Jackie Salit -- Growing Up Politically: Something We Could All Choose To Do!

Hi Hanksteristas! I hope you will read one of the most honest and direct pieces of campaign hoopla to come across my desk recently -- by Chad Peace over at IVN.

He concludes (I generally like to start at the ending in these cases....) "While independents can be found across the political spectrum, Salit commented on a common trope that brings them together; the unequal access to the political process: “What this independent movement is about is creating a voice so people can participate.”

Amen.

It's a common trope. I like that!

To Jackie from the home base: Your 'Independents Rising' Tour Rocks!

NH
Get Busy!


NEWS FOR INDEPENDENTS
Tuesday, September 25, 2012

JACQUELINE SALIT'S 'INDEPENDENTS RISING' TOUR

• Living Room Conversations and Changing the Political Culture (By Chad Peace, IVN) Joan Blades, founder of MomsRising.org, and guest speaker Jackie Salit, author of Independents Rising, hosted an event in San Francisco on Saturday to discuss a new political culture in America; one focused on understanding different perspectives. Salit opened the discussion with a light-hearted memory of the barriers she faced at a young age. ”I don’t remember ever becoming an activist, but grew up in a very political family.”  Here's another interview...
• Three Things Independents Can Do To Make a Difference in 2012 (by Nancy Hanks, The Moderate Voice) Jackie Salit speaks about the independent movement and her new book Independents Rising (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012) at Lenora Fulani’s ‘Interviews With a Black Independent’, a monthly series coming to you from the Harlem State Office Building.
• Political Independents: The Future of Politics (by John Avlon,the Daily Beast) Two timely new books—Mickey Edwards's The Parties Versus the People: How to Turn Republicans and Democrats Into Americans and Jacqueline Salit’s Independents Rising offer valuable insights into the impulses that have inspired a record number of Americans to reject the two parties and demand something different… Independents Rising is a street-level look at the grassroots activism of independent politics, propelling the creation of the New York Independence Party (described as an “anti-party party”) and electing New York City’s independent Mayor Mike Bloomberg. Salit’s book is more of a memoir, a look at the rise of independent politics largely through the prism of her own life...

ATTACKS ON INDEPENDENTS

• Number Of Independent Voters On The Rise (by Steven Covelman, Staff Reporter, USC University of Southern California Annenberg) The Los Angeles Times reports that more Californians than ever before are registered as no preference voters. "In California the influence of independents is growing," Jeffe said. "Republicans and Democrats must reach out to independents to get out of the primaries." At this point in the presidential race, the amount of independents who remain undecided is small. According to Jeffe’s estimates, only around 5 to 10 percent of independent voters have not picked a candidate yet. [YES, GET OUT OF THE PRIMARIES! VOTE FOR THE PERSON!]

• What Do We Know About Independent Voters? (By Gina McGalliard, Truthout) Quotes Linda Killian and reads: In keeping with the idea that political views often defy easy categorization, Independent Voters of America now has an online quiz for voters. "[We're trying] to map independent voters' thinking, issues, [and] preferences in more of a three-dimensional way than just a left-right continuum or a conservative-liberal continuum," says Hillsman, who also noted that independent voters tend to be more prevalent among those under 40, entrepreneurs and those who work in the tech sector. "And the example I use very often is libertarians. Democrats think libertarians are very conservative because, by and large, fiscally they are very conservative. Republicans think they're total liberal whack jobs because they don't believe in drug laws," says Hillsman. "They don't believe in a lot of restrictions on personal freedoms, etcetera. So, where do you put those people?"   [NOT QUITE SURE THIS IS AN ATTACK EXACTLY, BUT WHERE do YOU PUT THOSE PEOPLE?????]