Christopher Moraff: Why I Am (Still) Not a Democrat

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Why I Am (Still) Not a Democrat - American voters need to stand up against the tyranny of two-party rule (By Christopher Moraff, Philly Magazine/ The Philly Post) So I changed my affiliation to nonpartisan (which in Pennsylvania means sacrificing my vote in either primary—a story for another time) and low and behold, a funny thing happened during the general election: The candidates, both of them, started talking to me—well not me individually but all those unaffiliated “independent” voters, like myself, who were suddenly so important. For the record, I voted for Obama, but not once during the campaign could he take that vote for granted. And as far as I was concerned that gave my vote power.
• Independents could hold key to Obama victory in AZ (by KTAR.com) Herman Cain and Mitt Romney may be leading the polls in Arizona, but independent voters could push current President Barack Obama to victory in Arizona.
• Cain, Romney top Arizona GOP poll - but Obama could ride independent tide to carry state (msnbc) What makes the difference, de Berge said, is that Obama is backed by 50 percent of independents, against just 33 percent who said they would vote for Cain. And with independents actually outnumbering registered Democrats in the state — and closing in on Republicans — that could make all the difference.
• Poll: Romney & Cain on top in Arizona (Posted by CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser) Among independent voters, Cain and Romney are tied at 15%, with Rep. Ron Paul of Texas at 14% and everyone else in single digits and 28% undecided. Republicans and independents are allowed to vote in Arizona's GOP presidential primary.

Charlie Cook: One of the biggest mistakes parties make is to think they had a mandate when they didn’t.

2012
Memo to Incumbents: Tread Lightly -- Voters: Independents still hold key, and may be in the mood to get rid of all incumbents. (Charlie Cook, National Journal/Charlie Cook's Off to the Races)

...[A]nother way of viewing 2012 might be that each party may face a different challenge. For Republicans, it is the growing perception among independent voters that the GOP is too partisan and too ideologically inflexible, and that these traits are hurting the country. Republicans forget that the 2010 election was more about voters, particularly independent voters, who were unimpressed and skeptical of the economic stimulus, cap-and-trade, and health care reform. Voters were angry at Democrats; they didn’t vote for any GOP agenda that was concocted after the fact.

One of the biggest mistakes parties make is to think they had a mandate when they didn’t. 

Republicans had no more mandate in 2010 than Democrats did in 2006 or 2008. In each case, voters were lashing out at a party they were mad at, not embracing some agenda. Ex post facto mandates are crippling to parties but they still try to convince themselves that they were selected rather than the other party rejected. With independents closing in on 40 percent of a presidential electorate, this is a real problem for the GOP...

Im an Independent Voter, Can I Vote in the Primary in Arizona?

Independents have to pick a primary in state elections. Call for top two open primaries!

ARIZONA INDEPENDENTS

• Voter registration, early voting increase in Arizona (By The Associated Press, AzCapitolTimes.com) Officials also say about 13,000 people registered as independent voters, while the number of registered Republicans and Democrats fell.
• More voters walking away from Democrat and Republican parties (AZ Central/Laurie Roberts' Columns & Blog) Meanwhile, with each set of new registration numbers, more and more Arizona voters are walking away from the two-party system. Yet the system remains, just as it has since statehood. When are we going to get around to dropping this antiquated system and going to a general and a runoff, where everybody votes on all the candidates regardless of party designation?

Independent Voter Roundup: Arizona, North Carolina, California, Virginia, New York and Then Some

TOP TWO OPEN PRIMARIES WOULD ENGAGE ARIZONA'S INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Report backs idea of revamping primaries (by Channing Turner, Arizona Central) Arguments for reform persuaded Rep. Tom Chabin, D-Flagstaff, to author a resolution this legislative session that would haveallowed voters to decide whether Arizona should also adopt a single-ballot primary system, but the bill was never assigned to committee.

NORTH CAROLINA INDEPENDENT VOTERS AREN'T SATISFIED WITH STATUS QUO

• NC not responding well to new majority (Public Policy Polling) The key finding there is that independent voters, who gave GOP legislative candidates a 20 point advantage at the polls last year, now rate the new majority negatively by a 37/26 spread.

CALIFORNIA INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING

• Dan Walters: Redistricting panel shows true colors of ideology (By Dan Walters, Sac Bee) The underlying stakes of redistricting were starkly evident in last week's maneuvering over the selection of advisers. The finalists for both contracts were seen by political insiders – and apparently by commissioners themselves – as having at least some political taint… Thus the overall tenor of the commission is definitely left-of-center -- no small irony given the right-of-center support for the ballot measures that created it.

VIRGINIA REDISTRICTING AND RACE

• Race and redistricting (EDITORIAL The Virginian-Pilot) Speakers at a public hearing this week in Norfolk raised a more provocative question: Can minority representation be increased by creating a second majority-minority congressional district or at least a new district with a black population of 40 percent or more?

NEW YORK

• Thousands Rally And March From City Hall To Wall Street (By James Lane, Hot Indie News [a lefty Green Party type online publication]) Oliver Gray, Associate Director of AFSCME District Council 37, whose members made up the largest part of the rally, said public sector workers will not allow the Governor to blame them for the so-called deficit. “How are we to blame,” he asked, “when the Governor wants to cut the taxes of the richest people in New York, and gives back to Wall Street investors $15 billion a year in stock transfer taxes?”… New York City Council member Charles Barron, who was the 2010 Freedom Party candidate for Governor of New York, contradicted Governor Cuomo and Mayor Bloomberg, who claim cuts are necessary because the state and city are “broke.” If the state is “broke,” he asked, why are taxes being cut for the richest 1 percent of the population, whose share of the state’s income has shot up to more than 35% from 10% since 1995. Their share of the city’s income is even higher, at 44%, he said.

EDUCATION REFORM

• 7 Essentials for Education Reform (Suzanne Tacheny KubachExecutive Director, Policy Innovators in Education (PIE) Network, Huffington Post) Over the past five years, education reform has gained enormous traction. A new generation of reform-minded policy makers has taken up the cause of transforming state school systems to prepare students for a dramatically changing economy, urged on by state-level advocacy groups who are playing a crucial role in advancing reform state by state. But while urgency has increased and many fresh faces have taken up the cause, the core ideas guiding education reform have remained remarkably stable, defying the ideological or partisan claims that can often stifle political change.
• Fulani and Newman on America’s Education Crisis (Lois Holzman) “Here is an idea for solving the education crisis in America. What if all the kids currently failing in school pretended to be good learners? What if all the adults – teachers, principals, administrators, parents – played along and pretended that the kids were school achievers, heading for college? What if this national “ensemble” pretended this was the case day after day, classroom after classroom, school district after school district?” ----- So begins “Let’s Pretend,” a special report on “Solving the Education Crisis is America” written by Lenora Fulani and Fred Newman, co-founders of the All Stars Project (which released the report) and long-time friends, colleagues and mentors of mine. The three of us have written thousands of words (and spoken millions more) on play, performance, pretence, creative imitation and their critical role in learning and development for people of all ages, but especially for those whom schools have failed/who failed school. All of our words grow out of the complicated interplay of carrying out on-the-ground performance-based development work and dialoguing with scholars, practitioners and policy makers. In “Let’s Pretend,” Fulani and Newman  say it as they see it in a mere six pages. In the time it takes to make a cup of coffee you can read it and see if you see it their way or if they’ve helped you see in a new way.

Arizona Indie's Making A Push

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Independent Voters Are On the Move. Two-Party System BEWARE -- Tunisia and Egypt Can Happen Here! (By William J. Kelleher, Ph.D., opednews.com) Independents are organizing. That is not easy for them to do. It's not in their nature. But on February 12, 2011, in New York City, the momentum began picking up speed. That is when some 500 independent activists from all around the country converged on the campus of NYU to share notes and experiences, and to piece together some answers to the questions about who is repressing us, and how they are doing it. The event was hosted by Independentvoting.org.

ARIZONA

• Independents now outnumber Democrats in Arizona -Parties, candidates will have to contend with elusive voters more than ever (By Joanna Dodder Nellans, The Daily Courier) The independent numbers have been on an increasing curve ever since the state's voters approved moving to a quasi-open primary in 1998. That allowed independents to choose a party ballot to vote on. Republicans tend to oppose the open primary more than Democrats. Statewide, Republicans have talked about trying to opt out of the open primary through the court system like the Libertarians did.
• Redistricting critical to bring balance to the Legislature (by David Lujan, former House minority leader, ARIZONA REPUBLIC/My Turn) The candidates from whichever party dominates voter registration in these "non-competitive" districts are the ones who win, and often the only way they can win is by playing to the extremes in their party.
• State government mired in tired politics, policies (Arizona Republic) Low-turnout primaries and uncompetitive districts have decimated the political middle at the Legislature. Yet Arizonans clearly want practical solutions, not ideological purity. The ranks of independent voters have grown so rapidly that they now outnumber Democrats and are gaining on Republicans. The solution could be right next door. In June, California voters decided to switch to "open primaries," in which candidates compete regardless of party. The top two vote-getters then go head to head.

NEW YORK

• Tom Golisano: Reform The Electoral College (BY CELESTE KATZ, NY Daily News/Daily Politics) Tom Golisano, a three-time candidate for governor, is now focusing his attention (and money) on reforming the system of awarding electoral votes in presidential elections.
• Destroying the Electoral College System (By Azi Paybarah, WNYC/The Empire) Tom Golisano aims at the electoral college, something people like Hillary Clinton once embraced.
• Tom Golisano to help effort to end Electoral College (Democrat & Chronicle) In an interview with Gannett's Albany bureau on Monday, Golisano said his role in the national push would be to meet with legislative leaders and governors across the country. The measure has already passed six states and is being actively considered in dozens of others.
• Sheldon Silver and Dean Skelos are getting weaselly about redistricting (EDITORIAL NY Daily News) And while 138 legislators signed Koch's pledge, the two leading proposals in the Legislature have garnered only 41 and 15 co-sponsors. Clearly, a huge bloc still hates the idea of giving up redistricting power. They like picking their voters, instead of the other way around.

WISCONSIN

• Poll: Voters Oppose Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in Union Standoff (By ROBERT SCHLESINGER, US News and World Report) Independent voters think state workers should be able to keep their collective bargaining rights if they agree to the cuts Walker wants, by a margin of 76-19; even Republicans are closely split, with 49 percent thinking the workers should keep their rights and 47 percent agreeing with Walker’s hard line

SOUTH DAKOTA

• Pierre Report: Cross-Over Day Looms In Pierre (BY SEN. JEAN HUNHOFF, EXCERPT Yankton Press & Dakotan - SD) SB175 proposed independent voters in primary election.

Independents Taking Charge

Independents are gaining ground in Arizona, now outnumber Dems, hot on the trail of Repubs. The parties continue to attack voter-approved open primaries. And a lawsuit is brought by an independent in Oklahoma challenging the exclusion of independents from new redistricting commission.

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• AZ Independents outnumber Democrats (KYMA TV Yuma - NBC 11) The latest state registration report puts the number of Independents at 1,010,725 as of January 1. That’s about 2,000 more than the total number of Democrats registered statewide.
• Independents now outnumber Dems in Arizona (by Ginger Rough, The Arizona Republic) It also marks the first time the number of independent voters is greater than those registered in one of the state's two major political parties - in this case, the Democrats.
• Party Movement: More 'Independent' Voters (KSAZ Fox 10 Phoenix)
• Independents inch past Democrats in statewide registration (Rhonda Bodfield, Arizona Daily Star/Pueblo Politics) Independents grew the fastest since the general election, with more than 28,000 registering since November. Democrats added 5,800. Republicans garnered about twice that, at 10,800…. "There's mixed reviews about whether open primaries actually have higher turnout than closed primaries," she said, "but what is clear is that in terms of the way people register, the primary really does influence the numbers."
• Voter Registration Numbers: Independents Overtake Democrats in AZ (POSTED BY JIM NINTZEL, Tucson Weekly) “This is an interesting political shift we’re seeing,” Secretary Bennett mentioned. “Over the last three years, this category of voters has gained about 255,000 registered voters. We’ve been watching this trend for quite some time now, and it’s fascinating to watch where it is headed.”

OPEN PRIMARIES

• Two special election candidates avert run-offs in Louisiana (By Tyler Millhouse, Ballot News [A NEW WEBSITE SPONSORED BY BALLOTPEDIA]
• Parties keep slogging against peoples' wishes (TriCity Herald WA) Washingtonians did not, and most still do not, like to be told they have to join a party to vote. We prefer to vote for the best candidate, even in the primary. And we can under the top-two primary system. Best of all, the top-two system doesn't violate the constitutional rights of the political parties. That's what the nation's top jurists have repeatedly found. Even so, the parties continue to argue that primaries are for the parties, not the people, and apparently not for the candidates either.

REDISTRICTING

• Independent Voter Challenges Oklahoma State Question (Oklahoma's Own News on One) The state question increased its members from three to seven and requires the governor, speaker of the House and president pro tem of the Senate to each appoint one Democrat and one Republican to the commission. Duffe's lawsuit says that discriminates against independent voters and makes the state question unconstitutional.
• Lawsuit challenges Oklahoma’s redistricting revision plan OK’d by voters in SQ 748 (BY MICHAEL MCNUTT, The Oklahoman) Independent voters are left out of a bipartisan commission that would be formed according to State Question 748, which 58.5 percent of the voters approved in November. The commission would be formed if lawmakers and the governor can’t agree on new lines for the 101 House and 48 Senate districts by the end of this year’s session.

OBAMA

• Put Me In, Coach -Obama's plans to use the State of the Union to get Americans excited about the economy. (By John Dickerson, Slate) If the president rebuilds his relationship with independent voters, it may be because of a notion with which he doesn't exactly agree: that he somehow wandered off-course in his first two years in office and is now finding his way back. Obama's preferred argument is that he spent his first two years rescuing the economy, and now that he's done that, he can focus on growing it.
• CNN Poll: Obama approval up to 55%, but still under 50% on economy (CNN/Political Ticker) Fifty-four percent of independent voters questioned give a thumbs up to how the president's handling his duties.

REPUBLICANS

• Huntsman: A star is born (By Brent Budowsky, The Hill) Cable pundits thrive on incendiary attacks, but smart Democrats hope, and smart Republicans fear, that a divisive GOP nominee could lose in a landslide in 2012. Jon Huntsman offers great appeal to independent voters who wield great power in national elections.

EDUCATION REFORM

• School Choice Week highlights lack of freedom for Kentucky parents, urgent need for education reform (PRESS RELEASE Bluegrass Institute) According to a 2009 study by The Boston Foundation, charter school students improved math performance by an amount equal to “moving from the 50th to the 69th percentile in student performance. This is roughly half the size of the black-white achievement gaps.”
• Worthy gains could vanish amid reforms (Gary IN Post Tribune) While some measure of accountability should rest with teachers who are on the front lines of education, there hasn't been a whisper about another education gap. Indiana falls behind most states with a school start age of 7 and is one of eight states that don't finance early learning programs.

Live Blogging Jackie Salit's National Conference Call for Independent Voters: After California and Before the Midterms

UPDATE: Utah independent organizer Randy Miller live-blogged Salit national conference call:

Randy Miller keep building from the bottom up! keep going and stay tuned tohttp://www.independentvoting.org/ or email national@cuip.org -- listen to fairness doctrine radio show http://www.wdisam.com/ orhttp://www.cyberstationusa.com/ 8:59

Independent Voting

www.independentvoting.org

Independent groups CUIP is motivating, training and supporting an activist network of independent leaders who are building throughout the country.AL, Independent Alabama

Yesterday at 9:01pm · Comment ·  · Share · Flag

Randy Miller if there is a single thing that I have learned in 30 years of independent organizing...only happens from the bottom up.....status of popularity of prez...biggest change Obama made under current circumstances was to get elected...powerful role by indies....thenceafter agenda determined by existing realities and little he could do....press thriving on what groups angry at prez and how....challenge for bottom up is to change political realities 8:58

Yesterday at 8:58pm · Comment ·  · Flag

Randy Miller bottom up movement (in NYC) forced issue onto the stage of non-partisan elections --- caused split in good government union, whole political conversation was changed not because of editorial boards but because of organizing and political power of bottom up independent movement JS 8:55

Yesterday at 8:56pm · Comment ·  · Flag

Randy Miller politically active college students had to confront new questions and issues
should independents have the right to participate in the politcal process
significant and practical political question 8:53

Yesterday at 8:53pm · Comment ·  · Flag

Randy Miller ‎"41% of American College students identify themseleves as independents" JS 8:52

Yesterday at 8:52pm · Comment ·  · Flag

Randy Miller ‎"partisan players don't want to overcome partisanship, they thrive on it" Jackie Salit 8:51

Yesterday at 8:51pm · Comment ·  · Flag

JS is still speaking, now about the bi-partisan, nonpartisan, and move beyond labels...

JS: The 2 party system crisis is not being covered by the press... 40% of American voters are independent...
Let's reorganize our ability to reform our structural political reform...
The political parties will not reform...


8:38: JS: what is the CUIP wing of the independent movement trying to achieve? Christian Amanpour saying 2 types of unemployment, says "long time decay",,,

Jackie is talking about medical health and some personal issues of the economic crisis.


***********************************************
8:34 - Nancy Ross setting up the call for Jackie to speak on the call... Open primaries in California big break. Midterms -- independents are concerned about the process.  Activists are knocking on doors.. Jackie Salit has built a large national network...

WDIS am


8:30 - People are logging in from around the country. Certainly one of the most exciting parts of this call....


Here's the link http://bit.ly/aHcjnJ

Hey Hanksteristas!

Live from Queens New York

I'll be live-blogging Jackie Salit's national conference call starting at 8:30 EDT (about an hour from now).

Please check back. And chime in -- email, twitter, facebook - etc!

Topic for tonight's call is After California and Before the Midterms: If Independents Hold the Key, What Door Do We Want to Unlock?

NH

An Independent Speaks: Thank You Friends - From Democrat to Independent by Ramon Pena

FROM DEMOCRAT TO INDEPENDENT

by Ramon Pena

I have sat down about 10 times wondering how to start my story. I guess the beginning would be good. 

My name is Ramon Pena, I have been an Independent from 2002 till present. It’s funny -- I feel like I was born with the letter D on my forehead. As far back as I can remember I have always been a Democrat. My family are from Puerto Rico and politics was always a subject of conversation in my home. Mostly Puerto Rican politics, still politics. I did not understand, and actually did not care for it. My father had many Democratic friends and although he never voted in his life he felt he was a full Democrat. I found it boring.

I never voted, I always heard people talking about the corruption in politics and was not in the least interested. I never heard from politicians till election time and  that was one of my other turn offs when it came to politics. 

One Saturday afternoon I was desperately looking for work. My mother opened the New York Post and yelled out from the other room. “Ramon, estan buscando gentes para un trabajo de politica!!”

All I heard was the word politics. That was enough for me not to care. She gave me the paper and it said Voter Registration Drive for college students. My god, I was 33 years old, they are not going to hire me. Anyway I called and swallowed my pride. They needed phone callers for a huge voter registration drive with the Independence Party. Never heard of them in my life, did not care, what the hell I called…

I said to a nice girl that I am not a college student but I am desperately looking for work. She said “don’t worry, come on down.” That Sunday afternoon I went to 42^nd street and 3^rdavenue. A huge beautiful office rented out by the Pataki Campaign. I got on the phones and here I was campaigning for a man I had very knowledge of but I know he was running for Governor. I did not care, it was a job.

About 2 months after the voter registration drive the campaign went to another level. Independents were speaking to other independents. I said again, “I am a Democrat but it’s a job” This is when I met a wonderful teacher, mentor and who I consider a wonderful friend, Cathy Stewart. Before the phone calls Cathy had these political briefings. Honestly I feared them because I thought it was the same old political mumbo jumbo. When she spoke a new world started opening up to me. Cathy has been the reason why politics is so different to me now. I realized then and there that I was not finding an interest with politics because Democrats really did not represent my ideals. I realized that my calling was Grassroots Organizing and this is that the Independence Party had to offer. It was then that I started making friends within the Independence Party, Howard Edelbaum is a great friend and a teacher, anytime I need advice in things that may confuse me I call him right away.

My big decision came when I decided to re-register. Amazingly I was scared to tell my father about this move. I mean I was 34 years old…Why should I be scared? I guess I felt it was disrespectful to my father, he took it pretty hard, but I explained certain issues that Independents face and although I never got his blessings, he left it alone and saw that this was what made me happy. Years later I remember when he use to tell his political friends that his son was an Independent. I think he was proud of it.

Now I am a member of the county committee, I have done street work, I volunteer my time to this wonderful party who believes that the culture of politics must change.

After 10 years I am still learning and probably will always learn for the rest of my life. That is the beauty about being an Independent.

I want to thank the hundreds of Independent friends who have been there for me. I would like to list them all but you all know who you are.

Thanks for making me an Independent!!!!

The Hankster is SIRIUS about independent voters!

Don't miss The Hankster on SIRIUS Satellite Radio Indie Talk's "Blog Bunker" with Joe Salzone

Channel 110

Tuesday, September 16. From 5-6pm Eastern Time

Be there or be square!

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Independent voters in Arizona on the rise (The Arizona Republic)
• Primaries draw few independents-Confusing rules, party politics keep many from polls (The Arizona Republic)

REFORM -- More on Oregon Open Primary!

• Oregon Open Primary Gives All Voters a Say in Who's on the Ballot in November (by Sal Peralta, The Hankster)
• Old foe in Poe update (State Journal Register) Cahnman defeated then-Ald. CHUCK REDPATH in the 2006 Democratic primary to get a general-election shot at Poe in the 99th House District. In that race, Cahnman made a push for open primaries in Illinois a key issue. Poe opposed the idea before the primary, but when about 80 percent voted for open primaries in an advisory referendum on Springfield ballots that election, Poe did an about-face.
• Letter: Open the primary (The Capital-Journal - Kansas City) It is the consent of the governed that grants the power and the money to vote — not the parties.
• Washington Election '08: Get ready for the main event (Bellevue Reporter) The new system - called the Top Two - no longer guaranteed that a Democrat and a Republican would move on to the general election. In some King County districts, it will be two Democrats vying for the seat.

Live-blogging CNN The Situation Room: Charles Barkley, independent, endorses Obama

6:39 pm: Michelle Obama is campaigning in Ohio, hoping to win over some Hillary supporters.... Michelle grew up on the South Side of Chicago, went to Harvard Law also [the whole primary could be seen as a Harvard/Yale game....?]

Clip of Hillary saying words are cheap/Obama saying negative attacks are cheap.... Candy Crowley says we're back to the beginning with the question of who can bring about real change... Superdelegates might switch says Wolf.... Cafferty says this was supposed to be a cake walk for Hillary and it just is not that way.... the Dems will have to go with who the American people say they want or they should be locked up bec. they're a danger to themselves..... Roland Martin says they have to check themselves bec it's still a long road...



6:27 pm: The first coverage of Ron Paul since I don't know when. Paul is still very much in the race, raising money and a lot of it from active-duty military people.

Former Pres. George Bush (the first one) has endorsed McCain -- Cafferty says to get Huckabee to get out.... They're worried about the social conservatives coming out in Texas for Huck. Texas has an open primary...

They come back to the issue of military people supporting Ron Paul who is outspokenly against the Iraq war. Wolf says that's interesting because wouldn't you think that military people would NOT support an anti-war candidate... Cafferty says what's the presumption here, that military people are not as smart as the rest of us...? (My personal opinion is that Cafferty, to his credit, often makes sense because he actually listens to people who write in to him...)


6:19 pm: Basketball great Charles Barkley just endorsed Barack Obama on CNN The Situation Room. Correcting Wolf Blitzer when Wolf said Barkley used to be a Republican and now he's a Democrat, Sir Charles said "What I said was I was rich like a Republican. I'm actually an independent." CNN was broadcasting from New Orleans tonight when Barkley made note of the increasing gulf between rich and poor, as well as speaking out as pro-gay marriage and pro-choice.

Independent voters in Arizona and California

Thousands of Arizona independent voters changed their registrations in time to participate in the state's Feb. 5 presidential primary, with more becoming Democrats than Republicans. (AP - Arizona Family)

On Feb. 5, some California independent voters (officially known as "Decline-to-State") will be in for an unpleasant surprise. They'll go to their polling place expecting to vote in the primary of their choice - as New Hampshire and Michigan independents were able to do - only to find out that they can vote only in the Democratic or American Independent Party primaries, but they can't vote in the Republican presidential primary. (San Francisco Chronicle)

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• WA: Despite party politics, you make a difference (Tri-City Herald editorial)
• CA: Group sees 'post-partisan future'-Ineffectual system driving state's rise in independent voters, institute finds (Inside Bay Area)
• Hawaii Democrats vote to keep open primary (Honolulu Advertiser)
• NV: Format creates state of confusion-Both parties toiling to answer questions (Las Vegas Review Journal)
• NJ: Independents could decide N.J. primary (Courier-Post)
• McCain stumps for Iraq war in S.C. (The Denver Post) And he criticized Democrats for pushing for a firm withdrawal date and saying the war was lost. "I'm asking them to put the country above political party," he said. "Partisanship stops at the water's edge."
• 'Draft Lou Dobbs' effort launched by 'Legal Immigration PAC' (USA Today)
• Independence Party activists want New York Mayor Bloomberg to run for president (Pioneer Press)

Memories, Light the Corners of my Mind (Just Out ) In Oregon, Lenora Fulani's Vice-presidential candidate was Harold Moore who was a staff person with Just Out.

More Conversations on Arizona Independents

On the same topic, The Hankster also received this from Arthur DeFazio

I and thousands of other Independent Arizona voters need your help. I have just been informed that individuals who are registered as Independents in the State of Arizona (such as myself) will NOT be permitted to vote in the upcoming presidential primary. Our current governor, Democrat Janet Napolitano, apparently made this decision back when she was the (elected) Arizona Attorney General. However, no one (including myself) seems to have really been aware of this until recently. This is significant, since the number of Independent voters has nearly doubled in recent years. Currently, there are 755,000 independent voters registered in Arizona, while the Democrats have 855,000 registered voters and the Republicans have just over one million registered voters.

You may find information on this situation in the Tucson newspaper, the Arizona Daily Star

Arizona has a direct primary election law (as required by the Arizona Constitution) that allows independents to “vote in the primary election of any one of the political parties that is qualified for the ballot.” The Constitution (Article 7, Section 10) refers specifically to elections “for all elective State, county, and city offices, including candidates for United States Senator and for Representative in Congress.” However, the office of President is not mentioned. For this reason, then Attorney General Napolitano decided in 1999 that the presidential primary election was specifically excluded from the provisions of Arizona’s “Open Primary” law. The text of her decision may be found here.

I don’t believe it is fair to force Independents in one particular state of the Union to choose between either maintaining their Independent status or being excluded from one of the most important presidential primaries in the history of our nation.

Perhaps posting this information in your blog will help to get the word out about this terrible act of discrimination.

Sincerely,
Arthur DeFazio

Conversations on Arizona Independents

The Hankster received the following, reprinted in full, from independent activist Robert B. Winn in Arizona:

As things stand here in Arizona, the news media continues to say that people here are still registering independent in large numbers after being sent the correct statistics that since 2005 independent voter registration has dropped from 80,000 per year to 13,000 per year. Actually, this serves a good purpose even though the news media has chosen to cover up for party politicians because it informs people in Arizona that they can still register as independent voters even though the voter registration form tells them that they must register as members of political parties. The reason why independent voter registration dropped by almost 70,000 per year was because when people look at the voter registration form it tells them they have to be members of political parties.

My assessment of the situation is that political parties will never be able to get rid of independent voters. What they will continue to do is to claim that independent voters are not interested in government because they do not run for office and do not vote as often as party members. They never mention the fact that they have prevented independent voters from being candidates by disproportionate nomination petition requirements in any states where independent voters are viewed as a threat. Here in Arizona I have to get 20,000 signatures to get on the ballot as a candidate against Governor Janet Napolitano; she has to get 4,000 signatures to be on the ballot. Federal District Court has consistently held that this is fair and Constitutional. So since party members never see any independent candidates, they believe independent voters are uninterested in government. Then any they do see are eccentric billionaires who have enough money to buy ballot access or party mavericks who raise campaign money as party candidates and then use it to buy ballot access as independent candidates, such as Lieberman just did in Connecticut. While it is good that independent candidates of some kind do exist, these people do not really represent independent voters. Independent voters are voters who just want to be registered to vote without endorsing some great party agenda. This is how all voters in the United States originally registered to vote. All voters in the United States until the election of 1800 were independent voters, which is why there are still independent voters today.

The propaganda that comes from political parties is a poor reflection of European politics and has nothing to do with the United States. The two-party system is written into English law. What party politicians say about two-party government here pertains to England, not to the United States. When a party loses a vote of confidence in England, the government dissolves and an election is held, as just happened to Tony Blair. When a party loses a vote of confidence in America, an unpopular President continues on with his unpopular policies for another two years, as George W. Bush is now doing. This does not mean that America has a worse system than England has. It means that the American system was not intended for political party control. The only way to break out of the political stalemate that now exists is through independent voters, the people who are registered to vote the correct way.

Independent voters will eventually control the government in America again just because party politicians are so incompetent. In the meantime, party politicians will use every dishonest practice, every unfair advantage, every form of deception, and all of the money from public revenues they can get their hands on to try to retain the political power they now have. With political parties trying with everything they have to stop independent voter registration, independent voters now outnumber members of either political party. All we need to do is keep the pressure on at certain places, especially on the party-controlled news media. Here in Arizona we did a couple of things with the news media. Having the experience of being shut out when independent deputy registrars in the state were dismissed in 1988, we went directly to the Capitol Press Corps with the information when we discovered that the option to register independent had been removed from the Arizona voter registration form. They, of course, ignored that information. We then registered a petition to recall State Attorney General Terry Goddard. Members of the Capitol Press Corps contacted us by phone inquiring about the reason for this petition. We re-informed them about the change in the Arizona voter registration form.

"Do you really think that you can get 370,000 signatures in 120 days to recall the Attorney General,' they asked.

"No," we said. "We just registered the petition so that you would call and ask about it."

Then every time an article about independent voters appears in the Arizona news media publications, we send the editor of that paper the correct statistics for independent voter registration obtained from the Secretary of State and tell them that the news media has just as much ability to obtain these correct statistics as independent voters do, so there is really no reason for them to be publishing party propaganda the way they do. We have freedom of the press here in Arizona. They can print the truth if they want to.

Actually, they cannot. Reporters from various newspapers have tried to write stories about this change in the Arizona voter registration form, and their editors will not let them do it. So then they come back saying they will give us an opportunity to be in this or that column if we will write it ourselves.

"No, thank you," we say. "If you do not want to print the news, go ahead and print party propaganda. It is your newspaper. We sent you the correct information."

Now I do not want to give the impression that there are a large number of independent voters doing this. Most independent voters in the state still do not even know they have been taken off from the voter registration form. The news media is paid by the two major parties to try to keep it that way. It does not really matter if they do. Every time they write another story about independent voters registering in large numbers, citizens of Arizona are informed that they can still register independent with the voter registration form that says, Specify Party Preference. According to statistics, independent voter registration is already back up to 40,000 per year. We do not mention that in our correspondence with the news media. Their cover-up of the illegal actions of party politicians in this state is backfiring in a big way.

What we would like to do in Arizona is what we did to get the attention of party politicians back in 1986, go to college campuses and register voters, which really started this whole chain of events. I think we will be doing this before the election happens. It will be interesting to see what the parties do this time. They are sort of running out of options here. I do not think they are ready yet to try to stop an election.

Robert B. Winn

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Jason Olson of Independent Voice in California, an advocacy group that helped launch IndependentPrimary.com, says open primaries result in more voters going to the polls--something the major parties don't care for... (Amador Ledger Dispatch)
• "Too Independent To Vote" -- Arizona independents can vote in the primaries unless it's a presidential election (KOLD News 13- AZ)
• Mike Huckabee makes Wall Street nervous (Bloomberg News)
• It's true that the Lieberman endorsement will help McCain - but with conservatives more than independents. (BY JAMES KIRCHICK, Be Our Guest column - NY Daily News)
• Clarence Page says Andy Young should stay away from microphones... (Daily Journal - Kankakee IL)
• Texas Independence Party tells Secretary of State it will try to qualify (Ballot Access News)
• Maine Green Party WANTS YOU! (Ellsworth American)
• "Just say maybe" -- I think, therefore I punditize... (By John Brummett, Arkansas News)
• Who's Wrong On Race? -- interesting discussion of Dem and Repub history relative to race (By Steve Benen, CBS News)
• "If you want to pull the major party to what you're thinking, YOU MUST, YOU MUST show them that you're capable of not voting for them..." - Lawrence O'Donnell from "Gitlin, Alterman and the Anti-Nader Democrats - Two Unreasonable Men" (By JOHN WALSH, CounterPunch)

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Michigan non-affiliated voters can choose their ballots (D or R that is), parties will decide if they can vote in primary (Roseville Press Tribune)
• N.H. Libertarian Party Wins Lawsuit Over Voter List (Ballot Access News)
• In Florida, Dems may risk losing some of their support from independent voters because of the primary controversy. (Miami Herald Tribune)
• Arizona's new breed of independent voters is strongly against the war in Iraq and is breaking for Democrats (arizona daily star)
• Democrats See Health Care as Top Issues; Republicans Say National Security-Independent voters said the government corruption were their big priorities. (Associated Content) * Independent Iowa Letters in Play for Ron Paul (FreeMarketNews)
• Michigan Primary set; key Dems off ballot-Clinton is the only top-tier candidate on the Democratic ballot. The other Democrats on the ballot are Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd and former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel. All Repubs will be on the ballot (The Detroit News)
• Black voters focus on Clinton, Obama (Chicago Tribune)
• On Oprah and our votes (Clarence Page - Chicago Tribune)
• Iowa win vital for Obama, poll says, It could be proof for black voters (Detroit Free Press)
• Clinton tops Obama among African-Americans (Politico)
• Black voters tilt toward Clinton: study (Boston Globe)
• Oprah and Babs are OK; Gore is the rock star (Chicago Sun Times)
• Obama’s Night at the Apollo (New York Press)

pq

Conversations on Independence

Some of what's shakin' on the independent blogosphere:

• See Michael Drucker's The Independent View for an up-and-coming independent blog source!
• From Alternative Tulsa GOP Dissenters Take On Bush Policies: Republican legislators are getting an earful from heartland voters on the Iraq war. A scan of the blogosphere this week shows that even in Kansas and Iowa, more voters are expressing their unhappiness over the Bush Administration's handling of the war.
• Robert B. Winn has been fighting a partisan voter registration form in Arizona [17] Specify Party Preference... for a while now. In 2005 The Arizona legislature sent to the governor of Arizona Senate bill 1218 which was signed into law by the governor requiring a new voter registration form. The wording for the new form was included in the bill, which was essentially the same as far as the information a voter would give except that the option to register as an independent voter had been removed, leaving only a space marked Specify Party Preference. Small issue? The impact: Here are the statistics for registrations of new independent voters in Arizona from 2000 to 2006.2000-2002 107,7152002-2004 165,7712004-2006 26,4832006-2007 30,738. Hmmmmm........ According to the Charlotte Observer: "Another way in which false allegations of fraud have affected policy is in the movement to get states to adopt strict voter ID laws, which adversely affect low income citizens, especially among racial minorities, students and the elderly. Battles to require voters to show a government-issued photo ID or proof of citizenship in order to register and vote have been adopted in Georgia, Missouri, Arizona and Indiana." Something to pay attention to!

Attention Arizona independent voters:

Independent voters were established in the United States by the writing of the Constitution.

Political parties are self-created societies which exist for the purpose of securing special rights and privileges in government to their members. There were no organized political parties in the United States government until the election of 1800 when a political party took over the government. They wasted no time in passing laws at state level to exclude and limit participation of independent voters. Independent voters exist in the government today not because political parties allow them to exist, but because political parties have been unable to eradicate them in spite of their best efforts.

In 1988 the Arizona legislature passed a law requiring that deputy registrars in Arizona be recommended by the chairman of a political party. Accordingly, on December 31, 1988, all independent voters who were serving as deputy registrars were sent a letter informing them that they could no longer serve in that position. An independent voter filed a lawsuit seeking re-instatement of independent deputy registrars. To nullify that lawsuit, the legislature met and passed a bill doing away with the position of deputy registrar, allowing any person to go to their County Recorder, obtain voter registration forms, and register voters.

In 2004, leaders of the Republican Party in Arizona circulated an initiative called Proposition 200 because, they said, illegal aliens and convicted felons could register voters. When Proposition 200 was passed by the voters it required the state to make a new voter registration form. There was only one real change in the new voter registration form other than instructions requiring identification to be shown at the polls, etc. The box marked No Party Preference was taken off from the form, leaving only a space marked Specify Party Preference. A Party spokesman now in the state committe of his party has boasted in a newspaper interview that the purpose of this change was to stop a rapid increase in the number of independent voters in Arizona which took place between 2000 and 2004. Now, he said, people were registering as Democrats and Republicans.

A group of independent voters brought this violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to the attention of the state Attorney General. His response was, "Discuss it with your state legislator."We are therefore going to register a petition with the Secretary of State on July 5th to recall the Attorney General. The state of Arizona requires a period of six months in office before a state official becomes eligible for recall. His present term of office began on January 5, 2007.

We are going to register voters, including those who support the Attorney General, in our petition drive. The percentage of registered voters in the state is somewhere around 50% of those eliglble to vote.

Anyone who wants more information about this recall petition drive please contact:
Independent Voters
P. O. Box 1445
Maricopa, Arizona 85239
e-mail: rbwinn3@juno.com
Robert B. Winn

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• New Hampshire: This year, some independents are joining forces to make sure their concerns are heard. (ABC News)
• Texas: Just about every organization is disappointed with its officials, Russell Pruitt said, and his group believes the independent movement could help. (Victoria Advocate)
• Obama now virtually tied with Clinton, poll shows (USA Today)