Pew Research: Partisan Ideology (A Philosophical Shell Game)

Moderate. Liberal. Conservative. Republican. Democrat. Independent.  With choices like these, who's to say what the Pew Research poll means! What does it mean to say you are a liberal or a conservative? What does it mean to say you are a Republican, Democrat or independent? And what does it mean to derive meaning from polls?

THE PARTIES
More Now See GOP as Very Conservative - Views of Parties' Ideologies (Pew Research) Nearly half of independents (47%) say their political views are moderate, about the same as last year. The remainder tilt conservative, with 33% saying they are either conservative (29%) or very conservative (4%); 17% say their views are either liberal (14%) or very liberal (3%).

Recommended chaser:
Whereas modernist conversation required a grounding in epistemological claims about why we think and feel the way we do when we try to influence each other, Newman and Holzman see that view of language as a kind of "aboutness" and as limiting. In contrast, they propose a view of language as something we perform in relationships, and they take readers beyond John Shotter's position that all meaning-making conversation occurs in a context of justification and argumentation. They suggest, instead, that new meaning is best created in a shared performance of meaning, and they discourage recitations or negotiation of meanings that we bring from our prior forms of "knowing". --  A Review of Fred Newman and Lois Holzman's The End of Knowing, By Tom Strong, Division of Applied Psychology at the University of Calgary

Independent Voters: Centrist or "True Independents"?

h/t to Burr Demming for inspiring this post... (if you haven't checked out burr Demming's blog FairAndUnbalanced, please go now!)

From my vantage point, the distinction between "centrist" and "independent" is the single most important distinction we can make right now. The AP piece, written by Liz Sidoti, calls independents "fickle" and then "warns" Pres. Obama (Liz might have an application in to Fox News?) not to move further to the left "lest they turn off middle-of-the-road voters whose support was critical in 2008 and will be important in upcoming elections..."

Hmmmm.... What's wrong with this picture?

Two words: Partisan politics!

What Liz Sidoti (and her editors at the Associated Press) doesn't understand is that, far from "fickle", independent voters in our country not only HAVE NOT changed their ideology to suit the times (see the recent Pew Research study), they also feel that the "fickle" ones are the politicians (and the journalists who never seem to interview and quote real independents, but who just regurgitate the message that their bosses tell them to.... -- For a more nonpartisan take on current political trends, see independent stratagist Jackie Salit's "How the Independent Movement Went Left by Going Right"--an important analysis of where the independent movement came from, where it is, and where it might be going...)

Ideology is dead. Long live activity!! As Mother Jones said, Don't mourn, organize!

TODAY'S NEW HEADLINES for INDEPENDPENT VOTERS: Transition to Nonpartisanship

• David Plouffe acknowledges independent voters as critical to Obama leadership
  
• Minnesota Independent voters are least likely to want a new election in the Star Tribune
  
• The founding fathers sought to avoid where party loyalty sometimes obscures a sense of the greater good. Well, how's that going?
  
• Wilderness years for the GOP, The Hill's John Del Cecato wonders how independents figure
  
• Rush Limbaugh has become a pimple on the GOP, or not... at least it's selling newspapers... 
  
• Karen Harper down south thinks the Repubs need independents...
  
• David Frum informs us that independents have a  negative view of Limbaugh by a 45-22 margin.
  
• Repubs attack Obama at the risk of alienating independent voters...
  

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

NOTE: Today's News Headlines for Independent Voters was not published on Friday or Saturday due to technical problems with my Hewlett Packard Pavilion laptop. Let's hope it's fixed....

LOCAL NEWS OF INTEREST

• Obama volunteers meet to plan next step (By Tim Tresslar, Dayton Daily News) The house meeting was one of several scheduled this weekend locally, and more than 4,200 nationwide, at the behest of Obama's transition team.
  
• Partisans, bean counters and atheists (BY JOHN LAIRD, COLUMBIAN OPINION EDITOR) Partisan extremists will have to cool their heels in 2009, at least when it comes to local politics. Odd-numbered years are when Clark County voters elect people to nonpartisan offices on city councils, port districts, fire districts, school boards and other entities.
  
• Working Families Party Has Major Goals (By MARK PAZNIOKAS | The Hartford Courant) On Election Day last month, the Working Families Party provided the margin of victory for three Democratic challengers who won what had been Republican seats in the state House
  
• Dems' enthusiasm continues after election (By Sheena Mcfarland, The Salt Lake Tribune) Young voters across the country helped President-elect Barack Obama take the White House.  Matt Lyon, president of Young Democrats of Utah says, "We had this whole new group of people who were able to connect to local issues and who realized they wanted to stay involved after the elections."

NEW YORK POLITICS/INDEPENDENCE PARTY

Why Bloomberg's third attempt will be a mess (Adam Lisberg, NY Daily News) Bloomberg twice ran on the line of the Independence Party, but it is riven by a nasty internal battle featuring the controversial Lenora Fulani.

RE: Urgent about that Sarah Palin stuff that's circulating among the liberal networks

RE: Urgent‏: A message from my colleague in my Southern Homeland:
FR: Your Hankster
:-)

Hey guys. I would like to challenge the direction of a well-meaning colleague of mine re: Sarah Palin....

Here's what I think:

We the American people are well within shouting-distance of the election of the first African American President in US history.

How did that happen?

"That's some hard work, Bob!"

Thanks to a 30-40 year grassroots organizing effort that started in the poor communities of New York (which you have been a part of), a powerful political alliance is emerging in the country between black and independent voters.

Thanks to the endless 40-year, day-after-day, year-after-year, smart, grassroots, anti-machine campaigns of ordinary people here in New York, led by my colleagues Fred Newman, Jackie Salit and many many other activists, voters and candidates all over the country, we the American people are poised to lead the country in a new direction.

Let us celebrate our maturity as a people! Yes, WE can do this!

Let's not be petty and partisan about Sarah Palin! Don't detract from this wonderful moment in American history!

I personally salute Gov. Palin for her patriotism, her bravery, and her many strengths as a spokesperson for her causes. Gov. Palin is certainly a "force to be reckoned with." Cudos! And, as far as I understand, she's definitely qualified to be Vice President of the US.

I strongly disagree with Gov. Palin's views on most issues. AND, I also feel that Sarah Palin is being demonized and I do not support this one ioata. Nada. Zippo. Zilch.

We (Americans) have so much to give the world. English Colony. Slave labor. 1776. Revolution. George Washington. Abolish slavery. Abraham Lincoln. Transformation. 1928 Crash. Rich Guy Roosevelt + compromise with Communist Party. 1960s JFK/Pres. Johnson. Vietnam. 1969.

American politics is also rife with demonization. That's how American elections are won.

THAT'S THE PROBLEM.

In my humble opinion, WE NEED TO END PARTISAN DEMONIZATION!

I would urge us in the final days of our 2008 historical presidential election to keep our eyes on the un-prize -- DEMOCRACY -- not DEMONIZATION.

We don't need to be negative. The politics of "pick this one because if you don't, you'll get this one" smacks of an old-time politic/religion.

Feministically speaking, the fact is that "we" (women) don't need any of "them" (men). It goes without saying that "they" (men) need us. BUT let's move BEYOND THE WHOLE "us" and "them" world.

Can't we create something new??? Designers of the world unite! Feminism is the new independence. OR: Women of the world unite -- if not socialism, then what the hell, let's try humanism.

Hanks

Keep on keepin' on....

Nancy Hanks The Hankster
http://grassrootsindependent.blogspot.com/
718-752-0442 (h)
646-567-6641 (c)

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

OREGON MEASURE 65

• Measure 65 debated (John Sowell, News Review Today) It would allow independent voters — those who don’t belong to a political party — the chance to vote in a primary. Plus, it would allow nonaffiliated candidates to run in the primary, rather than waiting until the general election, as is the case now.
• Oregon Ballot Measures 2008: Your Choice is Your Own (Salem-News.com) MEASURE 65: Changes general election nomination processes for major/minor party, independent candidates for most partisan offices. Yes Vote: Candidates from all parties (not just Democrat and Republican) run in a single primary; the top two primary candidates compete in the general election. Open primaries would have an impact on the two party system, giving all voters in primary elections a chance to vote for an individual rather than being restricted to those candidates in their own party. (Note: Washington State just held their first-ever open primary.)
• Measure 65 (Jeff Alworth, BlueOregon) Here's the fascinating thing about this initiative: it has very strong progressive support on both sides.

CAMPAIGN

• Less than 2 weeks to go, polls say Collins, Obama take state (Kennebec Portland Press Herald) Independent voters went for Obama over McCain by 65 percent to 45 percent, the poll found. The margin of error for those figures is higher -- about 8.5 percent -- because the sample size is smaller. Still, Murphy said the margin is significant, because 37 percent of Maine voters are independents.
• The Race Goes to 11 -- Powell Helps with Indies (Washington Post/The Trail) Two in 10 independent voters said they are more inclined to vote for Obama because of Powell's backing; 4 percent said they were nudged the other way.
• Carl Leubsdorf: McCain blew it by steering off course (Dallas Morning News) By going that way, Mr. McCain may have sacrificed his single biggest advantage over his GOP primary rivals – his appeal to independents.
• FOX News Poll: Obama Leads McCain, 49% to 40% (FOXNews.com) Obama's advantage comes mainly from independents, and from the fact that more voters identify themselves as Democrats these days and almost all of them back their party's nominee. Eighty-eight percent of Democrats support Obama, and 83 percent of Republicans back McCain. Independents break 44 percent to 35 percent in Obama's favor.
• Chester County: Pennsylvania’s very own ‘swing state’ (PolitickerPA.com) And in the end, the victor will likely be decided by the county's 48,000 independent voters, who more than make up the difference between Democratic and Republican registrants.
• The Chomsky Sessions: Noam Chomsky on the World (uprisingradio.org) Chomsky suggested voting against McCain and for Obama in battleground states, but without illusions about Obama’s slogans of “change.”
• Florida Focus Group: Independents Break For Obama And Are Anti-Palin (JOE GANDELMAN, The Moderate Voice) What’s striking (and ironic) is that McCain’s political brand has been forged by his stature with independents — and it’s what always made him the strongest Republican to run in this cycle. Conversely, McCain is doing very well with the GOP base in the poll. He’s winning handily among evangelicals, small town/rural voters, and folks in the South.

NEW YORK POLITICS

• New York City Council May Suspend Term Limits on October 23 (Ballot Access News)
• City Council to vote on term limits bill (Newsday)

A case for national open primaries

This country is past due for open primaries, something to remove the stranglehold Democrats and Republicans have on the American voter. Until we are allowed to vote for the best candidate, no matter the party, nothing will change. The rich, Democrats and Republicans alike, will get richer, the welfare rolls will continue to swell, and the average middle-class American will have to foot the bill for it all.... (Letter to Clarion Ledger by Mike Walker of Brandon