Joelle Riddle will change the makeup of politics in Colorado. The former county commissioner of La Plata County and founder of Independent Voters for Colorado is leading the charge for reform in the Centennial State. Riddle says that she is "tired of the government not running well" and the first task on the agenda; ballot initiative to open primary elections to all voters.
If Riddle's efforts are successful, then perhaps it will open the door for many to become more politically active, leading to national change. Jackie Salit, president of Independentvoting.org states that almost 40% of voters do not consider themselves Republican or Democrats.
With these statistics the efforts in Colorado might just start a domino effect of change.
INDEPENDENT VOTERS:
If Riddle's efforts are successful, then perhaps it will open the door for many to become more politically active, leading to national change. Jackie Salit, president of Independentvoting.org states that almost 40% of voters do not consider themselves Republican or Democrats.
With these statistics the efforts in Colorado might just start a domino effect of change.
INDEPENDENT VOTERS:
- Change to believe in - Former Commissioner Riddle takes on major parties (By Heather Scofield, Durango Herald) Independentvoting.org's Jackie Salit said voters’ desire to see the parties’ grip on the political process loosened has sparked reform efforts in 43 states. Riddle: “Everyone can be an independent vote.”
- THE HILL POLL: Voters oppose raising the $14.3T debt ceiling (By Erik Wasson, The Hill) Only 40 percent of likely voters say the $787 billion stimulus package helped. While 69 percent of Democrats say it boosted growth, 56 percent of independents think the stimulus hurt or had no impact on the economy.
- Liberals Unhappy With Obama's Business Outreach - The White House reset upsets some old allies. (By George E. Condon Jr., National Journal) Just as unhappy is Adam Green, leader of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. He said the White House is miscalculating if it thinks “Obama is picking up some niche of voters by sucking up to Wall Street while dragging progressives along. That’s just not true. What voters is he picking up? None.” In an e-mail, Green added, “If some political strategist thinks that independent voters are turned off by holding Wall Street accountable, for the sake of the entire Democratic Party, that strategist should be fired. Immediately.”
- No surprise, Americans divided on whether to help Egypt (Written By Jon Griffin, Indie Pro Pub) The poll found that 48 percent of both Republicans and Democrats were in favor of U.S. involvement in Egypt, while 40 percent of Republicans and 37 percent of Democrats felt that, along with 47 percent of Independents, the U.S. should not do anything about the ongoing turmoil in Egypt.
- Graham: Obama 'beatable' if GOP wins indies (By JENNIFER EPSTEIN, Politico) Sen. Lindsey Graham is confident that a Republican can beat Barack Obama, so long as the candidate appeals to independent voters.
- New Political Movement ‘No Labels’ Rallies in (By James Lomuscio, Westport Now.com) No Labels also calls for open primaries, not separate Democratic and Republican ones. Walker pointed out that California recently enacted a law providing open primaries for state elections.
- Harman Special Election To Test Out 'Top Two' Election System In California (Eric Kleefeld, Talking Points Memo DC) In a referendum held during last year's primary, California's voters approved Proposition 14, which replaced the conventional party primaries with a different system known as Top Two, which has already been in use in Washington state for the past few years. (A similar system has been used for a long time in Louisiana, sometimes called the "jungle primary," but Washington state's version was the model used for California -- and in fact, Louisiana has scrapped the use of the jungle primary for federal races.)
- Race already underway for Jane Harman's seat (Kitty Felde, KPCC Southern California Public Radio) This will be the first Congressional election under the rules of Proposition 14. Voters can choose any candidate, regardless of party, with the top two vote-getters meeting in a runoff if no one gets a majority.
- Alabama Ballot Access Bill Introduced (Ballot Access News) Senator Cam Ward (R-Alabaster) has introduced SB 17. It lowers the number of signatures for statewide independent candidates from 3% of the last gubernatorial vote, to 1.5% of the last gubernatorial vote.
- Independent Democrats Explain Rules Vote (Posted by: Nick Reisman, Politics on the Hudson) At the news conference, the independents said they backed the rules because it should be up to the lawmakers to pick their leader.
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