EXTRA Conversations on Independence

The Moderate Voice was among several blogs today to feature the May Rasmussen poll showing the decline in party identifiers. Independents Rising--Sort Of by Chris Bowers on MyDD shows the long-term independent voter registration figures from 1961 to 2004 rising from 1.6 to 21.7%. Chris also shows the decline in third party registration. American Taíno (nice blog, by the way) tells us that "Fifty-eight percent (58%) of American adults say it would be good for the United States to have a truly competitive third political party."

A new political reality in America (or is that one of the "original" American realities?) is that most people don't like political parties. I don't think the 58% figure contradicts this. Given the dismal record of our political parties (corruption, coersion, control), it's no wonder we're not so hot on the party structure as a way of representing US. But if there was another party that could take on the Big Guys, we love a good fight. That's what happened in 1860. Tragically, that played out in a costly Civil War in this country. Will it ever happen again? Maybe. I suspect the "lives" lost will be more like the political "jobs" lost, as in a patronage system that is so deep we can't begin to imagine. In the meantime, check out a national network of independent voters who are not counting on a party structure, or the Big Shots, to carry the ball to the finish line.....