Cathy L. Stewart Hosts Jackie Salit and Mickey Edwards at Politics for the People Event April 27

 

Jackie Salit is president of IndependentVoting.org, the country's leading strategy and organizing center for independents.  She ran all three of Michael Bloomberg's campaigns on the Independence Party line, and is the author of the forthcoming book Independents Rising which explores how independents are not only deciding elections, but reshaping the political landscape. 

  

Mickey Edwards is the Director of the Aspen Institute Rodel Fellowships in Public Leadership and was a  member of Congress from Oklahoma from 1977 to 1992.  He has written critically about the partisanship embedded in both our electoral system and in Congress itself, issues he explores in his upcoming book The Parties vs. the People. 


        The Parties vs. The People  

Friday, April 27, 2012

6:30pm 

 

Baruch College

William and Anita Newman Conference Center

151 East 25th Street, 7th Floor

Manhattan

to Register:  Click here

Train: 6 Train to 23rd Street

For more information, please call (212) 962-1699   

or visit www.ipnyc.org

Independent Women Favor Obama Over Romney

US News & World Report
By Brian William Greene April 4, 2012
Some very good news for President Obama today out of a new USA Today/Gallup poll: Independent voters in 12 key swing states prefer him to Mitt Romney. The poll surveyed independent voters in toss up states such as Colorado, Nevada, North Carolina and Virginia, and shows Obama ahead by nine points over Romney with 48 percent of the vote.....

Harry Kresky: Independents to Minor Parties: Don't Fight Us; Join Us

California's minor parties -- Green, Libertarian and Peace & Freedom -- have brought their third lawsuit, Rubin v Bowen, seeking to overturn Proposition 14, the referendum by which the non-partisan "top-two" primary system was adopted in June, 2010. The core issue being raised is federal in nature, that their constitutional right to have a ballot line in the general election has been infringed.

Read more at Huffington Post

Buena Suerte

Trayvon Martin and Staff Sgt. Bales: Can't America Even Just Say We Were Wrong?

I was dreaming/thinking the other day that the President spoke out about Trayvon Martin

The right question is "how could this happen, why, who really did what? etc.

The wrong question might be WTF? Can't we do better than this in America in 2012? This is a terrible thing. Can't we even just say that?

confusion

Third Party Longings, Independent Candidates, and Political Reform

Buddy Roemer Eyes Presidency - NPR interview on his main focus - campaign finance and the corrupting power of money in politics. Roemer is seeking the Americans Elect line.

The Atlantic: America has not seen a long-lasting national third-party movement in its history, and it won't be seeing one now. [Hey guys, what about the Republican Party?]

Rapid City MI: She said people she encountered on the campaign trail told her they were “sick of party politics,” leading her to switch to an independent run.

Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher announced today that he is dropping his Republican party preference and running as an independent for Mayor in San Diego.

The Proposition 14 experiment in political engineering is debuting this election season. The constitutional amendment, approved by voters in 2010, transforms June primaries, traditionally partisan affairs of the heart, into brainy contests that tap the top two contestants, regardless of party, to square off in November.

"You MUST Declare a Party! You MUST Delcare a Party!"

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Cynthia Dill has launched an online petition aimed at pressuring Independent candidate Angus King to declare whether he would caucus with Democrats or Republicans if elected in November.

From a Letter to the Naples News: Thus, the unwillingness of Independents to register with a political party would seem to result from an indecision regarding the support of socialism for the benefit of some or capitalism for the benefit of the many.

Currently, neither the Oklahoma Democratic Party nor the Oklahoma Republican Party allows Independent voters to participate in primary elections. 

Linda Killian: The Swing Vote and the Rise of Independent Voters

Killian is an intelligent writer who makes her points cogently and concisely. The Swing Vote is recommended reading for anyone interested in politics, and the role of centrists and independents in changing the political dynamic.

Independents are a the largest bloc of voters and they're growing. In her new book, journalist Linda Killian seeks to paint a portrait of this exceedingly important group in four swing states including New Hampshire. She talks about the frustrations these voters have with their elected officials, what they want to see from the political system, and what they can do to fix it.

"I like my independent status. I think voting for just one party is a betrayal of my civic duty." [But NPR doesn't believe in independents...]

New York Redistricting Mess Changes Little

New York will have two different primary dates for state legislative and congressional primaries. A judge has moved the congressional primary to June 26. While the Democrat-controlled Assembly favors moving the legislative primary to June 26 as well, the Republican-controlled Senate prefers to keep the primary on September 11, so as not to disrupt the legislative calendar.

And P.S. - check out the Atlantic's article on Mayor Mike Bloomberg's health agenda...

Hankster First Read: Colorado Open Records Act Goes to Senate

CORA [Colorado Open Records Act] black-out bill goes to senate (Center Post Dispatch) Despite concerns voiced by election activists, a Senate committee passed a bi-partisan bill last Wednesday that will black out Colorado elections, preventing reporters and concerned citizens from viewing voted ballots and election records during the two-month election cycle... Election integrity activists Marilyn Marks of Pitkin County, Harvie Branscomb of Eagle County, Joe Richey and Mary Eberle of Boulder County, Kathleen Curry of Gunnison County and others also testified against the bill.  


INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Make independent voting easier  and Independents don't want partisan candidates:  Independents speak out about the election process in letters to the editor, while American Prospect puts its head in the sand...
• Linda Killian, Independent Rock Star! Maine Festival of the Book: Read on! (By Bob Keyes, Press Herald) With Snowe's announcement, Cecil found herself with a hot topic and a timely talking point for the festival. On Saturday, former U.S. Rep. Tom Allen and Washington political insider Linda Killian will present a panel discussion, "Politics Today: Swing and Independent Voters, Party Divides and Ideological Convictions."

OPEN PRIMARIES
Keep open primaries in S.C. (Post and Courier - SC) The hard-core party faithful might approve of legislation to require party registration in primary elections, since eliminating open primaries could strenghten their influence over the outcome. But it would remove a moderating influence that South Carolina needs as it elects its leaders.


WFP AND ALL THINGS NEW YORK

• Working Families Party raises for Hakeem Jeffries against Towns, citing CAFTA and Issa (By Reid Pillifant, CAPITAL NEW YORK)
• Pension and redistricting dominate the Albany conversation (By STEPHON JOHNSON, Amsterdam News)
• Boro pols slam new district lines - Accuse Gov. Cuomo of retreating on promise to veto (by Anna Gustafson, Senior Editor, Queens Chronicle) Some good government groups, including Citizens Union and the League of Women Voters, have praised the constitutional amendment, though Citizens Union has emphasized it did not support the 2012 lines as drawn. "Given the long standing resistance to enacting redistricting reform, and the high stakes involved, we applaud them in finding common ground on an issue that is at the core of political power in Albany and results in the legislature giving up power in the drawing of lines," Citizens Union said in a prepared statement.
  

PARTY-ISM
Have "outside" interested PR men hijacked the Republican Party? Kevin Baker explores the outsourcing of the body and soul of the Repubs...

EDUCATION
Eva Moskowitz expands Success Charter Schools network into middle-class Manhattan and Brooklyn neighborhoods.


INDEPENDENT CULTURE
Charles E. Rogers, Amsterdam News, sez: Trust me you, your family and friends don’t want to miss the Castillo Theater’s fantastic “Sally and Tom (The American Way).”
   Full disclosure: The Hankster is a very big BIG fan of the Castillo Theatre and I could not agree more with Charles Rogers -- trust us, you do NOT want to miss this show -- and the run has been extended, so you get another chance. Watch for new dates in April/May

you've been framed!

Ruy May Rue the Day He Dismissed Independent Voters - And Their Bond With African Americans

INDEPENDENTVOTING.ORG NETWORKS

• Ruy the Day! A Review of Ruy Teixeira's Review of The Swing Vote: The Untapped Power of Independents by Linda Killian (by Jacqueline Salit, Huffington Post) Wow! For a man (actually, make that a MAN) who has devoted his political career to resuscitating a Democratic Party governing majority (he co-wrote The Emerging Democratic Majority in 2002), you would think he'd be a little more cautious about denouncing independents. Otherwise, his hoped for majority may get another slam, as it did in 2010 when independents expressed their disappointment and frustration with President Obama's inability to conquer the partisanship in Washington, including the partisanship of his own party. Ruy might rue the day he tried to tear down Killian and the volatile movement-in-the-making she writes about.
• LINDA KILLIAN OUTBREAK: The Uses of Polarization (By THOMAS B. EDSALL, NY Times/ The Opinion Pages/ Campaign Stops) At the same time, the percentage of the electorate that can accurately be described as independent — without partisan allegiance — has shrunk to about 7 percent, according to Ruy Teixeira of the Brookings Institution. While the importance of such voters has diminished, in a closely balanced contest these relatively uninvolved men and women have the power to determine the outcome: in the 12 presidential elections from 1964 to 2008, four – 1968, 1976, 2000 and 2004 – have been decided by 2.5 percentage points or less.
• Historic Bond Ties African-Americans and Independents Together (LETTER The Hankster, by Bob Friedman, PHOTOS online) Last week I joined Rev. Al Sharpton and the National Action Network on the march from Selma to Montgomery. I am one of the 40% of Americans who are independent of both of the major parties. Back in the days of Ross Perot, the media called guys like me "angry white men." Along the route, I spoke with many people and brought greetings from Dr. Lenora Fulani, the country’s leading African American independent with whom I’ve worked closely and from IndependentVoting.org, the country’s largest organization of independent voters of which I’m a part.
• YOUR VIEW: Independent voters disfranchised in many states because of parties (Bob Friedman, Letters from our readers By Letters from our readers, Alabama.com) I want to respond to and applaud the Your Views letter "Alabama's closed primary infringes on voters' rights" in the March 10 Birmingham News by sharing the following. I couldn't agree more that since we pay for the primaries, they should be nonpartisan, more like "top two" as they have in California.
• The black vote: 5 states where Obama needs a big African-American turnout (By Perry Bacon Jr.,The Grio) President Obama's campaign will likely need the kind of strong black turnout he received in 2008 to win re-election, particularly if some of the white independent voters who backed him four years ago opt for the Republican candidate because of frustration over the president's tenure.

Independents, Swing Voters, and Open Primaries

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Swing voters: Diverse, misunderstood and crucial in 2012 - Far from a uniform band of centrists, swing voters include anti-corporate pacifists, tea party activists and many shades of political gray in between. (By David Lauter, Washington Bureau, LA Times)
• Kill the American Primary to Save American Politics: Ezra Klein (By Ezra Klein, Bloomberg.com)
• Independents Will Decide the 2012 Election - Here are three ways Obama and Romney can woo them. (Nick Gillespie, reason.com) If independent voters are the key to the presidency, what are the keys to independent voters? In its summary of 2011 attitudes toward government and political parties, Gallup concluded that the surge in independents stems from the “sluggish economy, record levels of distrust in government, and unfavorable views of both parties.” Indeed, a “historic” 81 percent of Americans overall are “dissatisfied with the way the nation is being governed” and 53 percent of us have negative views of the Republican Party and 55 percent of us have negative views of the Democratic Party. NOTE:  LOTS OF LINKS HERE

California Top Two Shaking Up Partisanship

CALIFORNIA TOP TWO

• Primary debuts changes that could give voters fits -  New top-two method gives voters choices. (By John Ellis - The Fresno Bee) Voters "may be a little shocked when they see how many people are running for U.S. Senate," said Gail Pellerin, the Santa Cruz County clerk and president of the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials. "It's definitely new and something different."
• California candidates set to battle in new political landscape - The changed primary system and new legislative and congressional districts will probably yield intraparty fights and a lack of third-party hopefuls on the fall ballot. More contested seats are possible too. (By Jean Merl, Los Angeles Times)
• Viewpoints: 'Top two' primary: What will it really do? (By Peter Schrag, Special to The Bee) The redrawn 26th now has a narrow Democratic registration advantage, which raised the hopes of Democrats that they could capture a seat long held by the GOP. But now three Democrats are in the race against state Sen. Tony Strickland, a Republican, and a county supervisor named Linda Parks, who changed her registration from Republican to independent. If the Democrats, among them Assembly member Julia Brownley, the Democrats' anointed choice, all stay in the race, they could easily divide the Democratic majority's votes and put Parks and Strickland in the November runoff.
• Final Brief Filed in 9th Circuit in Lawsuit on Two Particular Aspects of California Top-Two System (Ballot Access News) This reply brief, filed by opponents of Proposition 14, points out that when backers of Proposition 14 intended to place the idea on the ballot as an initiative in 2009, their draft did permit use of the ballot label “independent.”

Angus King Rides Again! Olympia Snowe's Seat Contended by Independent Run

MAINE SENATE RACE

• Maine GOP out to subvert independent King Ex-governor in Senate bid called closet Democrat (By Sean Lengell, The Washington Times) “I’ve seen some people say [Mr. King‘s] inevitable, and I wouldn’t go that far, because the Republicans have some relatively attractive people” running, University of Maine political science professor Mark Brewer said.
• Snowe’s Resignation Leaves a Vacuum at Senate’s Center (By Albert R. Hunt, Bloomberg.com) She parcels out bipartisan blame. For President Barack Obama, who came into office vowing to end Washington’s toxic partisanship, “everything went awry from the outset.”
• Angus King, Former Maine Independent Governor, Reshapes U.S. Senate Race Angus King Maine Senate (By Ros Krasny, Huffington Post) Snowe's decision in February not to seek re-election set off a scramble among potential candidates and complicated the Republican effort to wrest control of the Senate from Democrats in November's elections.

Courts Step In On Stalled Partisan-Legislative-Driven New York Redistricting Process

NEW YORK REDISTRICTING

• Common Cause reacts to new congressional maps (Chris Morris, Adirondack Daily Enterprise) "The map is a stark departure from the Legislature's gerrymandered version to produce a far better result, demonstrating beyond a shadow of a doubt, that there is in fact no practical impediment to drawing fair maps, only a political one," Lerner said.
• 2016 Frontrunners Diverge on Redistricting (By Joshua Miller, Roll Call) “There will be national electeds who remember that he, at the height of his power, had the ability to step in and get a map done [for Democrats] and didn’t,” one New York Democratic operative said with more than a touch of frustration.
• Court Finalizes New York's Congressional Districts  (By Jill Colvin, DNAinfo Reporter/Producer) The judges' map rejected a proposal for a new majority Latino district in Upper Manhattan, the Bronx and Queens, meaning that State Sen. Adriano Espaillat will be likely pitted against long-time Harlem leader, Rep. Charles Rangel instead of running in a separate contest.
• Congressman Grimm Praises New York's Redistricting Process (By: NY1 News Staten Island) The Brooklyn and Staten Island representative calls the process a home run for his district, saying the new lines make it slightly stronger on the Republican side.
  
• Gov. Cuomo Succumbs (NY Times Editorial) Despite repeated promises that he would veto gerrymandered districts drawn by legislators, the governor broke that vow and quietly signed the law that will allow unfair legislative elections in New York for the next 10 years. By approving the Legislature's districts, he has now made it far more difficult for the courts to revise these defective maps. 
• In 'The New York Times,' Cuomo's redistricting commission loses its independence (By Azi Paybarah, Capital NY) In a video message to New Yorkers that Cuomo posted online yesterday, the governor essentially claimed victory on five different fronts, including pensions, teacher evaluations, casino legalization and the expansion of a DNA database.
• Cuomo on the sequel to the bad old redistricting movie (By Josh Benson, Capital NY) Cuomo: "And ultimately, the legislators drew their own lines once again. And it was all legal, provided for in our constitution. If I had vetoed the lines this year, as some suggested, a court would have passed them. And from past experience, I believe the lines would have been substantially the same."
• Cuomo amendment ends Albany gerrymandering as we know it - Future districts to be drawn by commission, not lawmakers (NEW YORK DAILY NEWS) The same pols who downsized Gov. Cuomo’s pension reforms were even more incorrigible when it came to gerrymandering. Cuomo joined government watchdogs in rightly pushing for an independent panel to set district lines based on the 2010 census — to prevent legislative bosses from shamefully manipulating the mapmaking for partisan gain. But Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos turned deaf ears — conspiring behind closed doors to draw the ugliest, most gerrymandered and unequal districts Albany has ever seen, especially for the Senate. The saving grace is that Cuomo leveraged his veto threat to win a permanent, landmark fix for this badly broken process.

NEW YORK SENATE

• Dems & WFP For Gilly; Conservatives For Long (BY Celeste Katz, Daily News/ Daily Politics) Gillibrand will also appear on the WFP line -- Row D -- in the November contest, and previously picked up the endorsement of the Independence Party.
  
  
   

Historic Bond Ties African-Americans and Independents Together

The Historic Bond that Ties African-Americans and Independents Together
By Bob Friedman

Last week I joined Rev. Al Sharpton and the National Action Network on the march from Selma to Montgomery. I am one of the 40% of Americans who are independent of both of the major parties. Back in the days of Ross Perot, the media called guys like me "angry white men."


Along the route, I spoke with many people and brought greetings from Dr. Lenora Fulani, the country’s leading African American independent with whom I’ve worked closely and from IndependentVoting.org, the country’s largest organization of independent voters of which I’m a part.

I have been an independent activist concerned with voters’ rights for many years. In Birmingham, as chair of the Petitioners Alliance, I helped lead the first citywide Initiative & Referendum movement. With Senator Hank Sanders, one of the sponsors of this historic march, I wrote legislation to open access to the Alabama ballot. And with Rep. Demetrius Newton, I designed legislation for proportional democratic selection of presidential electors. As independents, we fight for reforms that not only protect the right to vote. They increase the power of the vote.

For this march, I was proud to have fellow independents Mark Bodenhausen and Lorna Lindsey join me for the historic bridge crossing in Selma. Lorna had never been to a major demonstration before. We added our voices to the call for an end to voter ID laws that suppress the full participation of all our citizens. Independents have experienced disenfranchisement ourselves. We know that when partisan interests wave a flag about so-called voter fraud in an election year, you can pretty much count on the fact that they’re doing it for partisan reasons, not to protect our democracy.

Partisanship is destroying our democracy and making our government incapable of moving our country forward. I far from alone in this concern. Right now, our Congress has a 97% disapproval rating. Most Americans look at Congress and see how partisan its behavior is and feel angry that our government is not working for them.

We need to broaden participation in our democracy, not narrow it. We need to make sure that no American is turned away from the polls because they don’t have the right ID. And that means photo ID, State ID and political ID. In 26 states, independents are prevented from voting in primaries, not because they don’t have an ID, but because they don’t belong to a party! That’s just wrong.

There is an historic bond that ties African Americans and independents together. That bond is based on our shared belief that our democracy must work for everyone, not just the powerful, not just the parties—but for the people!

Bob Friedman
Birmingham, AL 
205-701-2799

college of the city of new york

I'm An Independent - Can I Vote in Super Tuesday's Republican Primary?

Alaska - Open Primary: Parties select who may vote in their primaries. To vote in the GOP primary, a voter must be registered as a Republican 30 days before Election Day.

Georgia - Open: No party affiliation required at registration. However, on Election Day, voters must declare an oath of intent to affiliate with the particular party for whom they are voting on Election Day.

Idaho - Closed: Until 2011, all Idaho primaries were open. Independents intervened in a lawsuit brought by a faction of the Republican Party seeking to close their primaries. However, the GOP obtained a declaratory judgment that mandating open primaries violated freedom of association and was thus unconstitutional in Idaho Republican Party v. Ysura. Subsequently, the legislature passed a bill allowing parties to choose which type of primary they use. Democrats have chosen a semi-closed primary; unaffiliated voters may register a party at the polls on election day, but they are bound to that party affiliation at the next election.

Massachusetts - Semi-Closed: Affiliated voters must vote in the primary of their party; however, unaffiliated voters may vote in either primary.

North Dakota - Closed: The only state without voter registration. To vote in the Republican caucus you must have affiliated with the Republican Party in the last general election or intend to do so in the next election.

Ohio - Closed: Voters' right to vote in the primary may be challenged on the basis that they are not affiliated with the party for whom they are voting in the primary.

Oklahoma - Closed: Only voters affiliated with a particular party may vote in its primary.

Tennessee - Open: No party affiliation required at registration. 

Vermont - Open: No registration by party. For presidential primary, voters must declare which ballots they want.

Virginia - Open: No party affiliation required at registration.

source: FairVote

A Twisted Tale of Partisan Politics

A Twisted Tale of Partisan Politics

by Harry Kresky

Huffington Post
Posted: 03/ 2/2012 5:34 pm

A strange case in Tennessee got my attention. Now it's before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, as the judges consider whether a political party has the right to overturn the results of a primary election conducted entirely in accordance with state law.

Here's the background. Rosalind Kurita ran for re-election to the State Senate in 2008 and beat her opponent Tim Barnes by 19 votes in the Democratic Party primary. Candidate Barnes challenged the result on the grounds that Kurita won because many Republicans and independents participated in the election. But Tennessee, along with some 17 other states, does not have partisan registration. There, voters are just voters, and all are allowed to choose the primary they wish to vote in. So, if they're were not registered into a party in the first place and cast their vote legally, on what grounds were those who voted for Candidate Kurita judged to be Republicans and independents? Shouldn't their votes count the same as those who voted for Candidate Barnes?

In Tennessee, disputed primary elections are referred to the political party whose nomination the candidates seek. Here the matter was "adjudicated" by the Executive Committee of the State Democratic Party under rules adopted after the challenge was filed by Barnes. The "rules" articulated no standard by which the issue was to be determined. The Committee made no specific findings, but voided the election on the grounds that the results were "incurably uncertain." The Party then gave the nomination to Barnes.

Kurita claimed that she was denied due process and unconstitutionally deprived of the election she had won. The trial court rejected her claim on the grounds that the Tennessee Democratic Party was a private organization that did not have to accord due process and, further, that she has had no legally protected interest in the results of the primary election she had won. The decision did not address the rights of the persons who voted for her, or their being deprived of their choice of candidates in a state run and state financed primary. (Apparently, the Tennessee Democratic Party was angry at Kurita because she had supported a Republican for election to the State Senate speaker office the year before she ran for re-election.)

Kurita, like Alice in Wonderland, has fallen into the rabbit's hole of partisan American politics. The parties run the government; they write the laws by which the citizens of their states must finance and conduct primary elections. And when the outcome of an election is not to the party's liking, it can overturn it on any grounds, or no grounds whatsoever, under a set of rules that are adopted for just that purpose.

To add to the madness, the Tennessee Democratic Party rested its right to ignore the will of the voters who participated in the primary election to choose its candidates, on the Party's (not the voters') First Amendment right of freedom of association. Is it any wonder that our elected officials place the rights of their party over the rights of the voters and the interests of the State or country? If they do otherwise, they jeopardize their chance for re-election, the wishes of their constituents voters notwithstanding?

This twisted tale sheds light on why so many Americans don't bother to vote and why a plurality of them have become independents.

Harry Kresky, a New York City attorney in private practice, is counsel to IndependentVoting.org - a national association of independents with organization in 40 states. He is one of the country's leading election attorneys and has represented independent voters, candidates and parties for the past 30 years. He currently represents independent voters in a precedent-setting case in U.S. District Court defending open primaries in Idaho. Kresky recently teamed with attorneys from the law firm of Holland and Knight to prevent the destruction of historic St. Brigid’s Church in lower Manhattan. 

Independent Voters: Youth Turn Away From Party Identification (Rolling Stone)

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Percentage of independent voters climbs in Mass. (Boston Globe) The latest figures released by Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin’s office shows the number of voters not enrolled in any party — so-called “independent voters’’ — has topped 52 percent. That’s up from 2004, when slightly less than half of all Massachusetts voters were independent.
• Independent voters see beyond ideology (LETTER Syracuse NY Post Standard) The Independents are not likely to present a third-party candidate, so the decision will be between the Democrats and the Republicans. That is not to say independent voters are immune to right or left tendencies, but that they can see beyond the party ideologies to the rational arguments presented.
• Letter: Non-Partisan System is Open and Fair, and it Works (Scarsdale Press) I write in response to numerous attacks on the Scarsdale Non-Partisan System by Harry Reynolds, an independent candidate for Trustee in the election on March 20… The fact is that, because of the time-tested and proven system of fair, honest, and responsive government under the Non-Partisan System, Scarsdale has been largely free of the partisan sniping and character assassination that is typical of most partisan electoral systems in this country.
• Why Democrats Have a Problem with Young Voters (By Rick Perlstein, Rolling Stone/ Politics) The turn away from party identification has been a long-term American trend: According to Gallup, 40 percent of Americans don't consider themselves members of a political party, compared to 36 percent in 2002 and 33 percent in 1988. But that trend has been all the more accelerated among young people — and even more so among young progressives.

Campaign Finance Reform - Not a Good Picture

Campaign finance reform as conceived by the 2 major parties won't reform American politics. It's partisan through and through and -- how would you take the money out of politics when we live in a capitalist society?

CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM

The New York Times' Disingenuous Campaign Against Citizens United (By Wendy Kaminer, The Atlantic) Like Fox News, The New York Times has a First Amendment right to spread misinformation about important public issues, and it is exercising that right in its campaign against the Citizens United ruling. In news stories, as well as columns, it has repeatedly mischaracterized Citizens United, explicitly or implicitly blaming it for allowing unlimited "super PAC" contributions from mega-rich individuals. In fact, Citizens United enabled corporations and unions to use general treasury funds for independent political expenditures; it did not expand or address the longstanding, individual rights of the rich to support independent groups. And, as recent reports have made clear, individual donors, not corporations, are the primary funders of super PACs.

Americans Elect Progress in North Carolina and Among Dems

AMERICANS ELECT

• 3rd party nearly on N.C. ballot - Americans Elect will pick its nonpartisan candidate online. (By Jim Morrill, Charlotte Observer) A state elections official says Americans Elect appears to have the required signatures to get on the November ballot alongside President Barack Obama and the Republican and Libertarian nominees. The state could certify them in early March.
• Prominent Democrat Endorses Third-Party Group (By MICHAEL D. SHEAR, NY Times/ The Caucus) “The country is going to really be in deep trouble if we don’t act soon,” Mr. Boren, who is now president of the University of Oklahoma, said in an interview with The Caucus. “I think this is really a cry from many of us who are really concerned for the future of the country.”
• Third-Party Group Wants Internet to Pick Presidential Candidate: Americans Elect, backed by $5 million from the head of a private investment firm, wants to shake up the two-party system (Rebekah Metzler U.S. News & World Report in Chicago Tribune) "There's really only been one successful third party, and that was the Republican party that came about in the wake and collapse of the old Whig party over the issue of slavery," Smith says. "Good government is not really the kind of an issue that is going to motivate people to drop long-standing ties to the party of their birth, so to speak, and take up with another party that isn't really a party."

Libertarians Looking for Tactics in 2012

LIBERTARIANS

• Nick Gillespie Talking Election 2012, Independent Voters, with Jon Caldara of Independence Institute (Nick Gillespie, Reason.com) The awesome Independence Institute in Denver, Colorado invited me out west last week to debate Ann Coulter about whether libertarians and conservatives could and should work together to defeat liberals such as Barack Obama.
• Gary Johnson and the possibilities of a third-party candidacy (Jim Galloway, Atlanta Journal Constitution/ Political Insider) Truth be told, the better third-party bet was in Athens this weekend, attending the state Libertarian party convention. Gary Johnson is yet another former governor – this time from New Mexico – who failed to scratch in the Republican contest. But when Libertarians have their national gathering in Las Vegas in May, Johnson is likely to emerge as the party’s candidate – just as Bob Barr did four years ago. Johnson left the GOP contest in December. Again, not that many noticed.

Political Theater: Sally & Tom (The American Way) Reviewed by Black Star News

POLITICAL THEATER
Sally and Tom at the Castillo (By Deardra Shuler, Black Star News) Given Jefferson’s anti-slavery position he would be delighted to see a black man as President and perhaps disappointed to see although President Obama expressed “change,” little has changed, given the unbridled hatred, disrespect, hostility, and disgusting behavior demonstrated by many members of Jefferson’s own race toward the presidency of Barack Obama.

Harlem's Hottest Cultural Happening: Interviews by a Black Independent -- Dr. Lenora Fulani to Host New Schomburg Center Director Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad Friday

Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad will be Dr. Fulani's guest at this month's Interview by a Black Independent. Dr. Muhammad is the new Director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. He is a prize winning author. In a recent NY 1 profile , Cheryl Wills had this to say about Dr. Muhammad: "A former professor of history at Indiana University, Muhammad recently authored "The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime and The Making of Modern Urban America." He says he is ready to take the Center into the digital age and is eager to enlist the next generation to help him achieve his goal to keep history relevant." Please join Dr. Fulani for a lively conversation with Dr. Muhammad on Friday, February 24th at 6pm.

 To RSVP, please call 212.962.1699

Friday February 24th, 6pm

Harlem State Office Building

163 W. 125th Street, Second Floor

For the first time in living memory -- independent voters will play a major role in all of California's elections

Independents will be key to upcoming California elections (Jason Olson LETTER Sac Bee) In 2012 -- for the first time in living memory -- independent voters will play a major role in all of California's elections.

Re "Democrats go at GOP, each other" (Capitol & California, Feb. 13): In 2012 -- for the first time in living memory -- independent voters will play a major role in all of California's elections.

Thanks to open primaries and redistricting reform passed by voters in previous elections, all candidates now must run against each other in an open field, where all voters can participate. To get elected, candidates now need to win the support of independent voters. Independent voters have no intention of giving that support away for free.

Independents are deeply concerned about a political dialogue dominated by what's best for the parties rather than what's best for the American people. Independents want critical reforms to our political process to shift that balance of power away from the parties and towards the voters. Candidates looking to win their elections should take note of the independent movement for nonpartisan reform.

-- Jason Olson, San Francisco

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/02/16/4268925/independents-key-to-upcoming-elections.html#storylink=cpy

New York Legislators Say No to Independent Redistricting

INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING
Lawmakers Pledge to Reform, But Gerrymandering Keeps Getting Worse (by John Avlon, Daily Beast) In New York, 186 state legislators swore to support non-partisan redistricting efforts when they ran for office in the angry, anti-incumbent year of 2010. Most came down with convenient amnesia when they got back to Albany. The brinksmanship has continued despite promises by Governor Andrew Cuomo to veto nakedly partisan district lines and the efforts of good government group coalitions like ReShapeNY (on which, full disclosure, I serve on the advisory board.) Not only are New York’s redistricting maps still not set, initial glimpses have shown the same old partisan games, with potential rivals drawn out into different districts by incumbents seeking to preserve their power at almost any cost. Mediators and judges are now looming over the legislative impasse. One key dynamic to watch is whether a deal is struck that would at least try to move a state constitutional change forward to create an independent commission in ten years’ time. The principle of short-term self-interest predictably outpaces ethics or honor. New York is one of only two states in the nation to have not yet even voted on lines that will be on the ballot this fall.

National Black Touring Circuit's Black History Month Presents "I, Barbara Jordan"

POLITICAL THEATER
National Black Touring Circuit's Black History Month Play Festival to Present I, BARBARA JORDAN (Broadway World)
The National Black Touring Circuit’s Black History Month Play Festival will present “I, Barbara Jordan,” a dynamic look at the first African American woman from the South to be elected to Congress, at the National Black Theatre, 2031 Fifth Avenue from February 24-26.

“I, Barbara Jordan,” which stars Toni SeaWright, is directed by Woodie King and written by Celeste Bedford Walker.

On Saturday, February 25, psychologist and political activist Dr. Lenora Fulani will have a presentation on Jordan.

Third Party Candidate? We Need Independent Voices

THIRD PARTY

• A Third Voice for 2012 (By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN, NY Times) I know what I’d pay good money to see: an intelligent independent candidate just taking part in the presidential debates, because it would make both Obama and his Republican opponent better. One independent I’d like to see play that role is David Walker.
• We Need More Independent-Minded Voters (David M. Walker, Former Comptroller General of the United States; Author, 'Comeback America'; Huffington Post) I was honored and humbled that syndicated columnist Tom Friedman this week suggested I consider running for president, putting me forward as a third choice to voters. But our need is bigger than for me -- or any other third-party candidate. And his column taps into a need that goes far beyond my work on fiscal responsibility and government transformation. Every day, I talk with people around the nation who take their vote seriously enough to not align themselves with one particular party. They are the new independent-minded voter. And we need more of them.
• The Radical Center We Don't Need (Robert Kuttner, Co-founder and co-editor, 'The American Prospect'; Huffington Post) We already have a centrist party. It's called the Democrats. Obama's Democrats are to the right of Richard Nixon on most domestic economic issues. If Democrats had not joined Republicans in financial deregulation, we never would have had the economic collapse of 2008.
• The Third-Party Myth (By Josh Kraushaar, National Journal/ 2012 Decoded) But in reality, third-parties only thrive when there's a political vacuum to be filled. Despite being a nominal independent, Bloomberg's views aren't much different than your average Democrat. Walker's stand on entitlement reform is embraced by many of the leading Republican pols, led by House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan.
• What makes a strong third-party candidate? (By Jonathan Bernstein, Washington Post/ PostPartisan) Near as I can tell, every third-party presidential candidate who took 5 percent or more of the vote was reasonably well known before the campaign (Anderson became well known in losing the nomination). That’s not to say that Walker or Goode couldn’t possibly “succeed” in some way, but neither of them really fits the profile of past successful third-party candidates. The truth is that the way it really works most of the time is someone with a big ego and the resources to make it happen decides to run and probably then fills in whichever issues seem to resonate. Starting with the issues is pretty much getting the whole thing backward. If you want to push some set of issues, try to get a major party candidate to adopt them. It’s a lot easier.

"Sally and Tom (The American Way)" Opens at Castillo Theatre Featuring IndependentVoting.org's Jacqueline Salit as James Madison

POLITICAL THEATER

• Different Stages "Sally and Tom (The American Way)" opens at the Castillo Theatre Feb17 (By Charles E. Rogers, Amsterdam News) With beautiful music by Grammy-nominated songwriter Annie Roboff, this dramatic musical follows Hemings and Jefferson's love affair over a quarter century as it becomes a scandal in the press, produces five children and forces Hemings to confront the relative privileges of her life and the injustices of slavery.
• Musical about Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings Comes to Castillo Theatre, 2/17-3/25  (Broadway World) Fred Newman, who passed away in July, wrote the book and lyrics of Sally and Tom, which was originally produced at the Castillo Theatre in 1995. Newman served as Castillo’s artistic director and playwright-in-residence for 16 years and wrote 44 politically engaged, experimental plays and musicals. He shaped the Castillo Theatre from its founding in 1984 into a unique kind of political theatre—progressive without being partisan, artistically and philosophically demanding while being inclusive of diverse audiences.

Musical Drama Explores Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings'
American Story of Love, Slavery and Compromise


Jacqueline Salit, the president of IndependentVoting.org, long a player in New York City and national politics, is currently playing on a different stage - at the Castillo Theatre on 42nd Street, where she's appearing as Founding Father James Madison in a revival of Fred Newman and Annie Roboff's political musical, Sally and Tom (The American Way).

Running at the Castillo Theatre for six weeks from February 17 through March 25, Sally and Tom (The American Way) examines the 30-year relationship between Thomas Jefferson and his slave Sally Hemings, a relationship that produced five children and embodies the wrenching conflict between democracy and slavery,and its legacy of racism that continues to shape America to this day.

In this polarizing presidential election year, with the meaning of "the American way" itself being hotly contested, Salit makes her acting debut in a play that examines the extreme power struggles and ugly campaigning that shaped our nation's course in the early years of the Republic. In an ironic twist, Salit - a political independent who is outspoken against party control of American politics - plays the author of the Constitution, a man who deeply opposed political parties but ultimately founded one.

Salit has a 30-year history in independent and insurgent politics. She managed Mayor Michael Bloomberg's three successful campaigns on the Independence Party line and was a key strategist in the effort to bring non-partisan election reform to New York City. Her book, Independents Rising, published by Palgrave Macmillan, will be in stores in August. "This is a totally new experience," Salit says of her role as a Founding Father. "I've performed as 'myself' at political gatherings and on TV. But it's very different to be playing someone else - a man, at that - who lived over 200 years ago. In this production, Madison is both a man of his time and can look back at his - and the country's - inhuman compromises. Performing the part hits me very hard every time we do the show." Salit shares the role with veteran actor and director David Nackman. The dates of the performances in which Salit will appear can be supplied.

Under the direction of Gabrielle L. Kurlander, the play is performed on three stages in its own surreal "history museum." The audience is seated throughout the performance space and among the exhibits, and is encouraged to interact with the conflicted history of our nation.

In addition to Salit and Nackman, the cast for Sally and Tom (The American Way) features Ava Jenkins and Adam Kemmerer in the title roles, as well as Sean Patrick Gibbons and Brian D. Hills. Musical direction is by David Belmont with Michael Walsh, choreography by Lonné Moretton; sets by Joseph Spirito and costumes by Emilie Charlotte Knoerzer.

The Castillo Theatre (Dan Friedman, artistic director, Diane Stiles, managing director) is located at 543 West 42nd Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:00 p.m. February 17 through March 25. Tickets are $35 for adults, $10 for students and seniors. Group rates are available. Tickets can be purchased through the Castillo Box Office at 212-941-1234 or at www.castillo.org.

SALLY AND TOM (THE AMERICAN WAY)
Book & Lyrics by Fred Newman
Music by Annie Roboff
Directed by Gabrielle L. Kurlander

Castillo Theatre
543 West 42nd Street (between 10th and 11th Avenues)

2012: Polls Show Indies Boost Obama Lead in General Election; Americans Elect Still in Wings

2012

• Santorum Up 9 Points Among Republican Voters, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Obama Edges Santorum, But Romney Is Too Close To Call (Quinnipiac) Although this is Quinnipiac University's first national poll this year, all of the numerous surveys of key states this year, including Florida, Ohio and Virginia, show Romney doing better against Obama than Santorum. In this national poll, the president benefits from his 46 - 41 percent lead over Romney and 49 - 39 percent margin over Santorum among independent voters.
• Third party option? - Americans Elect’s Elliot Ackerman and No Labels’ Mark McKinnon discuss the demand for a third party candidate and the possibility of a viable, non-partisan or bipartisan option in November. (VIDEO and TRANSCRIPT - Chuck Todd interviews, msnbc/ The Daily Rundown) McKinnon: >> well, it starts with leadership. it will relate to policy. it's highly unlikely that whoever is on the ticket will talk about policy that goes to simpson-boles idea. it seems obvious to everyone out there we need more revenue and entitlement reforms. we're talking about unity in the sense that we have to work towards solutions. once that happens at the presidential level, everybody else in the senate n the congress is saying if it's getting that reaction i better look at what's happening at my seat.
• Analysis: Obama pitches middle while GOP eyes base (CBS News) "I think the president ended up looking like the responsible person in the room," said Lanae Erickson of the Democratic-leaning group Third Way, which has studied independent voting trends. "The Republican primary candidates went way out on a limb and will alienate themselves with independent voters," she said.
• Not Too Late for Americans Elect to Win 2012 Presidential Election (by Douglas Schoen, Daily Beast) When Barack Obama and Mitt Romney’s names were used explicitly, support for an independent was still at 25 percent, as one-quarter said they would vote for “an alternative unity ticket with a Democrat and a Republican as president and vice president,” while the rest of the respondents were split evenly. Support for the two major candidates moved up to 37 percent for Obama and 38 percent for Romney, only a very modest 12- or 13-point lead over an unnamed, independent challenger.
• Obama Leads in General Election Matchup (Pew Research, from Santorum Catches Romney in GOP Race - Obama Leads Both in General Election Matchups) Over the course of the campaign, Romney’s image among independent voters has suffered substantially. Most notably, the number who believe he is honest and trustworthy has fallen from 53% to 41%, while the number who say he is not has risen from 32% to 45%.
• Independent voters are rejecting Romney (By John Avlon, CNN) A new CNN/ORC International poll finds that 53% of independents have an unfavorable view of Romney, compared with 44% last month. It has potentially huge implications extending into the fall. Remember that independents are the largest and fastest-growing segment of the electorate -- reaching an unprecedented 40% in the most recent Gallup Poll.
• 51% - Independents Help Obama Build Lead Over Romney (Pew Research) Barack Obama now holds an eight-point lead over Mitt Romney in a hypothetical general election matchup, and he has gained significant ground among independent voters. A month ago, 40% of independents said they would back Obama over Romney – today, 51% say so. The percentage of independents on Team Romney has slipped from 50% to 42% in the last month.

Arizona Independents Advocate Top Two Open Primary System

Arizona Independents eyeing Open Elections/Open Government Act (by Damon Eris, IVN) “We’re actually projecting that independents will outnumber both Republicans and Democrats [in Arizona] by November,” said Ted Downing of Independent Voting in a recent report for KTAR news.

Read more about Arizona Open Elections/Open Government here: Open Elections/Open Government
will fundamentally change and reform our election process by implementing an open primary system where the top two vote getters, regardless of political party, will advance to a run-off election.

This will encourage more qualified and independent-minded candidates to seek elected office – candidates guided by common sense instead of extreme ideology from either side of the political spectrum. Even more important, Open Elections/Open Government will open our election process up to more VOTERS.

South Dakota House Bill 1182 Unfair to Independent Candidates

Why are counties not in planning districts? (LETTER Rapid City Journal by Kim Wright, South Dakota Voice of Independents, Rapid City)
House Bill 1182 unfair to independent candidates
House Bill 1182 seeks to revise the filing deadline for the nomination of certain independent candidates. The proposed revision reduces the timeline for independent candidates to circulate nomination petitions for public office.

When Rep. Mark Kirkeby introduced this bill in the House State Affairs Committee, he explained that there is a growing number of South Dakota voters registering as Independent. This is a national trend.
Currently the percent of registered independent voters exceeds the percent of voters registered with either of the major parties.

When asked his rationale for introducing this bill limiting the time frame for independent candidates to collect signatures, secure campaign resources and engage voters, Rep. Kirkeby responded that it was an issue of “fairness.”

I did not have an opportunity to ask for clarification of “fair.” If considering the concept of fairness, I would ask Rep. Kirkeby: Is it fair that Independent candidates must collect considerably more signatures than their major party opponents in order to seek public office? How fair is it that registered Independent voters are denied the right to vote in primary elections?

I would suggest that the rationale for HB 1182 is much more about maintaining political party control than about equitable opportunities.

Kim Wright, South Dakota Voice of Independents
Rapid City

Dr. Omar H. Ali op-ed The Free Lance-Star

Movements to the Mountaintop
History as Collective Failure: Lessons from the Black populists
Omar H. Ali
February 19, 2012
GREENSBORO, N.C.--Famously, George Washington lost almost every major battle during the American Revolution, yet he won the war. His final victory at Yorktown is embraced as an example of individual perseverance in the face of overwhelming odds.

In our winner-take-all culture, we tend to glorify the winners, emphasizing the individual--from historical figures, such as Washington, to contemporary figures, such as Oprah Winfrey or Barack Obama. We learn about them as individuals who "make it"--on their own, through extraordinary acts, with vision, and a little bit of luck. The formula: They struggled, they failed, but pressed on until they won (glory, money, the war, the vote, the presidency).

But what if in history there is no such thing as "the individual" or "winning"?What if there is only the seamless process of collective creation--no victory (no defeat), only what people do together? Back stories--the ones you don't usually hear--can teach us about collective creativity, about the fleeting nature of winning and about the production of history of many people doing mostly ordinary, but sometimes, extraordinary things together.

What most of us learn about "black history" entails the people and/or movements that succeeded in making political changes--notably, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement. But what about those who didn't make it to the mountaintop? What about the dreams that remain unfulfilled and the movements that failed?

Black populism, the movement of black farmers, sharecroppers, and agrarian workers from 1886 to 1900, was such a movement. It sought, but was not able to make, the economic and political reforms that were so desperately needed by a generation of Southern African-Americans coming out of slavery. Black populism was also the largest independent black political movement in the region before the modern civil rights movement. Read more ...

Omar H. Ali is associate professor of African-American history at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and author of "In the Lion's Mouth: Black Populism in the New South, 1886-1900" (University Press of Mississippi, 2010).

Oscar Internet Voting Plan Smeared With Gumbel Gunk

Andrew Gumbel, the ghost writer for Amanda Knox’s ex-boyfriend’s forthcoming Authentic Autobiography, has had his recent attacks on the Oscar Internet voting plan featured in The Guardian and reprinted in the LA Times as an “original” Op Ed.

He says The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was duped into accepting an Internet voting system for the vote on the Oscars in 2013. In the ghost writer’s opinion, a trustworthy Internet voting system is impossible to achieve with current technology. As “proof” he cites a list of anti-Internet voting extremists, including Ron Rivest and Alex Halderman (who are well known for having bullied West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant in a public forum on Internet voting.)

Leaning on Rivest, Halderman, David Dill, and a couple of others, Gumbel writes, “Computer security experts have warned [of] … cyber attacks that could falsify the outcome but remain undetected.” Well, that is one scary story! Imagine - Anonymous hacks into Oscar’s computer and votes for Bollywood’s Rakhi Sawant in every category, and nobody knows it was him! That would truly be a disaster!

But has anything like that ever really happened?

The answer is a big NO! Internet voting has been conducted in Norway, Switzerland, India, Canada, and here in the US in several places, including West Virginia. In every case, technical and political experts, including officials and the public, were satisfied that there were no undetected Leprechauns who snuck in and changed everyone’s vote.

As if that isn’t gunk enough, Gumbel then reveals that he told “the Academy's chief operating officer, Ric Robertson, … of the near-total unanimity of computer experts [that Internet voting was insecure].” He says Mr. Robertson was shocked at the news.

Only one little problem with Gumbel’s report. In every successful Internet voting event, there were dozens of experts who worked on the project, and who knew it could be done. So, no "unanimity" there.

Come on Mr. Gumbel; stop throwing your gunk at Oscar!

For more on Gumbel’s gunk go to Oscar Hit w/ Gumbel Gunk

William J. Kelleher, Ph.D.
Twitter: wjkno1
Email: Internetvoting@gmail.com

Independent Registration Up in California and Montana

• STATE: Partisan trenches (THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE - Riverside CA) New voter registration totals from the secretary of state once again show that the large political parties hold a shrinking share of the electorate, while the number of independent voters continues to grow. Democrats now compose 43.6 percent of the state’s more than 17 million registered voters, while Republicans make up 30.4 percent of voters. But 21.2 percent of registered voters — more than one in five — now identify with no political party.
• Rise of registered Republicans on the Treasure Coast (WPEC - CBS 12 - St. Lucie FL) Many Independent voters are now registering Republican. Voters tell us it's happening so they can weigh in on such an important presidential primary.
• Poll results show Rehberg-Tester Senate race in virtual tie (By ROB CHANEY of the Missoulian) Republicans made up 28 percent of the Montana poll respondents, while 24 percent declared themselves Democrats. A surprising 46 percent said they were "independent or something else," which was the highest total among the mountain states and far above the national average. Utah was the next closest independent state (35 percent), while only 13 percent of Wyoming residents called themselves that.

Linda Killian Speaks With Independents at Cathy Stewart's Politics for the People

INDEPENDENT VOTERS
4 Types of Independent Voters Who Could Swing the 2012 Elections (By Linda Killian, The Atlantic) They have come to meet Kathleen Curry, their state representative who in 2010 was running for re-election to the legislature as an independent write-in candidate, a serious uphill battle. Bruce Christensen, the mayor of Glenwood Springs, is an independent and a Curry supporter. He's lived in this town for more than 30 years, been an independent for all of that time, and been mayor for the last five. "The way you govern is you build consensus. You meet in the middle and everybody gives a little and you get something done."

Linda Killian spoke at Cathy Stewart's Politics for the People forum last month

Americans Elect - 350,000 delegates

AMERICANS ELECT
Americans Elect is not a Third Party, It’s a Second Nominating Process (By Darry Sragow - Americans Elect advisor, Attorney, Democratic strategist and USC professor, Fox & Hounds Daily) Rank-and-file American voters have never had so much power in nominating a presidential candidate. Already more than 350,000 people have signed up as Americans Elect delegates, and millions more have signed petitions to get us on the ballot in their states. With their participation we’ll pick a president, not a party.

The Ron Paul - Mitt Romney Connection

2012

• Ron Paul’s Long Game (By Jonathan Chait, New York Magazine/ Daily Intel) Paul’s game is to trade his supporters for a seat at the Republican table.
• For Romney and Paul, a strategic alliance between establishment and outsider (By Amy Gardner, Washington Post) The Romney-Paul alliance is more than a curious connection. It is a strategic partnership: for Paul, an opportunity to gain a seat at the table if his long-shot bid for the presidency fails; for Romney, a chance to gain support from one of the most vibrant subgroups within the Republican Party.

New York Partisan Redistricting Fight Continues

NEW YORK REDISTRICTING

Reform defeated; so now what? - Most proponents of independent redistricting stop short of ‘no’ vote (Queens Chronicle) The new lines would set Queens Democrats Mike Gianaris (D-Astoria) and Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst) against each other, as well as Toby Ann Stavisky (D-Whitestone) and Tony Avella (D-Bayside).

Lady Rosa of Luxembourg

MoMA Sanja Iveković: Lady Rosa of Luxembourg

Declaration of Independents (North Carolina to Arizona and All Points In Between)

INDEPENDENTVOTING.ORG NETWORKS

• DECLARATION OF THE INDEPENDENTS (By Omar H. Ali and Donna Moser, News Observer) The widely-discussed yet continually misunderstood "independent voter" is neither ideologically driven nor a closet partisan (be it Democrat nor Republican). We are not "swing voters,"' nor are we "moderates." Rather, we come from across the political spectrum and the one thing we agree upon is the need to minimize partisan control over the political process.
• The Impact of Independent Voters (WUNC) Host Frank Stasio talks with three of the event’s participants: Omar Ali, associate professor of African-American Studies and History at UNC-Greensboro; Donna Moser, co-founder of North Carolina Independents; and Brittany Rodman, a young, registered independent voter.
• Will Open Primaries Shake Up Politics in Arizona? (Pamela Powers Hannley, Huffington Post) Open primaries -- where all candidates regardless of party affiliation are listed on one ballot -- would give voters, rather than political parties, a greater voice in government, says Ted Downing, Ph.D., research professor of social development in the Arizona Research Laboratories at the University of Arizona and one of the initiative's architects.
• Will Arizona's GOP Self-Destruct? (By Terry Greene Sterling, Daily Beast) The Arizona GOP already has a set of challenges that it hasn’t faced before. Herstam notes that an energetic petition drive for open primaries is underway. If it gathers enough signatures in the next five months, it will show up on the November ballot. If passed, the open primary system will likely unseat extremists now in the Arizona legislature. Expect both parties to oppose it.
• Arizona Top-Two Initiative Has Collected 100,000 Signatures So Far (Ballot Access News) It is believed that California multi-millionaire Charles Munger, Jr., is providing much of the financial backing for the initiative, so there seems little doubt that it will qualify.

Florida Primary: Where Are the Independents?

Note: It's too bad that Rob Richie and FairVote.org support closed partisan primaries. This position goes against the increasing ranks of independent voters who want and need to have a say in the first round of voting.

FLORIDA PRIMARY

• Romney sweeps most groups in Florida vote (By Tom Curry, msnbc.com National Affairs Writer) But in Florida, 18 percent of the electorate Tuesday called themselves independents. Romney won 41 percent of them, while Gingrich won 27 percent.
• From msnbc exit poll:
  No matter how you voted today, do you usually think of yourself as a:
  Category     Gingrich     Paul     Romney     Santorum     % Total
  Democrat     -     -     -     -     2
  Republican     33     5     48     13     80
  Independent or something else     27     16     41     15     18
• Independent voters vital to general election win in Sunshine State (Written by John McCarthy, FLORIDA TODAY)
• Florida should adopt open primary system (Written by Francis J. Merceret, LETTER Florida Today) Florida should adopt open primaries such as New Hampshire recently held. If the parties don’t like that, they can fund private elections or hold party-funded caucuses, as is done in Iowa or other states.
• Florida's closed primary system coming under fire (By Jim Ash Special to Treasure Coast Newspapers) "I would like the parties to have a closed nominating system, but we don't want the taxpayers to have to pay for them," FairVote. Org executive director Rob Richie said.

Open Primaries, Up or Down? Missouri, New Mexico, Tennessee

OPEN PRIMARIES

• Lawmaker Wants to Put Squeeze on Open Primaries (by Joe White, Nashville Public Radio) State Senator Stacy Campfield, a Knoxville Republican, has filed a bill to make cross-over voting more difficult.
• Editorial: Let All N.M. Voters Vote (By Albuquerque Journal Editorial Board) Almost 200,000 New Mexicans who have taken the trouble to register to vote have decided not to declare an affiliation with a political party. And every primary Election Day, those almost 200,000 New Mexicans are told not to trouble themselves by casting a ballot.
• Mo. Primary Election Looms (by Don Corrigan, Webster Kirkwood Times) The argument against the open primary in Missouri is that it allows pachyderms to vote on the donkeys' ballots and vice versa. Although I consider myself an Independent, I have upset some of my GOP buddies when I've told them that I've participated in their pachyderm primaries. I think open primaries make sense.

ROMNEY'$ unconditional guarantee!