Jackie Salit: Something's Rotten In...

...New York State politics?

No! That couldn't be! "...Don’t miss the latest drama about the Independence Party in which Governor Cuomo is cast as Hamlet, deciding whether “to IP or not IP.”  Independents must consider our alternatives.  Here’s the backstory..."

Independence Party founder, Jacqueline Salit weighs in on

the Governor's race and

the fate of the Independence Party in

"Something's Rotten In..."

 

Jackie Salit just posted an opinion piece on the NYC Independence Party website calling for Lenora Fulani to challenge Gov Cuomo in 2014.  In it, you'll get her take on the Governor's race and the political gamesmanship and controversy currently surrounding of the New York State Independence Party.

Jackie Salit helped establish the Independence Party in 1994 and managed all three of Mayor Bloomberg's campaigns on the Independence Party line.  She is the author of Independents Rising.

 

This is all sad commentary on the Independence Party’s fate.  All the players in this drama, either directly or indirectly, propped up MacKay as he did their bidding, stripping away the party’s independence and vision.  Now, it’s time to kill it off, they say.  Just as the child who murders his parents and throws himself on the mercy of the court because he is an orphan, these anti-independent schemers beg for justice.
The climax will star the embattled Cuomo, who, in Hamlet-like fashion, must resolve whether “to IP or not to IP.”  Either he does business with MacKay or becomes a full-fledged Working Families Party-allied Democrat, even as the WFP is going through its own public handwringing.  He is caught between the Devil and deep blue sea.
- See more at: http://www.ipnyc.org/home/opinion-somethings-rotten-in/#sthash.6tGQcfte.dpuf

This is all sad commentary on the Independence Party’s fate.  All the players in this drama, either directly or indirectly, propped up MacKay as he did their bidding, stripping away the party’s independence and vision.  Now, it’s time to kill it off, they say.  Just as the child who murders his parents and throws himself on the mercy of the court because he is an orphan, these anti-independent schemers beg for justice.
The climax will star the embattled Cuomo, who, in Hamlet-like fashion, must resolve whether “to IP or not to IP.”  Either he does business with MacKay or becomes a full-fledged Working Families Party-allied Democrat, even as the WFP is going through its own public handwringing.  He is caught between the Devil and deep blue sea.
- See more at: http://www.ipnyc.org/home/opinion-somethings-rotten-in/#sthash.6tGQcfte.dpuf

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Must read for independents everywhere!

 

 

- NH

 

Don’t miss the latest drama about the Independence Party in which Governor Cuomo is cast as Hamlet, deciding whether “to IP or not IP.”  Independents must consider our alternatives.  Here’s the backstory. - See more at: http://www.ipnyc.org/home/opinion-somethings-rotten-in/#sthash.6tGQcfte.dpuf

This is all sad commentary on the Independence Party’s fate.  All the players in this drama, either directly or indirectly, propped up MacKay as he did their bidding, stripping away the party’s independence and vision.  Now, it’s time to kill it off, they say.  Just as the child who murders his parents and throws himself on the mercy of the court because he is an orphan, these anti-independent schemers beg for justice.
The climax will star the embattled Cuomo, who, in Hamlet-like fashion, must resolve whether “to IP or not to IP.”  Either he does business with MacKay or becomes a full-fledged Working Families Party-allied Democrat, even as the WFP is going through its own public handwringing.  He is caught between the Devil and deep blue sea.
- See more at: http://www.ipnyc.org/home/opinion-somethings-rotten-in/#sthash.6tGQcfte.dpuf

Tom Connolly Testifies at Haggerty Ballot Security Trial

HAGGERTY TRIAL

• Haggerty Contract Is Said Backdated (By MICHAEL HOWARD SAUL, Wall Street Journal) Under cross-examination, Mr. Connolly said the mayor lost all control of the $1.2 million once he sent it to the party. Asked if the mayor could earmark the money specifically for ballot security, Mr. Connolly said he "can make a request" but whether that is "honored or not" is up to the party.
• NY party official testifies at operative's trial (Associated Press, Wall Street Journal) Haggerty approached Connolly in August 2009 to say that "a donation would be coming from the mayor, and it would be their wish that they would use that toward a ballot security operation" that would run up to $1.1 million, Connolly told jurors. He said he checked with some people he didn't name to ensure the arrangement was legal, and then went ahead with it, relying on what Haggerty had told him about the planned operation.
• Testy Mayor Stays Cool on the Stand, Avoiding Potential Fallout (By Jill Colvin, DNAinfo) “How many principals of campaigns really understand campaign finance law?” he said. "No one expects the mayor to know what the money is used for in the end."

Unraveling New York State Independence Party With John Haggerty

• NYC mayor: Victim in political operative's trial? (Associated Press, Wall Street Journal) While the party isn't charged, prosecutors have said in a lawsuit that the party knew or should have known about Haggerty's alleged scam. The lawsuit seeks to force the party and Haggerty to forfeit the money he allegedly stole; for now, the suit has prompted a civil court judge to freeze one of the party's accounts last winter.
  
• Setback in Bloomberg Case (By MICHAEL HOWARD SAUL, Wall Street Journal) Mayor Michael Bloomberg knew he wouldn't control the spending of more than $1 million he gave the New York State Independence Party for the 2009 election, a defense attorney for a political operative accused of stealing the mayor's money argued Monday. State Supreme Court Justice Ronald Zweibel dealt Manhattan prosecutors a setback by denying their motion to bar the defense from making that argument at the trial of the operative, John Haggerty.
  
• Bloomberg recovers in Quinnipiac poll (By ALEXANDER BURNS, Politico) Incidentally, the path for Bloomberg — or any wealthy, moderate independent — to run for president has always involved President Obama tanking and the Republicans nominating someone with drastically limited appeal. So the conditions for a serious third-party run haven't faded, even if the prospect of finding a viable candidate has.
• Is Independence Party’s influence waning? (By ELIZABETH COOPER, Utica Observer-Dispatch) The Independence Party has taken a tumble from the coveted third line — directly below the Democratic and Republican parties — down to the fifth line.

New York Kind of Opportunists

NEW YORK

• For Congress: Jane Corwin (ENDORSEMENT: NY Post) The self-funded Davis sounds like a conservative populist -- especially on free trade. But he's more opportunist than anything: He's run three times for the seat as a Democrat before trying to gain the GOP nomination this year.
• APNewsBreak: Chairman of New York's Independence Party backs gay marriage (By The Associated Press, Syracuse Post Standard) The party is New York’s third largest. It has made important cross endorsements in tight races that provided ballot lines for Senate Republicans. Republicans have benefited from having the line that allows Democrats, with a nearly 2-to-1 enrollment advantage over Republicans statewide, to vote for a Republican without having to use the GOP line.

NY State Independence Party: Something Doesn't Smell Right

NEW YORK
Judge: Evidence aplenty vs. NY political operative (Wall Street Journal/AP) 

There is "overwhelming" evidence against a political operative charged with bilking New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg out of more than $1 million, and the billionaire mayor's wealth and stature don't make the case a victimless crime, a judge said Tuesday...

NY IP Chair Frank MacKay [photo from The Capitol]

...The Independence Party, the state's third-largest political party, hasn't been charged with any crime but has taken heat from prosecutors and a civil-court judge over Haggerty. Prosecutors have said in a lawsuit that the party "knew or should have known about" Haggerty's alleged scheme; a civil-court judge has frozen the party's bank accounts and said its conduct "doesn't smell right."

Right. For an interesting backgrounder on NY State IP Chair Frank MacKay, see Chris Bragg's The Capitol article from last November "The Real MacKay - A glimpse into the Independence Party chairman’s mind, and into his castle"

New York State Independence Party Questionable Campaign Finance Process

Bloomberg testified in campaign cash case (By MAGGIE HABERMAN, Politico) Seidel revealed the testimony from Bloomberg, a rare move for a public official, in response. Bloomberg aides later declined to specify when he testified.

Independents sent Barack Obama to Washington to shake the sucker up and the parties ate him for breakfast

As Jackie Salit said last week on her conference call to kick off her organizing for the national conference "Can Independents Reform America?" coming up in NYC over the weekend of February 12, 2011, independents are among the most misunderstood constituencies around. Today's round-up of news about independents below is a glowing example of just that. Independents, Salit says, sent Barack Obama to Washington to "shake the sucker up" and "the parties ate him for breakfast."

While indies are increasingly calling for, voting for -- and winning -- reform of the process, reforms that would help America break out of partisan shackles (i.e. the Top Two Open Primary that won in California in June, Proposition 20-which expanded the California Redistricting Commission's mandate to include Congressional districts-passed by 20 points; Proposition 27, a bi-partisan ploy to dismantle the Commission, was defeated by a similar margin; and in Florida, the voters passed Amendment 5 by a 25 point margin, establishing clear, non-partisan guidelines for the drawing of legislative districts), the pundits search around for some equation they understand. Obama + Palin + Bloomberg = trouble for the Dems - or trouble for the Repubs, depending on your ideological slant...

By the way, Jackie Salit's next national conference call "DOES POWER SHARING IN WASHINGTON MEAN THAT THE PEOPLE WILL HAVE MORE POWER?" will be on Monday, December 6th, 8:30 EDT. For more information contact Nancy Ross or Gwen Mandell at national@cuip.org or phone:  800-288-3201 or 212-609-2800

I ran into City Hall News writer Chris Bragg at the paper's holiday mixer down at the Woolworth Tower Kitchen (a fave City Hall restaurant). He had just interviewed NY State Independence Party chair Frank MacKay (please see his wonderful portrait below) which lead to a conversation about the corruption of partisan politics. MacKay, a wheeler-dealer from way back, has completely isolated himself from the reform movement led by grassroots independents in favor of brokering deals with the Wilson Pakula in New York.

In the meantime, the NYC organizations of the IP keep organizing the grassroots. New York City's first independent Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, was elected with 150,000 votes on the IP line in 2009. In 2010, they recruited 4,200 independents to join local County Committees, and supported the fight for a "top two" open primary system for New York City. Coming up Sunday, December 12th is the 11th Annual Anti-Corruption Awards, this year going to Dr. Omar H. Ali and Bradley Tusk.

Omar H. Ali is a professor at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, a respected author who has written extensively about shifting political alliances in the black community, and a frequent commentator on CNN, PBS and the History Channel. He is one of the country's foremost advocates for open primaries and non-partisan elections.

Bradley Tusk is the founder of Tusk Strategies, a political and strategic consulting firm based in New York City. He served as Campaign Manager for Mayor Michael Bloomberg's 2009 re-election campaign, and is a staunch supporter of structural reforms that would curb the power of the parties and increase the power of voters.

The event will take place at the Tribeca Grill in lower Manhattan.

And now for the news:


LEDE

• The Real MacKay - A glimpse into the Independence Party chairman’s mind, and into his castle (Chris Bragg, The Capitol) MacKay throws four-course meals with Oheka’s owner, Gary Melius. They facilitate meetings between donors, politicians, investors and developers. The lunches also serve as a chance to woo MacKay, who has near-total control over many of the party’s local, and all the party’s statewide, endorsement decisions. Pretty much every major statewide candidate attended this year.

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• George Will: Palin’s ‘Non-Presidential’ TV Appearances Will Not Lead to the WH (ABC News/The Note) “The independent voters have made up their minds about her, and it is a negative judgment they’ve made,” ABC’s George Will said on the “This Week” roundtable.
• More Voters Say Obama Doesn't Deserve Second Term in Office, Poll Finds (By Catherine Dodge, Bloomberg) Independents also disapprove, with only 35 percent saying the president should be re-elected.

BLOOMBERG 2012

• Analysis: Bloomberg sounds much like he did in '08 (AP, Wall Street Journal) "It is deja vu all over again," said Doug Muzzio, a public affairs professor at Baruch College. "It's the same script — they think it worked the last time, and they are confident that it's the best way to keep marketing the Bloomberg brand right now."
• Hoping For Political Disaster (by Daniel Larison, The American Conservative)
• Haley Barbour: I Hope Michael Bloomberg 'Won't Even Consider' Running (The Huffington Post, Nick Wing)

CALIFORNIA

• EDITORIAL: A return to the Golden State - OUR VIEW: REDISTRICTING COMMISSION COULD BE FIRST STEP IN LONG JOURNEY BACK (North County Times)
• Contrast between old, new (By Jim Boren, Fresno Bee) That means the extreme factions of both parties won't be the ones deciding the people who will run in the general election. The candidates will be more moderate and that means the Legislature will be much more willing to compromise as it moves to the political center.

NEW YORK

• Bloomberg picks media boss as NYC school chancellor (By Stephen Millies, Workers World) “I think Bloomberg’s decision to appoint Cathleen Black is arrogant, absurd and unacceptable,” declared City Councilperson Charles Barron, who was the Freedom Party’s candidate for governor.

EDUCATION REFORM

• Teachers Unions Not Representative of Teachers’ Changing Views (Gary Beckner, Town Hall) Unfortunately, teachers largely have been pushed aside as education reformers determine how to help America’s students catch up with the rest of the world. Teachers can thank the teacher union leadership for being excluded from the education reform decisions.

LAST WORD

• Review of John Atlas, "Seeds of Change: The Story of ACORN" (by: Peter Dreier, t r u t h o u t | Book Review)

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS 8/31/10

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• With Increase in Partisanship, Fewer Surprises Likely in Governors’ Races (By NATE SILVER, NY Times/FiveThirtyEight) The pattern stems in large part from the long-standing decline in the number of voters, in all types of elections, who are willing to cast ballots across partisan lines. In 1980, some 27 percent of Democrats voted for Ronald Reagan (another 6 percent voted for the independent, John B. Anderson), whereas 11 percent of Republicans voted for Jimmy Carter. This means that a total of 21 percent of partisans (voters who identify themselves as either Democrat or Republican) voted for the presidential candidate of the “opposite” party. In recent elections, however, that percentage has been halved: just 10 percent of partisans crossed party lines in the presidential election of 2000, and just 9 percent did in 2004 and 2008. 
• Zogby: Romney Beats Bloomberg, Obama (By: Brad O'Leary, NewsMax) Among independent voters, 40 percent would choose Romney and 30 percent would vote for Obama. Just 11 percent would pull the lever for Bloomberg.

OPEN PRIMARIES

• Primary Concerns - Should D.C. change the way it chooses candidates? (By P.J. ORVETTI, NBC Washington) Fenty’s campaign made a last-ditch attempt to get the Board of Elections and Ethics to allow unaffiliated voters to vote in the Democratic primary, which would have upped the possible voter pool by about 72,400. That effort failed, but it did open a fresh debate about how the District chooses its elected officials.

GEORGIA

• Barnes, Deal search for ways to win independents (By Aaron Gould Sheinin, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/Georgia Elections Central)
• Georgia governor's race 2010 won't be south of the 'Gnat Line' (By Matt Towery, Southern Political Report) If Barnes can push the African-American vote to anything between the 21-22 percent levels, a huge surge among independents in the greater metro-Atlanta area could make the election razor thin. Only then will his efforts “below the gnat line” help.

NEW YORK

• Bloomberg Cash Not Yet Returned (By MICHAEL HOWARD SAUL, Wall Street Journal) Mr. Messina confirmed Monday afternoon that he still has the money in his possession. "I believe that all parties are coming together in a desire to accomplish a goal, and I'm confident that that goal will be accomplished because of the good faith of the parties," said Mr. Messina, referring to the return of the allegedly stolen funds.

NYC CHARTER REVISION

• Charter-change choke (EDITORIAL NY Post) The New York City Charter Revision Commission concluded its work last week, delivering a final product that amounts to a sadly missed opportunity.
• City Is Shamed by Commission On the Revision of Its Charter (By HENRY STERN, Special to the NY Sun)

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS 7/26/10

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Independent voters rise in county (By JIM SECKLER/The Mohave Daily News - AZ) The county now has 113,266 registered voters as of June 1. The Democrats have seen losses in Bullhead City and Mohave Valley and slight increases in Fort Mohave and Topock. Independents increased in numbers by 3 to 1 over Republicans.

OPEN PRIMARIES

• CA: Flawed primary in California (Press Connects - Bingingham )Californians should recall that in 2003, there were 135 candidates for governor. With enough people running, a candidate can advance to the general election with the support of only a miniscule and possibly extreme portion of the electorate.
• OK: Primary Tuesday (By Tulsa World's Editorial Writers) Remember that Oklahoma does not have an open primary. Republicans cannot vote in Democratic races and Democrats cannot vote in Republican races. Depending on a voter's party affiliation, some races may or may not be represented on the primary ballot.
• PA: Bill Kennedy: races should be non-partisan (Carroll County Times - PA) Not having a representative of each party on the ballot in the general election leaves those without a candidate disenfranchised in the election of their Commissioner or Sheriff or States Attorney, just as we all are in the election for the state Attorney General.
• MI: CONNELL: Republicans choose; Dems crown (The Times Herald - MI)  Michigan has open primaries. This means a registered voter can walk into the polling place and pick a party. A chest-thumping liberal can ask for a Republican ballot without apology, and a conservative from the deepest part of right field doesn't need a disguise to play ball with the Democrats. The caveat is you only get one choice. For instance, if you vote on the the Democratic side for governor, you cannot switch to the Republican ballot for legislative races.
• SD: Marking proposes system of voter input to guide him (By: Tom Lawrence, The Daily Republic - Mitchell Republic - SD) A registered independent his entire life, Marking also calls for open primaries, which would allow anyone to vote in them, as well as an end to corporate financing of campaigns.

THIRD PARTIES

• AZ: Libertarian contenders hope to tap unsettled electorate (Rhonda Bodfield, Arizona Daily Star)

CALIFORNIA

• Ralph Nader: ‘California Enshrines the Duopoly’ (By Ralph Nader at Nader.org VIA Independent Political Report) Last month, Big Business interests shamelessly dealt our already depleted democracy a devastating blow by misleading California voters into approving Proposition 14, without their opponents being able to reach the people with rebuttals. This voter initiative provides that the November elections in that state for members of Congress and state elective offices are reserved only for the top two vote-garnering candidates in the June primary.

COLORADO

• Wadhams: GOP is not looking at lawsuit in Tancredo ballot threat (Lynn Bartels, The Denver Post) State Rep. Kathleen Curry, for example, is a running as a write-in candidate. She changed her voter affiliation from Democratic to unaffiliated last December, but had not been unaffiliated long enough to get on the ballot as an independent. She and a county commissioner candidate in the same boat challenged the ruling, but lost.

IDAHO

• Trial Date Set in Idaho Republican Party Case Over Open Primary (Ballot Access News)

MASSACHUSETTS

• Massachusetts Pro-Life Group Endorses Governor Candidate Tim Cahill  (by Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com Editor)

NEW YORK

• Indy 'pay-to-play' - GOPers backed after hiring chief's pal (By DAVID SEIFMAN City Hall Bureau Chief, EXCLUSIVE NY Post)
• Probe opened by Staten Island of Independence Party's $10G loan in exchange for City Council nod (BY ADAM LISBERG, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER)
• In wake of Independence Party flaps, wary Daniel Donovan spurns party in A.G. race (Tom Wrobleski, SI Advance)
• Party for sale (NY Post) Tabacco is now suggesting that "contracting with [MacKay’s firm]" seems to be "a prerequisite" to winning the backing of the Independence Party, which he now labels "a political patronage mill.
• NYC Independence Party Chief Cathy Stewart - see VIDEO: The public debate on Top Two in New York City has helped to underscore the difference between the city and state Independence Party. For the city party, our concern has always been the democratic reform of the political process to give more voters—including independents—the right to participate. And we thank the Mayor and the Commission for creating the opportunity for a vigorous public study of non-partisan elections. Sadly for us, this vibrant debate is in sharp contrast with the conduct of Independence Party’s state chairman. Frank MacKay has spent years effectively outlawing democracy inside the party, reducing the party’s agenda to the most cynical patronage and quid pro quo, and now, if press reports of the ongoing investigation by law enforcement are accurate, may also have committed criminal offenses in the name of “party building.” As is well known, the Independence Party of  New York City has long opposed MacKay’s politics and practice.... READ text 

NYC CHARTER REVISION

• Look to New York City for reform (By Jerry Goldfeder, Albany Times Union)
• Mayor Bloomberg is trying to give nonpartisan elections another push after it failed in 2003 (ADAM LISBERG, Daily News)
• On missing a chance to shape New York (BY KATHARINE JOSE, Capital New York) The 1989 Charter Commission devised a plan for “fair share,” which Eddie Bautista, executive director of the NYC Environmental Justice Alliance, said has become “meaningless.” Fair share requires, in the city charter, that every year the city makes an assessment of proposed developments to assess whether certain neighborhoods are overburdened or underdeveloped. But it’s not enforced, Bautista said (a number of speakers brought up the same issue). As a result, he said, waste transfer stations and other undesirable but necessary urban fixtures are clustered in poor, non-white neighborhoods. Asked later what his vision of the 21st century city would be, Bautista said, “It’s a city that doesn’t use 1962 zoning resolutions.”

LAST WORD

• Wisconsin Candidate is "NOT the White Man's Bitch" (Brian C. Thomas, chicago Now)  
• Inflammatory Language Rejected From Wisc. Ballot (CBS News)

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS 7/23/10

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• SURGING INDEPENDENT SENTIMENT, LESSER EVILISM, AND TEA PARTY POLITICS (by Damon Eris, CAIVN)

OPEN PRIMARIES

• IL: Open primary a step toward reform (Daily Herald Editorial Board)

GOV RACES

• Chafee's independent RI governor bid no easy road (By MICHELLE R. SMITH (AP) Chafee is one of several high-profile independents running in a year of voter discontent, including Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who's leading in the polls after leaving the Republican Party for his Senate run; Massachusetts Treasurer Tim Cahill, a one-time Democrat running for governor; and Eliot Cutler, running for governor of Maine.
• Independent Nominee Cohen Visits Springfield (By Kevin Lee, Illinois Statehouse News, Fox News)

THIRD PARTIES

• Court Rules Against S.C. Green Party Candidate (By ANNIE YOUDERIAN, Courthouse News Service)

CALIFORNIA

• Repairing the initiative process - in CA and SF (Steve Hill, San Francisco Bay Guardian) Because of these dynamics, direct democracy in California has been captured by wealthy special interests. Proponents
• of Proposition 14, which was bankrolled by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and big business, outspent opponents by 50:1 to pass a "top two" primary that is deform masked as reform. Even when Big Money's measures lose — as PG&E's Proposition 16 did — they force everyone else to play defense. Ironically, this dynamic is the opposite of that envisioned by California Gov. Hiram Johnson, who in 1911 created the initiative to allow the people to counter powerful special interests like railroad tycoons.
• Fixing California (By Kevin Drum, Mother Jones) Bottom line: I don't know what to do. If Arnold is to be believed, our shiny new redistricting and open primary laws will change things starting in 2012. I can't wait.

GEORGIA

• Your Morning Jolt (Jim Galloway, AJC/Political Insider) Mary Norwood this morning announced that she’s filed a lawsuit in Fulton County Superior Court in an attempt to get her name on the ballot as an independent candidate for commission chairman.
• Mary Norwood files lawsuit to challenge Fulton County Elections Board, gain ballot access (Posted by Thomas Wheatley, Creative Loafing Atlanta)

NEW YORK

• DA to investigate $10K loan to Independence Party chairman's wife (By DAVID SEIFMAN, NY Post)
• Missing: Voice, money of Golisano - Billionaire lowers profile in politics (By Tom Precious, Buffalo News) Golisano also created the State Independence Party, the tiny but influential ballot line that he has wielded with considerable influence in the past.
• Commentary: Wanda Warren Berry, director of New Yorkers for Verified Voting, writes about unaffiliated voters in New York (Syracuse Post Standard, By Wanda Warren Berry) An important primary election looms in September and we can expect the usual protests about the fact that New York holds “closed” primaries, allowing only members of a party to choose its candidates.
• Senate Democrats Send Cash To Debi Rose, Councilmember In DFS Lawsuit (By Edward-Isaac Dovere, City Hall News)

NYC CHARTER REVISION

• In New York, Civics Fans Can’t Fill the Seats (By CLYDE HABERMAN, NY Times) There were other matters at hand, but some of the more contentious ones seemed destined to be pushed aside. They included questions like whether municipal elections should be nonpartisan and whether runoff elections should be replaced by a process known as instant runoff voting. This procedure tends to be condensed to the acronym IRV, making it sound like someone’s old uncle. It refers to a system that lets voters rank candidates in order of preference.
• Commission Conundrum (LETTER Queens Tribune)
• Government By The People, Money Matters & A Poem (By MICHAEL SCHENKLER, Queens Tribune)

LAST WORD

• Obama turns away from longtime Democratic supporters in N.Y. (By Jason Horowitz, Washington Post)

NYC Independence Party's Cathy Stewart Testifies for Top Two Nonpartisan Election Before Charter Revision: Democratic Reform of the Political Process

NYC Independence Party chief organizer and Manhattan Chair Cathy Stewart speaks to the Charter Revision Commission in the Bronx, July 21, 2010 on behalf of nonpartisan elections/ Top-Two Primary.

Stewart outlines the history of support for nonpartisans by Mayor Bloomberg, the recent position change by Citizens Union, and the New York City Organizations of the Independence Party of New York.

"The public debate on Top Two in New York City has helped to underscore the difference between the city and state Independence Party. For the city party, our concern has always been the democratic reform of the political process to give more voters—including independents—the right to participate. And we thank the Mayor and the Commission for creating the opportunity for a vigorous public study of non-partisan elections."

"Sadly for us, this vibrant debate is in sharp contrast with the conduct of Independence Party's state chairman. Frank MacKay has spent years effectively outlawing democracy inside the party, reducing the party's agenda to the most cynical patronage and quid pro quo, and now, if press reports of the ongoing investigation by law enforcement are accurate, may also have committed criminal offenses in the name of "party building." As is well known, the Independence Party of New York City has long opposed MacKay's politics and practice."

Read full testimony at NY Daily News/ Daily Politics by Celeste Katz here.

New York Independence Party: City vs State -- Do We Need Nonpartisan Elections?

Topics of concern: Mike Bloomberg made a contribution to the NY State Independence Party via State Chair Frank MacKay possibly earmarked for the Repubs in Queens, and well, seems to be quite a mess... And a NYC Charter Revision Commission might consider nonpartisan elections for Dem-controlled NYC.

NEW YORK BLOOMBERG/INDEPENDENCE PARTY

• Vance Investigating Indy/Bloomberg/Haggerty Connection (BY ELIZABETH BENJAMIN, Daily News/Daily Politics)
• DA's Office Investigates Mayor Michael Bloomberg's $750K Campaign Donation (DA Info)
• Manhattan DA probing Bloomberg election cash: sources (By DAVID SEIFMAN, NY Post)
• THE MIDTERMS: PATERSON'S PRESSER (by Domenico Montanaro, msnbc/First Read) see BLOOMBERG $$ TO IP INVESTIGATION
• DA probes Mike's 'slippery' poll $$ (By DAVID SEIFMAN City Hall Bureau Chief, NY Post)
• How G.O.P. Worker Got Bloomberg Money Is Investigated (By JOHN ELIGON, NY Times)
• Manhattan DA Investigates Bloomberg Donation (By: NY1 News) WITH VIDEO
• DA Investigates Mysterious $750,000 Bloomberg Donation (Gothamist)

NEW YORK CHARTER REVISION

• City University Chancellor Matthew Goldstein favorite to chair charter revision commission (BY ADAM LISBERG, DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF)
• Bloomberg Picks Crowell To Chair Charter Commission, Full Membership To Be Announced Within Weeks - In addition to term limits, non-partisan elections may be revisited (By Edward-Isaac Dovere, City Hall News)
• Thompson In The Mix (BY ELIZABETH BENJAMIN, Daily News/Daly Politics)

New York State Independence Party Politics Makes for Strange Bank Accounts

The New York City Independence Party Organizations received $400,000 from Mike Bloomberg to run his independent campaign for Mayor, which pulled 150,000 votes on Column C, the IP ballot line. Another $1.2 mil went to the State Party, and of that $750,000 went to a company called Special Election Operations. "We have nothing to do with MacKay and Company and we're not the least bit surprised that what they're doing looks fishy, perhaps even corrupt," said Jacqueline Salit, a spokeswoman for the city party and a Bloomberg ally." Upstate IP State Chair Frank MacKay can't recall who or what that money went to... 

• Mike mystery money went to key elex aide (By DAVID SEIFMAN City Hall Bureau Chief, NY Post)
• Bloomberg used political party to pay backer: Post (By Howard Koplowitz, YourNabe Queens)
• 'Phantom' firm got $$ in re-elex (By FREDRIC U. DICKER in Albany and DAVID SEIFMAN in NY, EXCLUSIVE, NY Post)
• What did Hizzoner know? (NY Post)
• Ethics, Shmethics: The Culture of NY Politics--In Albany, even the watchdogs have ethics issues (By GABE PRESSMAN, NBC New York) And the question of where and how that 1.2 million that Bloomberg donated to the Independence Party was spent requires further investigation.
• Bloomberg's Independence (Pay)Day (BY ELIZABETH BENJAMIN, Newsday) At the start of the six-month filing period, the [State] Independence Party was $15,156 in the red. Bloomberg's cash accounted for the bulk of the $1,205,600 it reported raising since then. It spent $863,236 and now has $327,206 on hand. The party spent $18,480 for "cars and drivers" on Election Day, according to its filing. And also sent $750,000 to an Albany-based firm called Special Election Operations LLC.
• N.Y. insurgents stand up for Wall St. (By: Ben Smith, Politico)
• Union officials are disturbingly inflexible toward charter schools (Washington Post Editorial)

Independents Angry White Men? What about all the angry progressive black, white, Latina and Asian women and men?

Media discussion of a return to 90s "angry white male" profile of independent voters BIG OMISSION -- the face of independents is increasingly black, Latino, Asian, female, and progressive.... but let 'em rant! [See section 6 of Jackie Salit's How the Independent Movement Went Left by Going Right]  Whoever independents are, Mark Silva got it right -- they dislike both parties. Independents don't like partisanship. Period... ****** Discussion of open primaries (there's a "Top Two" referendum on the ballot in California in June 2010) is really heating up! Proponents think open primaries is good for democracy, opponents think minor parties won't be able to hold onto their 2%... What do YOU think??... ******* The Working Families Party is taking the heat for becoming relevant in NYC's recent election... ****** And here's the good news: Frank MacKay's maneuver to take over the Reform Party by conference call was deemed outside the law by a US District Court judge..... Now, there's a wise decision!

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Angry voters may revive state GOP (Nolan Finley, Detroit News) But Republicans must be mindful that those critical independent voters aren't yet rushing to the GOP as much as they are fleeing from Democrats.
• WSJ/NBC News Poll: Tea Party Tops Democrats and Republicans (By Susan Davis, Wall Street Journal/Washwire)
• Poll: 2010 could be 'year of the angry white male' redux (By Dave Cook, Christian Science Monitor) Battleground Poll data shows independent voters now rank 13 percentage points higher than Democrats [77 percent versus 64 percent] in saying they are likely to vote in the next election.
• Poll: Dissatisfaction could spell trouble for Democrats in 2010 (By Mark Silva, LA Times) "I've come to the conclusion on independents . . . that what really drives them is, they dislike both parties, and they dislike the party in power more..."

OPEN PRIMARIES and ELECTORAL REFORM

• Cornyn Optimistic But Wants RNC Help (By Reid Wilson, National Journal/Hotline) "If there's any lesson that people should have learned about New York 23, it's that when you have closed primaries and a closed-door selection process, people are going to find a way to express their will," Cornyn said. "I think the answer to all that is contested, open primaries, and our goal of course is to, hopefully the Republican nominee, whoever that is, will not be bloodied and broke at the end of the process, because ultimately the goal is to win the general election. I think through that open primary process, all that will be resolved in a satisfactory way."
• Senate Approves Bill Allowing Non-Partisan Municipal Elections To Move To November (NJ Today)
• KY: Time running out to change your political party affiliation (Thomas McAdam, Louisville City Hall Examiner) NOTE: BR 222, the open primary bill that newly elected State Senator Jimmy Higdon pre-filed in the state assembly last March, would: “permit a registered independent to vote in the primary of one party for each primary…provide that a primary candidate shall not be a registered independent [and] provide that electronic voting machines be reprogrammed to allow a registered independent to vote for a party’s candidates in a primary.”  Higdon was elected with support from Michael P.W. Lewis and Independent Kentucky.
• ACLU Files Lawsuit Against Three Nebraska Ballot Access Restrictions (Ballot Access News)
• Letter [Richard Winger]: Problems plague open primary (Appeal Democrat - CA)

STATE RACES

• My View: This Kennedy, too, can win (Richard Rubino, Salem News)
• Idaho GOP questions if guv hopeful is nonpartisan (JOHN MILLER, The Olympian)
• Vegas mayor changing parties, mulling governor bid (Mercury News/The Associated Press)
• The debate voters deserve: Coakley vs. Brown (Boston Globe Editorial) HINT: The Boston Globe doesn't think voters deserve to hear from independent candidate Joseph Kennedy...

WORKING FAMILIES PARTY

• More incoming councilmen acknowledge being approached by feds concerning Working Families Party (BY ELIZABETH BENJAMIN AND CELESTE KATZ, DAILY NEWS)
• Williams: WFP Probe Result Of 'Sour Grapes' (BY ELIZABETH BENJAMIN, Daily News/Daily Politics)
• Mayor Jolted—Will It Continue? (Western Queens Gazette) The Working Families Party could be a headache for the mayor in his third term. The party backed several new councilmembers who were elected in November, some of them from The Bronx. They were among The Bronx delegation members in the coalition that coaxed lawmakers from other boroughs to join in defeating the Bloomberg-sponsored project by an eye-opening 45 to 1 vote.
• SI probe of Families $$ (By DAVID SEIFMAN, NY Post)
• Pols vow to help Working Families Party probe (BY CELESTE KATZ, DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU)
• Preet the Terrible (By Reid Pillifant, NY Observer)
• Is the WFP's game up? (NY Post)
• Former Suffolk WFP Chair Will Campaign To Oust Master, Lewis and Williams As WFP State Chairs (By Edward-Isaac Dovere, City Hall) “The plan here is to elect a new slate of chairmen, co-chairmen. It’s time to put the party back in a healthy direction,” Pohanka said, announcing his intentions in an exclusive interview with City Hall. “I want to run for state chairman in September and be able to open up the books for everyone to see, just like every other party—what their salaries are, to know where the money’s going from one campaign account to the other, to simplify it.”
• The ACORNing of the WFP (by Casey Seiler, Albany Times Union/Capitol Confidential)
• Woeful families matters (By DAVID SEIFMAN City Hall Bureau Chief, NY Post)

REFORM PARTY

• Federal Court in New York Issues Ruling in Internal Reform Party Dispute (Ballot Access News) On December 16, U.S. District Court Judge Joseph F. Bianco, a Bush, Jr., appointee, issued an opinion in MacKay v Crews, eastern district, 09-cv-2218. He ruled that the 2008 national convention of the Reform Party in Texas was a valid convention. Therefore, the national officers elected at that convention are the rightful holders of the party’s trademarks and logos. Those officers are: chair David Collison, vice-chair Rodney Martin, secretary Janelle Skinner-Weill, and treasurer Beverly Kennedy.
•  DECISION PDF

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

OREGON MEASURE 65
http://voteyes65.com/

• Ballot Measure 65: Vote “Yes” (Pioneer Log)
• Ballot Measure 65: Vote “No” (Pioneer Log) the primaries under 65 will simply be an earlier general election, and Nov 4 will just be a round two.
• Guest column: Everyone votes under Measure 65 (News Review Today) Every two years, independents (or non-affiliated) voters help pay for the primary election across Oregon, yet are excluded from voting for the candidates on partisan ballots. If the political parties want to exclude people from the ballot, then the political parties should pay for their private primaries themselves.

CAMPAIGN

• As Americans Vote, the World Holds Its Breath (Utne Reader) Every time Obama talked about restoring America’s standing in the world during those debates, that little CNN widget tracking independent voters’ sentiments spiked.
• The Coming Republican Minority (Marc Ambinder/The Atlantic) while an even larger majority of all voters say the RP should move to the "center to win over moderate and independent voters.

NEW YORK POLITICS/INDEPENDENCE PARTY
GOP gets help from Independence Party (Newsday) Records show New York's Republican Senate Campaign Committee gave $230,000 this month to the Independence Party, the state's largest minor party, for its help in trying to keep the Republicans' last power base in state government. NOTE: Frank MacKay is playing a dangerous game of selling independent votes to the highest bidder.


LAST WORD
Who Are You Voting for - and Why? (Washington Post) Check out this Seesmic interactive post!!

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

CAMPAIGN

• Obama's America (Detroit News) We're seeing perhaps the rise of Independent America -- voters who are going blue sometimes, sometimes not, but who are certainly thinking for themselves outside of ideological boxes.
• Growing independent population key to Central Florida, parties say (Daily Commercial) In Sumter, the number of independent voters has increased modestly; they represent about 17 percent of the registered voter share compared to about 14 percent in 2000.
• Early vote very Democratic (THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH) So far, 42,498, or nearly half, of the county's 88,374 registered Republicans have requested to vote by mail versus one in three, or 73,292, of the 210,729 Democrats registered and 92,055, about one in five, of the county's 547,240 unaffiliated voters requested absentee ballots sent to their homes.
• A Primer On Election Demographics (Forbes) This month, based on the conference papers, the Brookings Institution Press published Red, Blue & Purple America: The Future of Election Demographics.
• Economy, war top list for Ohio's key swing voters (Cleveland Plain Dealer) Ohio has 8.3 million voters registered for Nov. 4, a record. The latest figures show 2.3 million registered Democrats (28 percent) and 1.5 million registered Republicans (17 percent). The majority, 4.5 million or 55 percent, are unaffiliated voters, meaning they did not cast a ballot in the most recent primary.
• Why is N.C. up for grabs? Consider the newcomers--Voter registrations are also skewing to Democrats. North Carolinas has registered more than 780,000 new voters this year, 48 percent of them Democrats, 22 percent Republicans and the rest unaffiliated. So far in early voting, which began Oct. 16, more than 700,000 people have gone to the polls – 60 percent Democrats, 24 percent Republicans and the rest unaffiliated. (Charlotte Observer)

INDEPENDENCE PARTY

• Minnesota Independence Party Makes No Endorsement for President (Ballot Access News) This outcome represents a setback for Frank MacKay, state chair of the New York Independence Party.
• No endorsement from Minnesota Independence Party (Minneapolis Star Tribune) Democrat Barack Obama's campaign had pulled out of consideration earlier.

BLOOMBERG/TERM LIMITS
Mayor Michael Bloomberg's '09 run may be on Democrat line for third term (Daily News/Daily Politics) Bloomberg aides have indicated the Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-independent mayor would likely run on a third party line of his own creation in 2009 if the term limits extension he pushed through the City Council last week holds up in court.

CNN False Report on Reform Party Endorsement

I just heard Wolf Blitzer "report" (i.e. apparently READ the AP "report" today) that the "Reform Party" has endorsed John McCain. See Rich Winger's statement on Ballot Access News: Associated Press Story on McCain Endorsement by Reform Party is Misleading The comments on this article, presumably from local Reform Party activists, are pretty vocal about resisting this postision. Here's one: The Reform Party does not endorse McCain for President. The AP should be ashamed of themselves for printing what someone said instead of checking out the facts.

CNN should do a FACT CHECK on their FACT CHECKERS!! Ha ha! One never knows what one is reading in the newspaper, does one???

The report that the Reform Party endorses John McCain is not credible. -- NH

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

MEASURE 65 OPEN PRIMARY

• One measure can change state voting (The Advocate, Mt. Hood Community College) “In Oregon, we have a closed primary system and you have to be a member of a party. (This way) independent voters can be a part of it,” said Campbell.
• Business associations look at ballot measures - Oregon’s four largest business organizations explain their stands on Measures 57, 59, 61, 65 (Daily Journal of Commerce) And Steve Holwerda, board chair of the Portland Business Alliance, solidified the group’s views on Measure 65, which would create an open primary for state elections. The business associations favor the measure because, as Holwerda put it, “good government makes for good business.” “It’s a much-needed reform to the state’s increasingly partisan atmosphere,” he added.

NEW YORK POLITICS/INDEPENDENCE PARTY
Bloomberg Could Be Independent or Independence Candidate (NY Times/City Room) “The disappointment comes from the fact that the mayor has wound up in an alliance with the state chairman,” Ms. Salit said. “And he has spent the bulk of his time trying to disenfranchise the Independence Party membership in New York City.”

BOOK REVIEW
What’s Left of the Old Right (American Conservative) Reclaiming the American Right: The Lost Legacy of the Conservative Movement, Justin Raimondo: The Right became home to ever more ex-Communists, Trotskyites, social democrats, and a myriad of pro-war liberals. Neoconservatism rose in intellectual influence.

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

CAMPAIGN

• Some Democrats worry about race in campaign (Minnesota Public Radio) Ron Walters said he isn't surprised by a poll that says a third of White Democrats and Independent voters harbors some racist views towards African Americans.
• Rock the Vote Poll: Youth Want Obama; No Palin Effect (Jackson Free Press - MS) While Independent voters make up a slim portion of the youth vote this year, Independents are more likely to lean towards Obama than Sen. McCain.
• Morlock: Univ Arizona activists aim to register 5,000 students to vote (Tucson Citizen/Is This Thing On?) In an age where political consultants can distill an electorate down to its elements, young people risk being ignored by not voting.
• Voters express more confidence in Obama than McCain in handling the crisis. (Washington Tribune/The Swamp)
• Obama Seen As Better Able to Address Crisis (Pew Research) voters favor Barack Obama over John McCain as the presidential candidate best able to address the current financial crisis: 47% favor Obama, while 35% choose McCain. Independents prefer Obama over McCain by a margin of 44% to 30%, while Republicans and Democrats line up solidly behind their party nominees.
• Missouri poll: Obama behind (Columbia Tribune) Independents polled in July leaned toward Obama. This time, they leaned toward McCain.
• Poll: Race tight in swing states; Obama up in 3 (By The Associated Press) Quininpiac shows The two contenders run about even with men and independent voters in Wisconsin.
• Mason-Dixon poll: Obama +2 in Fla. (Palm Beach Post) A key difference in the polls: independent voters. Rasmussen had them breaking 56-to-40 for McCain. The Mason-Dixon poll shows them going 47-to-42 for Obama.

THIRD PARTIES
Coalition for October Debate Alternatives to hold Third Party Presidential candidates debate in Nashville, October 6 (CODA press release - Independent Political Report -- Austin Cassidy's Third Party Watch blog)


NEW YORK INDEPENDENCE PARTY State Chair Controversial move to endorse John McCain
Press Release STATEMENT BY NEW YORK CITY COUNTY CHAIRS (Yonkers Insider)

Independence Party of New York Officially Endorses John McCain (Yonkers Tribune) The most interesting thing here are the comments:

• According to this story 85% of the Party Memebers voted for McCain. That is 306,000 people! When did this vote occur? One would think that a third of a MILLION people would be noticed? Posted by: September 22, 2008 at 06:28 PM
• Now he will lose for sure!!! Posted by: New Kid on the block September 22, 2008 at 08:11 PM

Some Straight Talk from Dr. Lenora Fulani for John McCain about Frank MacKay and the NY Independence Party (The Hankster) An open letter

Some Straight Talk from Dr. Lenora Fulani for John McCain about Frank MacKay and the NY Independence Party

Dr. Lenora Fulani, the country's leading black political independent, a developmental psychologist and innovator in the field of supplemental education, and a State Committee member from Manhattan, and a founder of the Independence Party of New York, has written a letter to John McCain warning him about that endorsement by IP State Chair Frank MacKay on Saturday. The letter, printed in full below, states, "In short, MacKay is a charlatan and a bully, who has steered the stateIndependence Party as far away from its roots of independence and reform as is humanly possible."

LENORA B. FULANI
225 Broadway, Suite #2010
New York, NY 10007
Phone: 212-609-2800 Fax: 212-803-1899

September 22, 2008

The Honorable John L. McCain
John McCain 2008
P.O. Box 16118
Arlington, VA 22215

Dear Senator McCain,

I write in response to your endorsement this weekend by the Independence Party of New York. I am a state committee member from Manhattan, I am a founder of the party, and I have been principally responsible for the growth of the IP’s base in New York City’s black and Latino communities.

You may not be aware of the split between the New York City Independence Party and state chairman Frank MacKay. Let me be blunt, Senator McCain, since you believe in straight talk, as do I. For the last three years, Frank MacKay has engaged in a concerted effort to eviscerate democratic decision-making in our party. He has all but eliminated local control in the IP, and has attempted (unsuccessfully) to purge the party’s black, Latino and progressive base and leaders.

The New York City based IP county organizations have been through 17 court battles over MacKay’s attempted rules changes, designed to give himself complete despotic control of the party. We have won 16 of these, including a recent New York State Court of Appeals decision that recognized that the city party has the undeniable authority to decide our nomination for mayor and other citywide offices. I would add here, Senator, that it was the Independence Party’s endorsement of Mike Bloomberg – determined by the local organizations – which put Mike in office. His margin of victory was the votes cast on the IP line.

Even in the face of the Court of Appeals decision, Frank MacKay has continued to try to wreak havoc in the city, most recently showing up in person at county committee meetings to disrupt the proceedings (he had to be ejected by security) and by sending fraudulent mailings and using other intimidation tactics to try to scare Independence Party members – 4,000 of whom joined the county committees – from exercising their democratic rights. In short, MacKay is a charlatan and a bully, who has steered the state Independence Party as far away from its roots of independence and reform as is humanly possible.

Again, in the interest of straight talk, I wanted you to be aware of the dishonorable record that MacKay brings. Millions of New Yorkers, indeed millions of Americans, are turning to independent politics to cure the corruption of our system. Unfortunately, Mr. MacKay has the dubious distinction of having corrupted the anticorruption movement in New York State.

Sincerely,
Dr. Lenora Fulani