You should not have to join a party to exercise your right to vote.

Over 90% of elections are decided during primaries, but because of restrictive elections laws only 10% of people participate.
 
Is it any wonder why Congress has a record low 10% approval rating?

You should not have to join a party to exercise your right to vote.

END PARTISANSHIP!

Utah Policy: Independent Voters Think Congress Doesn't Deserve a Vacation

This in from Utah Policy (where political junkies get their daily fix...) quoting The Hill:

Congress is away from Washington on their Summer recess, but most voters think they don't deserve to take a break.
The Hill highlights a Fox News poll that finds 82% of voters think Congress hasn't "worked hard enough" to take a vacation.

Those numbers hold across party lines. 13% of Republicans and 17% of Democrats think Congress needs time off. Only 10% of independent voters think Congress is deserving of a vacation.

President Obama gets a little more slack for being away from D.C. (read more)

Brandi Martindale: A New Non-Partisan Politic for America

guest post

By Brandi Martindale

Across America, voters are rejecting the political party system. For many, it’s a decision that stems from feelings of disconnect, as the parties spiral into warring factions. Fewer can relate to the political blame-game playing out in the mass media. While leaders point fingers, America grows impatient, and asks, “When is something going to get done?”

The independent movement is a sign that “When?” is “Now!” And rather than wait for the system to serve them, Americans are rejecting it completely, and demanding a new kind of non-partisan politic.

The deadlock between partisan factions - the failure of our national leaders to respond to our voice - may be precisely what America needs to rally us to action. While Washington drags its feet on issues  that are clear-cut to ninety percent of Americans independents mobilize. With the success of the  National Conference of Independents hosted by CUIP last February, the demand for non-partisan solutions is growing faster than ever.

Igniting conversations that remain focused on solutions, the independent movement isgrowing in all directions. The robust non-partisan scientific community offers us strongdata on the cost of cutting social welfare - that one dollar spent on head start programs earns twelve in future economic gains, highlighting where partisan policy falters. The words “Democrat” and “Republican” carry little value when solutions requires facts, and opinions require evidence.

The independent movement grows as constituents call and write to their Congresspeople, unhappy with officials’ behavior in office. Congresspeople are being reminded they are public servants first, and partisan loyalists second. After gun control legislation failed to pass, Harry Reid mentioned bringing it back for another vote, after a seething backlash from the public. The issues we face are neither Democrat, nor Republican - they are American. This unity is understood by the independent movement, and represents the nature of change so many want to see.

After compiling the registration data of nineteen states with closed primary elections, I have put a hard number to the independent movement. That number is thirteen million, fifteen-thousand, two hundred thirty-one. In these nineteen states with closed primaries, twenty-two percent of the voting population have no say in primary election outcomes - the first round of selection- because they do not wish to participate in the political party system. As an American, and as an agent of democracy, I find this fact appalling.

The spirit of the independent movement is strong and simple - disregard allegiance to partisan cronies, and pledge allegiance to our flag, our nation, and our people - all people. This sentiment resonates deeply with every American, regardless of which box they checked at voter registration - which more and more often is ‘other’, ‘unaffiliated’, No Preference”, or simply “I do not wish to join a political party”.

Brandi Martindale is an activist with the NYC Independence Party, and is currently working as a research intern for Columbia University, at independentvoting.org. Brandi is completing her MA in Organizational Social-Psychology this summer, and brings an understanding of organizational structure and group behavior to the conversation of non-partisan politics.

Liveblogging 2012 State of the Union Speech, January 24

Here's a link to a transcript of the President's address from OpEdNews

Unfortunately, President Obama has given short shrift in his SOTU speech to the thousands and millions of Americans who are leaving the two parties. How come?

Party over people will not take us forward.

Back to the grassroots! Organize, organize, organize the unorganized!

NH

10:02: Consolidate Federal bureaucracy... lower the temperature, end the notion that the 2 parties have to battle. "I'm a Democrat" says the President.... quotes Lincoln about role of government (Lincoln was a Repub?) Get rid of regulations that don't work..... govt spending.... 

9:59: Washington is broken (that's cynical) -- debate in Washington over debt crisis... Divide is due to corrosive influence of money in Washington... Limit congressional spending, oversight, etc. Neither party has been blameless, both parties should put an end to it

9:53: Fair values - stop payroll tax to prevent loss of $40 from paycheck...

9:19: Will fight obstruction and the failed policies that brought on this economic crisis... revive manufacturing, etc. Jobs ideas....

9:11: Pres Obama seems to be using the military as an example of competence and responsibility... 

9:10: The President is introduced by Speaker Boehner.

9:07: I'm switching to C-Span.... I'll be looking for any appeal to ordinary nonpartisan independent Americans in President Obama's speech tonight... Michelle O looks great as usual!

9:06: Sawyer: exhausting year of partisanship

9:05: Ok, ABC's Diane Sawyer is not off to a good start already by saying that Dems and Repubs come together tonight.... hmmm..... But I digress....

Election Reform 2012: Virginia Loyalty Oaths, Partisan Redistricting Damage to Democracy, No Confidence in Congress, Rise of Independents

ELECTION REFORM DIGEST
Wednesday, January 4, 2012

VIRGINIA LOYALTY OATH IN PRIMARY

• Va. GOP will require loyalty oath in presidential primary (Andrew Cain, 12/29/11, Richmond Times Dispatch) Anyone who wants to vote must sign a form at the polling place pledging to support the eventual Republican nominee for president. Anyone who refuses to sign will be barred from voting in the primary. During a brief meeting Wednesday at the state Capitol, the State Board of Elections voted 3-0 to approve three forms developed by the election board's staff to implement the loyalty pledge requested by the state GOP.
• Virginia Republicans to require loyalty oath for primary voters (By Ben Pershing, Washington Post/ Virginia Politics) The pledge has no legal weight — voters are free to sign the form and then disregard it if they choose — but it is meant to discourage mischief-making by non-Republicans. Virginians do not register to vote by party, making it possible for Democrats and independents to show up and vote in the Republican contest.

REDISTRICTING

• Partisan redistricting damaging to democracy (LETTER Asbury Park Press) There should be a national election law that makes each congressional district in that state reflect the partisan makeup of that state. If a state has 35 percent Republicans, 25 percent Democrats and 40 percent independents, then that’s how the congressional seats should be determined.
• Lerner: Providing a fair alternative (By SUSAN LERNER, executive director of Common Cause/NY, Newsday) We are excited to work with Newsday to give New Yorkers the chance to participate in the redistricting process, by giving them a starting point to design their own fair, nonpartisan district maps for the Assembly, State Senate and House through the new, interactive UMAPNY website.
• Redistricting battles to continue in new year (By Josh Lederman, The Hill/ Ballot Box) New Jersey came in just under the wire, with a bipartisan panel picking a Republican-drawn map two days before Christmas that will likely pit Reps. Steve Rothman (D) and Scott Garrett (R) against each other. * Democrats in Ohio gave up their challenge in December to a GOP-friendly map that had prompted complaints against both parties. Democrats accused House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) of putting his thumb on the lever, but also faulted national Democrats for failing to intervene and help out in their fight. * And a bloody redistricting tug-of-war in Arizona between Republicans and the state's independent commission seems to have fizzled out after the GOP, led by Gov. Jan Brewer (R-Ariz.), ran out of feasible options for contesting a map that Republicans charge unfairly benefits Democrats.
• Federal judges block West Virginia redistricting (By Steven Allen Adams, Reuters) The panel said in a two-to-one decision that the plan drawn up by the state's Democratic-led legislature, which left West Virginia's three congressional districts virtually unchanged, did not provide equal representation in each district… In West Virginia, the court said the legislature had focused too much on maintaining the status quo rather than making each district as equal in population as possible. It gave the legislature until January 17 to submit an interim plan or said the panel would choose its own plan.

FRUSTRATION WITH CONGRESS

• Frustration with Congress Could Hurt Republican Incumbents - GOP Base Critical of Party's Washington Leadership (Pew Research Center report December 15) Independents, who have expressed great frustration with Washington gridlock over the course of the past year, are particularly critical of the Republican Party. By a 54% to 30% margin they say the Republican Party, not the Democratic Party, is more extreme in its positions, and they are twice as likely to label the Republicans than the Democrats as the less honest and ethical party (42% vs. 21%). Yet independents have few positive things to say about the Democratic Party either. Both parties’ leaders get poor approval ratings from independents (14% approve of GOP leaders in Congress, 23% of Democratic leaders). And when independents are asked which party can best handle the most important problem facing the nation, as many volunteer “neither” as say the Democrats or the Republicans.

RISE OF INDEPENDENTS

• Voters leaving Republican, Democratic parties in droves (By Richard Wolf, USA TODAY) A USA TODAY analysis of state voter registration statistics shows registered Democrats declined in 25 of the 28 states that register voters by party. Republicans dipped in 21 states, while independents increased in 18 states. The trend is acute in states that are key to next year's presidential race. In the eight swing states that register voters by party, Democrats' registration is down by 800,000 and Republicans' by 350,000. Independents have gained 325,000.
• California State Judge Expedites Hearing in Minor Party Lawsuit Against Top-Two System (Ballot Access News) The California Superior Court Judge who is hearing Rubin v Bowen has set a hearing date of February 7, 2012, for Rubin v Bowen, RG11-605-301, Alameda County.

Fred Newman: To Listen and Experience What the Other Experiences

Dr. Fred Newman speaks about listening. Another great direction to Congress. Not that they are listening... Americans are working to create a conversation. It's a simple activity!

Marian Rich: Musings on business leadership and performance -- a word from the wise to our Congress

Good morning, Hanksteristas!

On a personal note, I happened to catch up briefly this morning with my dear friend Marian Rich and I wanted to share a bit of our history with you. Marian and I "came around" together (as we say) to the development community in the mid-eighties. Michael Jackson, compromised/ failing marriages, the end of the left as we knew it... Well, you get the picture!

Marian and I persevered.  That's our trademark.

And I was inspired when I read her latest entry today on her website, I thought that Congress could take a note from Marian. Not that they are listening... But maybe someday, somewhere....

If you haven't already, please do subscribe to Marian Rich Musings on business leadership and performance. I highly recommend this new performance-oriented blog that offers fresh, innovative and practical advice and philosophy about navigating today's world.

Marian -- thanks for all you do!!

To wit>

Marian Rich is President of Career Play, Inc. - executive coach, trainer, researcher, recruiter and performing artist. Grounded in an innovative performance-based approach to human development with over a decade of experience as a retained executive search consultant, Marian has unique experiences in building and growing innovative, out-of-the box organizations. She is an Artistic Associate of the Castillo Theatre, where she regularly performs musical improv comedy with The Proverbial Loons.



Here's her latest:

Improvisational magic

Not surprisingly I am an improvisation advocate.  This week I had a series of conversations with a diverse grouping of executives, friends, and colleagues about various life challenges.  In almost every case I found myself advocating on behalf of the basics of improvisation: 

Say yes

Actively listen

Focus on the ensemble and/or the other

Stay postive

Cooperate

Build and create with others

I've been reading a few articles this week that brought improvisation to mind. One article in the HBR this week -- How to Really Listen by Peter Bregman http://bit.ly/pAiXop -- has much to say about listening that I agree with.  Sadly Bregman leaves out play, performance and improvisation and offers readers a cognitive behavioral approach to developing better listening capabilities.  

One thing that Bergman wrote in this article jumped out at me and it is this simple statement:

Listening, it turns out, is magic. 

I think there is a magic that comes with creating conversation and a key ingredient is active listening. This made me think of the wonderful work that my colleague, Cathy Salit the CEO of Performance of A Lifetime, does with corporate executives.  Cathy is an expert at helping people actively listen and create new conversations.  Here's a wonderful excerpt to an interview Cathy recently gave with Michelle James on her blog, The Fertile Unknown http://bit.ly/pXag1w

What mindsets and behaviors do you see as essential for effectively navigating the new work paradigm?Cathy: Improvise. Perform. Relate to every conversation, meeting, and interaction as an improvisational scene in which you are a performer, writer and director. Break rules and make up new ones — not just in coming up with ideas, but in how we organize what we do together and how we do it in the workplace. Become a creative artist whose medium is everyday life.

We can all become a creative artist "whose medium is everyday life" -- now that's magic!

Obama: 'What folks are fed up with is putting party ahead of country'.

President Obama delivered a very complex message on Jay Leno last night. You can also see more of the segment here...

Take-away for independents is the interference of the parties: 'What folks are fed up with is putting party ahead of country'.

Jackie Salit: Not Enough for Obama to Simply Criticize Congressional Leaders

How Barack Obama Can Be a Non-Partisan President (By JACQUELINE SALIT, SW News Herald - Chicago)

Power politics has a way of erasing the memory of how things happened in the first place. That’s because when institutions come to power, they want the stories about themselves to reinforce their institutional strength. They never like to credit outsider, non-institutional forces, even if the outsiders’ role in a set of events was pivotal.

Both President Obama and the Republican-led Congress seem to be grappling with this very tension in the budget negotiations going on now. Republicans won control of the House in 2010 because independent voters put them there. Obama won the White House in 2008 because independents chose him. Yet the budget negotiations — both in their form and in their content — are thoroughly rooted in a Democrat/Republican reality.

The Republicans want spending cuts. The Democrats want to preserve the safety net. Obama believes that his job is to stitch together a solution that draws from both. Put another way, he’s trying to be the non-partisan president. And no doubt, the president’s advisors hope that independent voters — who decided the last two elections — (actually three, since independents in open primary and caucus states picked Obama over Hillary Clinton) will see him that way.

Maybe they will. Certainly, independents — now 38 percent of the country according to the latest Pew poll — have made it plain enough that they don’t like partisanship, they don’t like ideological dogmatism and they don’t like… well, parties. Even if they vote for them.

Obama would do well, not just to remember that history, but to make it a more visible feature of how he governs. Independents catapulted him — first to the Democratic nomination and then to the White House. When he says that the American people “feel a sense of urgency, both about the breakdown in our political process and also about the situation in our economy,” he can also acknowledge that the American people are doing something about it, namely leaving the Democratic and Republican parties and becoming independents. According to the Pew Research Center, only 23 percent of Americans self-identify as Republicans, down from 25 percent in 2008 and 30 percent in 2004. 35 percent identify as Democrats (the same as 2008) even though the 2008 elections were expected to swell the ranks of Democrats. Independents, now 38 percent, were 32 percent of the electorate in 2008.

For many Independents, it’s not enough for Obama to simply criticize Congressional leaders for their partisan intransigence. He has to show that he’s willing to back certain structural changes in the political process that make such intransigence more difficult. This means taking a stand in support of open primaries in which Independents can vote. And imagine the shock waves that would follow an Obama appointment (in consultation with leaders of the Independent movement) of two Independents to vacant seats on the Federal Election Commission.

Moves like these would show Independents that the president understands the history of recent electoral unrest and that he is ready to stand up for  changes in the process that promote inclusion over party control and partisanship. Over the long term, that’s what Independents are looking for.

Congress Serving Party, Not Country, in Debt Debate

DEBT DEBATE

Debt ceiling struggle exposing dysfunction in the U.S. political system (By John Farmer, The Star-Ledger) Once elected, too many members of Congress feel little or no obligation to serve independent interests — or even what they know is best for the country. They serve the perceived interests of their party’s base — its primary election voters.

Talk Talk: The Rules of the Game

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Below are excerpts from this week's Talk Talk, The Rules of the Game. Every Sunday CUIP's president Jacqueline Salit and strategist and philosopher Fred Newman watch the political talk shows and discuss them. Here are excerpts from their dialogue on Sunday, February 8, 2009 after watching "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer", "Hard with Chris Matthews" and "This Week with George Stephanopoulos".   Salit: Let's put to rest the idea that coming up with an economic stimulus package is going to somehow be less partisan or more elevated or whatever.   Newman: It's just another appropriations bill. That's what it is.   Salit: Exactly. And that's what Congress does. That's what it's empowered and required to do by the Constitution.   Newman: And it has a certain way of doing that. And it has been done in that way for a very long time.   Read Talk Talk in its entirety here.

Ashley Casey wants your vote in Louisiana.

Ashley, from Baton Rouge, and a former aide to top Republicans in the state, is running as an independent. She told the Press Club of Baton Rouge this week that her election would send a forceful message to the major parties about the unpopularity of “business as usual” in Congress."
Please feel free to email me at ashley@ashleycasey.com with any questions!

Conversations on Obama

Guest Voice on The Moderate Voice - Walking Think Tank - has succinct analysis of Obama’s challenge (one he has yet to meet).

But Obama has not been able to weave his critique of Hillary’s Iraq vote into the broader narrative of his campaign – that he is a different kind of politician who can unite the country.

Obama’s challenge is to show he possesses the leadership capacity to move the nation forward while simultaneously exposing Hillary’s greatest vulnerability. His opportunity is to propose legislation that seeks to ensure the nation never again goes to war the way we did in 2003 - a cause that should unite both war supporters and war opponents.

And I would just add that Congress never really had a debate, premature or otherwise, on authorizing force in Iraq because they are too busy jockying for positions within their parties instead of listening to and acting on the wishes of their constituents.

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Kucinich: "One of the greatest hoaxes of this campaign -- everyone's for universal healthcare" (Boston Globe)


• Brookings Institution's "Poverty and Income in 2006" released today, Bloomberg's praise for institute "above partisan politics" (The Nation )


• Fidel Castro: Obama, Clinton are playing cards on Sunday afternoon (The Caucus )


• California redistricting--trying the independent commission way again (Mercury News)


• Congress: what happens after they get elected? Nothing... (Rutland Herald )


• Meet the Citizen Leaders Who Are Changing America-independent "warthogs" (by Newt Gingrich, Human Events)

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Don't discount 3rd party run in '08 (Inside Bay Area)


• The Long Shots Make It Interesting (RealClearPolitics)


• Congressional Approval at 18 Percent (MyFox Washington DC)


• Obama Goes Grass-Roots in New Hampshire (Campaigns & Elections magazine)


• Obama's making a play in Florida (Incertus )


• Obama Says He Can Flip Deep South States. But Can He Really? (TPM Cafe )


• Fulani Wing of NY Independence Party Defeats State Officers in Court (Ballot Access News)


• NYC Independents Win Right to Authorize Candidates to Reside with County Organizations (Redding News Review)

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Amid record-low ratings, Congress goes home for the summer break trying to distance themselves from their beltway partisanship (CQ Politics)
• Do the neo-cons need Karl Rove when they can count on the Democrats? (The Free Press)
• Obama in New Hampshire: "If I go in there alone, I am not going to bring about change, even if I am elected. If we don’t change the dynamics of Congress, then I’ll just be a figurehead, and the same government will function and the same gridlock will reign.’’ (Nashua Telegraph)
• Camden NJ City Council vote s a return to partisan elections (Courier Post)
• South Dakota voters are independent (Argus Leader)
• Florida independents should ignore this advice... (South Florida Sun Sentinel)