Jackie Salit on Fox and Friends Wednesday July 27 at 8:15am ET

Wednesday, July 27th at 8:15 am/ET, catch independentvoting.org's Jackie Salit on "Fox and Friends."

Jackie Salit, a twenty-year veteran of the independent movement, is president of IndependentVoting.org and launched The Neo-Independent magazine in the Spring of 2004. A prominent leader in the fight for open primaries, she conducts regular national conference calls with over 150 grassroots independent leaders from around the country. An independent political strategist and journalist, she managed Michael Bloomberg's independent campaigns for Mayor of New York City in 2001, 2005 and 2010, and has appeared as a commentator on CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC. She produced the documentary "How the Independent Movement Went Left By Going Right" as well as the video "Can Independents Reform America?" Salit lives in New York City. 

Neo-Independent Launches Online Publication

The Neo-Independent Vol. 6, No. 1 (Spring 2011)

EDITOR'S NOTE

What we tend to see as historic are the dramatic, the explosive--as the world bears witness to events unfolding accross North Africa and the Middle East. Historical transformations, however, take (and have taken) other forms--less perceptible in their intensity, with equally uncertain outcomes.

On February 12, 2011, 460 independents from over thirty states gathered in New York City for a national conference entitled “Can Independents Reform America?” Jackie Salit, president of IndependentVoting.org and a national independent political organizer and strategist, gave the keynote address--a detailed analysis of the independent movement over the past twenty years. The presentation was aired several times on C-SPAN. 

The current issue of the The Neo-Independent features an edited version of Salit's analysis--food for thought for anyone interested in better understanding the emerging national independent political movement. Salit's edited presentation is followed by an interview with CNN contributor and political analyst John P. Avlon, a participant at the national conference of independents and a longtime advocate for non-partisan reform.

Enjoy the latest issue of The Neo! I look forward to hearing from you at ohali@uncg.edu.http://theneoindependent.blogspot.com/

The Hankster Welcomes The Neo-Independent to the Independent Online Community

Editor Omar Ali and Publisher Jackie Salit

Congrats to Jackie Salit and Omar Ali, my comrades-in-arms in the independent movement, on the launch of the online version of The Neo-Independent magazine! Hankster readers look forward to following the insight of the leading political insider outsiders in the nation.

EDITOR'S NOTE:
"What we tend to see as historic are the dramatic, the explosive--as the world bears witness to events unfolding accross North Africa and the Middle East. Historical transformations, however, take (and have taken) other forms--less perceptible in their intensity, with equally uncertain outcomes."
—Dr. Omar Ali


The Neo-Independent, Vol. 6, No. 1 (Spring 2011) is now available.

Blogging the World: An Online Stage for Activists (Or Performatory Blogging for Everyone)

On Sunday morning Oct. 5, please join us at Performing the World 2008, an international performance conference in New York City co-hosted by the East Side Institute for Group and Short Term Psychotherapy and the All Stars Project.



Performing the World 2008 (PTW 08) is a three-day "happening" of performances, workshops, panel discussions, lectures, community tours and improvisation. The conference expects to attract more than 500 activists, artists, educators, young people, practitioners and scholars from 30 countries, all of whom are involved in the emergence of performance as a new way of relating to, understanding and changing the world. Performances and presentations will address community, organizational and business development, education, mental health, medicine, poverty, violence, drugs, HIV/AIDS, healing/personal growth and theatre/improvisation, and politics.



In addition to a plenary session not to be missed featuring Fred Newman, the contoversial public philosopher who has guided the progresive independent movement for more than 3 decades and who fashioned the winning black and independent alliance in collaboration with Jackie Salit, the Hankster was invited to present a panel of activists-journalists.



"Blogging the World" will be a thoughtful conversation by some of the stratosblog's most cutting-edge bloggers and alterntive media personalities on the topics of democracy, technology, blogging and community activism.



The Hankster has assembled a visionary panel (see below).



PTW Blogging the World Panel

Session Sunday October 5, 9am-10am

All Stars Project

543 W. 42nd St.

New York, NY 10036



Justin Gardner

Donklephant http://donklephant.com/ (via satellite)

Justin Gardner is the founder and editor of Donklephant, a popular multi-partisan political blog where readers are encouraged to discuss the ideas of the day in a respectful, honest forum. Since launching in July 2005, Donklephant has drawn over 2.5 million page views and boasts a roster of over 20 authors.



Robert Koulish

Koulflo Memo http://koulflo.wordpress.com/tag/koulish/

(Robert twitters at http://twitter.com/koulflo)

Robert Koulish is an Associate Professor of Law and Society at the University of Philadelphia. He blogs at Koulflo Memo, a politically progressive blog that emphasizes immigration, democratic media and electoral politics, as well as the occasional personal experience. Robert also works in experiential and community based teaching and learning, and is co-founder of a youth-based media and education collaborative called co-lab, and a micro-radio coalition called Baltimore Community Radio Coalition.



Jacqueline Salit

CUIP http://independentvoting.org/index.html

Neo Independent http://www.neoindependent.com/

Jacqueline Salit is a 20-year veteran of the independent political movement. Executive editor of THE NEO-INDEPENDENT magazine, a bi-annual journal that covers the independent political movement and the independent voter, Jackie is also the President of the Committee for a Unified Independent Party (http://www.independentvoting.org/), a national 15 year-old think tank giving leadership to grassroots independents. Jackie ran NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg's successful 2001 and 2005 mayoral campaigns on thlaynae Independence Party line, effectively creating a game-changing black and independent alliance that is challenging politics-as-usual.



Lanya Shapiro

Traction http://www.gettraction.org/

Lanya Shapiro is the founder and Executive Director of Traction, a community of young-ish (Gen X&Y) progressives and an innovative civic engagement and leadership development organization. Since 2003, she's immersed herself in progressive grassroots organizing – from the Howard Dean grassroots to consulting with SEIU, EchoDitto, Institute for America's Future, etc. Lanya's background is in public health and social work, and she spent years designing and managing award-winning large-scale health behavior change programs. Traction promotes civic participation using the same social marketing principles – more Malcolm Gladwell than politics as usual. Some say if activism is the drug, Traction is the dealer...



HOST

Nancy Hanks

The Hankster http://grassrootsindependent.blogspot.com/

Nancy Hanks is a long-time activist in independent politics and community-building. She started The Hankster, a blog/news source for independent voters, in April 2006, during the midterm elections when independent voters led a successful anti-war electoral revolution. She is a full-time grant-writer for an international homeless youth program and a volunteer fundraiser for the Committee for a Unified Party. She is on the research staff of the Neo Independent magazine. Nancy has appeared on SIRIUS Satellite Radio's Indie Talk Blog Bunker with Joe Salzone, and on podcast #18 on Skewz.com.

Neo-Independent: Is this the Rainbow We've Been Waiting For?

Spring/Summer Issue of The-Neo Independent is now out.

The only magazine written by and for independent voters.

E D I T O R ’ S N O T E
The culture of the independent movement has not
permeated the American mainstream in the way, for
example, that SpongeBob or Brangelina have. Not
to worry. Avant-garde theatre, music and fashion first
appear in out-of-the-way performance spaces or on
the streets, often taking decades to filter through to
Broadway or Dancing with the Stars. Likewise, the independent movement is creating its own outside-thebox
culture in a variety of venues as we develop into a
mainstream force.

There is probably no more edgy American political/
cultural performance than wearing a tee shirt. We
had some great ones this political season. In South
Dakota, which held one of the final primaries in the
Democratic line-up, independents were barred from
voting but wanted to make a point. Kim Wright of
South Dakota Voice of Independents and family
members put their plight out there in plain English.

And at the start of the primary season, before a single
vote had been cast, independent Lenora Fulani
raised questions about the black political establishment’s
wholesale backing of Hillary Clinton without
a public debate on the Obama option, asking “Who
Decided Hillary is Best for the Black Community?” She
put her question on a bright yellow tee that became a
bestselling item from Harlem to Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Today it’s a collector’s item.

And then there were the awards ceremonies. No red
carpets and flashbulbs, but Robert Sullentrup of
Missouri and Larry Reinsch of Iowa, both co-founders
of Rock the Debates, received Anti-Corruption
Awards at an event sponsored by the Independence
Party of New York City that was packed with independents.
And in the publishing world, launch parties
are a must. We had one for the last issue of the Neo –
where contributing writer Matt Meiners and I posed
for photos with a portrait of our first president.

Hope you enjoy this issue. We independents are
grappling with the best ways to exercise our developing
power and we’re having a good time doing it…

Jacqueline Salit

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Independent voters could tip Maine caucus results (Seacoast online)
• Parties' days numbered? (Montgomery Advertiser)
• Thousands of Ariz. voters switch parties for primary (The Arizona Republic)
• The Neo-Independent (An Ordinary Person)
• Clinton Taps Reiner, Obama Touts Roots in California (Bloomberg.com)
• Democrats’ eyes on prize (The State) “We were attracting independents and some Republicans,” Obama said of rural Nevada voters. “You know, this is the same way that I was able to win the election in Illinois, going to downstate Illinois.”
• McCain Gains, Romney Close Behind (Forbes)
• Rocking the vote (The State) Youth and independents in the Palmetto State
• Voters Not Clamoring for Third-Party Candidacy This Year (Gallup)
• Fate of Idaho's Republican primary still unresolved (Times-News Magic Valley)

New Hampshire Association of Independent Voters To Host Conference October 14th

Presidential Candidates Invited; Kucinich, Gravel Confirmed
Executive Editor of The Neo-Independent magazine Jacqueline Salit will be Featured Speaker

Concord, NH - The New Hampshire Committee for an Independent Voice (NH-CIV), a statewide association of independent voters, will host a conference entitled "Independents' Making our Voices Heard" in Hollis, New Hampshire on Sunday, October 14th, 2007....

Read more on NH INSIDER

What is the relationship between Barack Obama, Abraham Lincoln, Al Sharpton, Lenora Fulani and the independent movement?

These days political “truths” have been turned upside down, in no small part due to independents increased capacity to swing elections. The Neo-Independent magazine’s executive editor Jacqueline Salit weaves together a brilliantly insightful picture of the key players and the strategic choices before them.

Barack Obama: The Real Deal or Just Another Democrat
by Jacqueline Salit

“Barack Obama has good practical arguments for connecting with – even legitimizing – independent voters and the independent movement. But there is also a friction that is not easily overlooked. Independents do not like partisan politics. Obama must persuade them that he is more interested in doing good for the country than he is in empowering the Democratic Party, that he is not just another Democrat but the ‘real deal.’ This is a difficult challenge in a political world where there is no such thing as a ‘real deal’ because everything and everyone in the public square have been molded to maximize the chances of winning.”