speech, he said, "When we act together, there is nothing the United States of America can't achieve." It was one of the few lines of the speech that brought the entire chamber to its feet. But after an hour of watching the partisan reactions, the words, while grand, seemed hollow.

During my visits around the Capitol before and after the address, I repeatedly heard how we should not expect much until after the election on the major issues facing the country. On issue after issue, I heard that the parties are just too deeply divided to find much consensus. Both parties apparently believe that in the election to come, Americans will give them some kind of a mandate to push their agendas.

But what if they do not? What if Americans refuse to endorse either of the views that dominate the parties? What if voters once again decide to return divided government to Washington because the thought of either party being totally in control scares them to death? Do we then have to wait until 2014 to tackle the problems facing our country? And if not then, 2016? 2018? 2020?

In the same day I saw a symbol of America's past, one of unity of purpose and vision, and one of America today, a state of disunion. The question is which will represent America's future.

Email King at weking@weking.net or follow him on twitter.com/weking.

Liveblogging 2012 State of the Union Speech, January 24

Here's a link to a transcript of the President's address from OpEdNews

Unfortunately, President Obama has given short shrift in his SOTU speech to the thousands and millions of Americans who are leaving the two parties. How come?

Party over people will not take us forward.

Back to the grassroots! Organize, organize, organize the unorganized!

NH

10:02: Consolidate Federal bureaucracy... lower the temperature, end the notion that the 2 parties have to battle. "I'm a Democrat" says the President.... quotes Lincoln about role of government (Lincoln was a Repub?) Get rid of regulations that don't work..... govt spending.... 

9:59: Washington is broken (that's cynical) -- debate in Washington over debt crisis... Divide is due to corrosive influence of money in Washington... Limit congressional spending, oversight, etc. Neither party has been blameless, both parties should put an end to it

9:53: Fair values - stop payroll tax to prevent loss of $40 from paycheck...

9:19: Will fight obstruction and the failed policies that brought on this economic crisis... revive manufacturing, etc. Jobs ideas....

9:11: Pres Obama seems to be using the military as an example of competence and responsibility... 

9:10: The President is introduced by Speaker Boehner.

9:07: I'm switching to C-Span.... I'll be looking for any appeal to ordinary nonpartisan independent Americans in President Obama's speech tonight... Michelle O looks great as usual!

9:06: Sawyer: exhausting year of partisanship

9:05: Ok, ABC's Diane Sawyer is not off to a good start already by saying that Dems and Repubs come together tonight.... hmmm..... But I digress....

#1 Reform Issue for Independent Voters: Open Primaries!

OPEN PRIMARIES

• The Nation: Six GOP Questions (by John Nichols, NPR - John Nichols is a writer for The Nation.) 6. South Carolina held an open primary election, as compared with Iowa's caucuses and New Hampshire's relatively closed primary. While the first-caucus and first-primary states saw only marginal improvements in turnout, South Carolina's was way up. And, by all accounts, South Carolina counted the votes accurately and produced a clear result — as opposed to the Iowa mess that fostered the lie of Romnevitability. Isn't it time to create a uniform and functional system for nominating candidates? Shouldn't caucuses, which invariably draw narrower portions of the electorate, be eliminated? And shouldn't all states have open primaries where everyone who wants to vote Republican can do so? And shouldn't the rules be structured so that all serious contenders can have a place on the ballot — even in Virginia?
• Appeals court upholds Washington state's open primary system (By Carol J. Williams, Los Angeles Times) In a decision that could foreshadow survival of California's new "top two" primary system, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday upheld a similar Washington state ballot initiative that changed the way voters choose candidates in primaries.
• American Independent Party Opens its Primary to Independent Voters (Ballot Access News) On January 22, the American Independent Party of California held a meeting of party officers, and voted to tell the California Secretary of State that it will permit independents to vote in its 2012 primary. Of course, because of Proposition 14, the only partisan primaries will be for President. The American Independent Party allowed independents to vote in its primaries in 2008 and earlier years, but in 2010 it changed its rules and didn’t allow independents to vote in its primary.
• Dems Pre-Endorsements Presage Tough 2012 (Posted by John Myers, KQED/ Capital Notes) Again, these meetings and subsequent endorsements are notable because of the brave new world of party primaries, ushered in by 2010's Proposition 14 top-two system. It's a world unsettled, too, by new district maps that have left more open seats than at any time in recent history.
• Election 101: Who are Florida primary voters, and how are they different? - In Florida, only preregistered Republican Party members can vote in the GOP presidential primary. That’s different from South Carolina and New Hampshire. Here's a look at the various types of elections. (By Peter Grier, Christian Science Monitor) In Florida, only preregistered Republican Party members can vote in the GOP primary. That’s different from South Carolina, where independents and even Democrats could cross over and participate in the Republican primary if they wanted to. It’s also different from New Hampshire, where independents (but not Democrats) could go GOP.
• Skipping Florida smart for Ron Paul (By Adam C. Smith, Times Political Editor, Tampa Bay Times) There's another logical reason: Paul never had much chance of doing well in Florida, which is the first contest in the primary season where only registered Republicans can vote. Paul does best in caucuses and "open primaries" where his army of devoted, young followers can vote Republican whether or not they have any strong allegiance to the GOP.
• U.S. needs to reform elections (LETTER Greenville online) Set filing dates three months before primary elections. Schedule open primaries for all 50 states on the same day. Hold general elections three months later.
• On politics: Voting reform must be bold, far-reaching (By RAY HACKETT, Norwich Bulletin) Let’s stop the pretense that we’re “preserving the sanctity of the party” by pretending we don’t want to open primaries to unaffiliated voters while we continue to turn a blind eye to this election-related version of “don’t ask, don’t tell.”… Second, let’s give voters a real choice, a real reason to come to the polls. Let’s be bold and declare that all candidates who qualify for the ballot will be treated equally. Let’s stop the hypocrisy of pretending that public financing provides an equal playing field — because it doesn’t if you’re something other than a Democrat or Republican.
• Latina-led Movement Urges Democratic Latinos to Vote in “Open Primaries”- Anyone But Romney (Hispanically Speaking News.com) Arizona-based National Tequila Party Movement is issuing an action alert to encourage Independent and Democratic Latinos to vote in the numerous state open primary races across the country.

Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network Celebrates MLK

NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK
Birthday salute to Dr. King at National Action   (By HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews) There's not enough room here to recount all the speeches and comments, and there were some precious ones from Erica Ford on stopping the violence; from Dr. Lenora Fulani, who reminded listeners that "poverty is also violence"; and from City Comptroller John Liu, who announced that without King, "I wouldn't be standing here today," he said.

Reform Party Going for Utah Ballot, Independents Speak Out

INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES, PARTIES AND MOVEMENTS

• Group circulating petitions to get Reform Party on the Utah ballot (By Nkoyo Iyamba, Deseret News) "When Ross Perot ran in 1992, there were two states that he came in second in the polls," said state party organizer Jaime Dives. "One of those states was Maine and the other state was Utah." Dives is circulating petitions to get the Reform Party on the Utah ballot for the 2012 election cycle. She needs 2,000 signatures from registered voters by Feb. 15.
• Political parties challenged to race to register voters (By Lee Davidson, The Salt Lake Tribune) While Republicans and Democrats already have said they plan major voter registration drives this year, Randy Miller, president of the Utah League of Independent Voters, appeared at the news conference to say his group also will push to register more people as unaffiliated voters.
• Libertarian Party of Florida hosting major Presidential Debate in Orlando (Karl Dickey, West Palm Beach Libertarian Examiner) The Libertarian Party is the third largest and fastest growing political party in the US, and is influential in both the Tea Party and Occupy movements due to their strong fiscal conservative positions and socially liberal views.   Polling data indicates that as many as 60% of independent voters consider themselves, “fiscally conservative and socially liberal.”

2012 Presidential Race: Where Are the Independents Going?

2012

• South Carolina and the independent vote (VIDEO The Fix author Aaron Blake looks ahead to the South Carolina primary and how independent voters could play a big part. (Washington Post)
• Ron Paul's Weak Support Among Registered Republicans Will Hurt Him In Closed Primaries (By: Noah Rothman, …ology.com) The exit polls from South Carolina’s semi-closed primary do not bode well for the Paul. He mirror’s Romney’s appeal among registered independent voters; Romney narrowly won this group with 25 percent to Paul’s 23 percent. Ideologically, Paul performs very well among those that describe themselves as “moderate,” “somewhat liberal,” or “very liberal.” Among voters that describe themselves as “conservative,” between 9 and 11 percent voted for Paul.
• State of the Union Speech To Feature Sharper Tone (By LAURA MECKLER and CAROL E. LEE, Wall Street Journal) The risk for Mr. Obama, voiced by some members of his own party, is that such a tone may please only the base. "People aren't walking around saying 'the reason why my kid may not attain the American dream is because somebody else is doing extraordinarily well,' " said Jim Kessler, a senior vice president at Third Way, a centrist Democratic think tank. Support from independents was critical in 2008, and they "really do want to look for someone putting country over party," he said.
• The Third-Party Rail - As the donkey battles the elephant, some say: There’s got to be a better way. (By John Heilemann, New York Magazine) A contest between two incarnations of the status quo is, of course, a decent definition of what an Obama-Romney general election will be: two smart, cool, and diffident candidates, each without a populist bone in his body—though both will try like crazy to pretend that’s not the case—offering nothing that will look to millions of voters like fundamental change. An independent candidate who can offer a real alternative to them, stylistically and temperamentally as well as substantively, could be a genuine game-changer in 2012.
• South Carolina Exit Poll for Republican Race (CBS News) No matter how you voted today, do you usually think of yourself as a Democrat (4%),  Republican (71%),  Independent (25%)...
• Independents Remain One Of Obama’s Biggest Election Hurdles (Written by NewsOne Staff) The poll revealed that only 31 percent of Independents viewed the President positively, while two-thirds of Independents were unhappy with the President’s economic progress. These poll findings mean that much of the swing voter base is up for grabs, although it should be noted that most Independents also have a negative view of Republicans.

Independents on the Move in Utah and Iowa

INDEPENDENTVOTING.ORG NETWORKS

Political parties challenged to race to register voters (By Lee Davidson, The Salt Lake Tribune) While Republicans and Democrats already have said they plan major voter registration drives this year, Randy Miller, president of the Utah League of Independent Voters, appeared at the news conference to say his group also will push to register more people as unaffiliated voters.

Did Independents Make a Mark in Iowa? (Jacqueline Salit, President, IndependentVoting.org) Insofar as participating independents expressed a preference in Iowa, they sided with the anti-establishment Ron Paul. But the notion that the Iowa results provide a read on the sensibilities of independents overall is false.

A Third Party in a Two-Party System? Better to Change the System

Polls are showing that the majority of Americans support a "third party" or a "third party candidate" and yet our current partisan political system will not tolerate a challenge from a so-called "third" party or candidate. At the same time, Americans are no dummies -- the fastest growing electoral constituency is nonpartisan independent voters. Hmmmm.......


THIRD PARTY?

• Group circulating petitions to get reform party on the Utah ballot (By Nkoyo Iyamba, Deseret News) Despite Utahns voting primarily Republican, Dives said most Utah registered voters aren't registered with a political party. "If you go to the lieutenant governor's office and ask for the roll, you'll see that there are more unaffiliated registered voters than there are Republicans and Democrats combined," Dives said. She believes this group is ready for an alternative to the perceived two-party system in America.
• Obama fares well against third-party challenge (By BYRON TAU, Politico) Via POLITICO's Alex Burns, a Democratic polling firm finds that President Barack Obama's support holds up well if an independent candidate like Michael Bloomberg or Ron Paul were to enter the race.
• Dude, where's my candidate? (By: Kenneth P. Vogel and Abby Phillip, Politico) “We don’t want to let the process be taken over by the Gary Colemans and the Mary Careys or the Naked Cowboys,” said Bailey. “There are people out there who could get some support, but don’t have the qualifications, and that includes some people out there in the political process already.”
• Young Voters Propel Ron Paul's Campaign - Young voters gravitating to oldest guy in the field (By Beth Fouhy, NBC Dallas Ft Worth Channel 5)

Independent Voters and the 2012 Election: Tough Crowd!

The New York Times/ CBS News poll that came out Wednesday reveals a disenchantment by independents with Pres. Obama. No indication of any enchantment with the dwindling Repub possibilities... Record high percentage of Americans identify as independents...

• Poll Shows Obama’s Vulnerability With Swing Voters (By JEFF ZELENY and DALIA SUSSMAN, NY Times) President Obama opens his re-election bid facing significant obstacles among independent voters, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, with the critical piece of the electorate that cemented his victory four years ago open to denying him a second term.
• Obama hurting with swing voters, poll shows (By MJ LEE, Politico) Just 31 percent of independent voters indicated a favorable opinion of the president in a New York Times/CBS News poll out Thursday, compared to a 38 percent favorability rating among all voters.
• Obama losing luster with independent voters: poll (Reuters) + Judicial Watch on Washington Corruption poll: The vast majority of registered voters (68%) believe President Obama has either worsened (27%) or not improved (42%) government transparency as he promised during the 2008 presidential campaign. Only slightly more than half of registered Democrats believe Obama has improved transparency.
• Survey: Campaign finance reform could be major 2012 issue (by Aaron Puebla, Campaigns & Elections) According to a new survey from Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, conducted for Democracy Corps, 62 percent of voters oppose the Court’s Citizens United ruling, which permitted unlimited campaign spending by corporations and unions. And more than three-quarters of voters say they would like to see candidates make campaign finance reform a “key” issue in 2012.
• A Libertarian Democrat Considers Mitt Romney - So much for the hope that Obama would move the party in a back-to-the-future Jeffersonian liberal direction. (Terry Michael, Reason.com) Then, within 10 months of taking office, he started a second war in Afghanistan. And he took three full years to withdraw troops from Iraq, negotiating until just weeks ago to keep troops there. As his premier domestic policy initiative, Obama rammed through a Democratic-controlled congress a welfare program for pharmaceutical companies, the centerpiece of which was—yes—a mandate forcing millions to buy coverage.
• Polls show Ron Paul emerging as key player in 2012 race (by Chris Hinyub, IVN) A new poll finds that a third-party bid by presidential hopeful Ron Paul would help re-elect president Obama, but not before taking away 9% of the President’s independent support and 17% of independent voters from Romney. In a separate poll, Paul was found to be competitive against Obama in a head-to-head contest as the GOP nominee.
• What If Voters Just Don’t Like Mitt Romney? (Benjy Sarlin & Kyle Leighton, TPM2012) While Republican voters are starting to come around to his candidacy, the rest of the country doesn’t seem too pleased with what they see. Romney’s lost six points on favorability among independent voters since Pew’s last poll in November, leading to a 13 point gap on the metric, 33 - 45.

• Record-High 40% of Americans Identify as Independents in '11 - More Americans identify as Democrats than as Republicans, 31% to 27% (by Jeffrey M. Jones, Gallup) In recent decades, Gallup has observed a pattern of increased independent identification in the year prior to a presidential election, and a decline in the presidential election year. The only exception to that was in 1992, when independent identification increased from 1991, perhaps the result of President Bush's high approval ratings in 1991 and Ross Perot's independent presidential candidacy in 1992.
• Voters, redeclarers keep poll workers busy (Nashua Telegraph) She and June Caron managed to keep up with the stream of voters, many of whom admitted that if they didn’t redeclare as independents right away, they could very well forget to do it at all. “That group (independents) has been the majority of our voters so far...”
• Independent Voters on the Rise but Do They Matter? (Huma Khan, ABC News) Forty percent of voters identified themselves as politically independent in 2011, according to a new Gallup poll released today, the highest number recorded in the poll yet. The previous high for independents was 39 percent in 1995 and 2007. Democrats won both presidential races in the following years.
• Opinion: The center is back — and Obama needs to be there (By Mark Penn, The Hill) And the more centrist the Republican nominee, the more centrist the president needs to be in order to win in 2012. The huge ideological gap that would have made running against the Republicans an easy romp is disappearing as the exit polls show that even primary voters are choosing practicality over partisanship. In both Iowa and New Hampshire, Romney won with those voters who thought he had a better chance to beat President Obama in November.

Wikipedia: Imagine a World Without Free Knowledge - SOPA and PIPA