CA Independent Voter Organization Endorses Post-Partisan Candidates

“Top Two” Open Primary System Allowing New Coalitions Between Voters & Candidates

Proclaiming that California voters now have the tools to take on a government broken by partisanship, IndependentVoice.Org, a statewide association of independent voters,  announced its “Post Partisan” Candidate Endorsements. 
 

The group endorsed candidates Abel Maldonado (Republican, 24^th Congressional District), Marc Levine (Democrat, 10^th Assembly District), Bill Bloomfield (No Party Preference, 33^rd Congressional District), and Chad Walsh (No Party Preference, 28^th Assembly District). The candidates were selected based on their demonstrated support for political reforms that empower independent voters – referred to as “No Party Preference” in California – like the “top-two” open primary and redistricting reform. 
 

“For the first time in over a decade, independent voters will have a real voice in state and congressional races,” said Jason Olson, the Director of IndependentVoice.Org. “Independent voters believe that government mostly does what’s best for the political parties, and not the people. Independents strongly support the kind of democracy reforms needed to return power to the voters. We're proud to stand with candidates who want to work with independents to lead us beyond destructive partisanship and move the country forward.”

The 2012 election marks the debut of the open “top two” primary system and new districts drawn by a citizens commission instead of the State Legislature. Rather than running in party primaries, all candidates ran in a non-partisan voter primary in June. All voters were able to participate and vote for any candidate regardless of party, with the top two candidates moving on to a “run-off style” November election. IndependentVoice.Org was a key proponent of the successful redistricting reform and “top two” open primary measures passed by California voters. 
 

IndependentVoice.Org is part of the national independent movement pushing for similar reforms around the country, including in Arizona where this fall voters will have the opportunity to pass a “top two” open primary system.

Independent voters have been the fastest growing segment of the electorate in California over the past several decades. The most recent report by the Secretary of State puts the total number of “No Party Preference” voters at just over 3.6 million voters, or 21.28% of all registered voters.

Candidates Endorsed:

• Abel Maldonado, a Republican who formerly served as Lt. Governor and a State Legislator, is running in the 24th Congressional District in Santa Barbara County. Maldonado has a long record of working with both Republicans and Democrats to achieve meaningful reform.  Most notably, he led the effort to reform the state’s broken worker’s compensation system and worked with the IndependentVoice.org to successfully reform elections in California by putting the “top two” open primary on the 2010 ballot.  “The problem with government is Republicans attack Democrats and Democrats attack Republicans, all-the-while the people’s problems just get worse”, said Maldonado.  “I fought for the ‘top two’ open primary because we need to change the behavior of our politicians and that begins with changing the way they are elected.  Now and with the help of IndepedentVoice.Org, candidates have to talk to everyone to get elected, not just a small segment of an ideological base.  No longer will the 3.6 million independent voters in California be excluded from fully participating in the election process.  Hopefully, this is the first step in what will be national campaign of reform to give independents a full voice in our democratic process.” 
• Marc Levine, a Democrat, is a San Rafael City Councilmember and candidate for California's 10th Assembly District in Marin and Sonoma. Marc has a record of innovation and practical problem solving at the local level. Highlighting the approximately two-dozen contests across California between members of the same party, Levine is running against another Democrat who is supported by the Sacramento establishment. “I’m a strong Democrat who recognizes the vital importance of recognizing and reaching out to independent voters, and the importance of reforms that empower all voters regardless of party,” said Levine. “Unaligned voters want to see results, not special interest politics or partisan bickering – and they are fed up with Sacramento’s broken political culture. If elected, I will strive to get Sacramento working again for our communities and to ensure that the voices of independent voters are heard in the State Capitol.”
• Bill Bloomfield, an independent (“No Party Preference”), is a longtime political reform advocate and successful businessman running in the 33^rd Congressional District that spans the coastal area of Los Angeles. Many political observers feel that he has the best chance of any independent Congressional candidate in the country to win his race. "I felt compelled to run for Congress because our country won’t be able to recover from a few more years of a hyper-partisan and broken Congress,” said Bloomfield. “We must confront the power and influence of the special interests. Its time to force both major parties to start solving problems and stop playing partisan political games that threaten our nation's future. That’s why I’m proud to have the endorsement of IndependentVoice.Org and the independent voters they represent."
• Chad Walsh, an independent (“No Party Preference”), is a Trustee and former Governing Board President of the local community college district and successful businessman running in the 28^th Assembly District in Silicon Valley. Walsh, empowered by the new “top two” open primary and fairly drawn district, is running on a message of “moving beyond partisanship.” “We need solutions more than ever, but all we get from Sacramento is divisive partisanship from politicians who are serving narrow special interests or strictly partisan agendas,” said Walsh. I'm running for State Assembly to help move California beyond partisanship and special interests and provide solutions to the issues that people care about. Independent voters have been at the forefront of that fight, and I’m proud to receive the endorsement of IndependentVoice.Org.”

Jackie Salit's Independents Rising: A Review from the Trenches

By January of 1992, I was a seasoned national field organizer for a budding independent movement. I had been slogging away with colleagues in small teams, knocking on doors and setting up tables on street corners and on college campuses from Philadelphia to Cleveland to Chicago since 1986, to raise money and build a base of independent-minded Americans in support of legislation that would have made it easier for independent candidates to get on the ballot. I was part of a team of 50 or so organizers -- many of whom were using vacation time from their jobs -- who flew into Texas in the summer of 1988 to put Dr. Lenora B. Fulani on the ballot in one of the toughest ballot access drives in US history. We were doing the impossible in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, Florida, California, Alaska, South Dakota, Michigan... making history. Fulani was the first woman and first African American to ever get on the ballot in all 50 states running for President. She ran as an independent.

So it is especially intriguing to me to take a step back and read Jackie Salit’s account in Independents Rising: Outsider Movements, Third Parties and the Struggle for a Post-Partisan America. Indeed, it’s personal. And you don’t have to have been in the trenches to appreciate this story. This is your story, our story -- the story of the rise of independents. Where were you in 1992? What were you doing? What conversations did you have with friends and family? What small or big decisions did you make, and had been making for a long time, that helped create a nonpartisan pro-democracy voice in 2012 America?

REVIEW BY Ken Bingenheimer here

Jackie begins her story in 1992, a year of "awkward contradictions" as she calls it, borrowing the phrase from William Greider’s One World, Ready or Not: The Manic Logic of Global Capitalism. In the context of an increasingly irrelevant left, and an increasingly centrist Democratic Party, a grassroots voter revolt was gathering force on the fringes.

“These rumblings did not register on most political radars. The big story in 1990 was that the Democrats had controlled the House of Representatives since 1948 (and always would) and that the Republicans controlled the White House (and likely would for at least another six years). It seemed to many observers that the century would wrap up without any major surprises in American politics. In 1989 political science professor Francis Fukuyama wrote an influential essay for the National Interest magazine called “The End of History?” Fukuyama projected that the collapse of communism heralded a new international order of liberal democracy and stability. America would be the world’s beacon and breadwinner. The world would now follow suit. Few saw beyond that ostensibly happy horizon.”

Independents Rising is a beautifully choreographed dance between what was being described by most pundits, journalists, writers, thought-leaders, et al, and what was actually happening on the ground.

“In 1992 Fulani entered the early Democratic primaries to promote her antipartisan pro-reform cause. She had been awarded nearly $650,000 in federal primary matching funds in December 1991...”

In October of 1991, I transferred from a two-month stint in Atlanta, Georgia to San Francisco, California. Arriving at 8:00AM, I was on the street with our team in Oakland by 10:00AM raising money to qualify Fulani’s ’92 campaign for federal primary matching funds. The streets of California were paved with gold for the independent movement in 1992. And in spite of that, or perhaps because of it, by late December I requested to come back to New York. I was tired. I missed being close to my kids in Philadelphia. I couldn’t grock the fact that the water was on the left -- that made no sense to my East Coast orientation, not to mention I was disoriented by the lack of grease, grit and grime of NYC. I wanted to see Fred Newman. My field director Cathy Salit called me to let me know that my request was granted and she had a favor to ask. Would I go up to New Hampshire for a month before coming home? I said yes and arrived in New York on New Years Eve in time for a party in Harlem before "shipping out" again -- briefly -- for points north. I was home, almost.

“The WMUR studios were locked behind a phalanx of Manchester police on January 19, the night of the debate. Former California governor Jerry Brown, the progressive challenger to the Clintonian Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) brand of “new politics," issued a statement calling for Fulani’s inclusion and criticized the party for excluding her... Fulani set up a mass picket ringing the studio, involving 400 protesters--some had traveled to New Hampshire from Harlem and many were Manchester locals. The temperature that night was a lip-splitting 12° F, but the protesters gathered at both entrances to the WMUR parking lot... Not long afterward, a shiny black SUV pulled up at one of the entrances.... Suddenly Clinton dropped to the floor of the back seat, shielding his face from view....  The Clinton camp told me it wanted to avoid any future run-ins of this sort, which were an embarrassment to Clinton. Clinton campaign coordinator Mitchell Schwarz set up a meeting with Newman and me a few days later in the coffee shop at the Manchester Holiday Inn...”

It was very very cold in New Hampshire in January 1992. And very very hot!

I hope you will read this book. Jackie’s statement on behalf of our movement is sharp and witty, and important. Enjoy!

NH

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Can faith help heal our Divide (Oliver Thomas, USA Today) But I would go beyond cooperation. This is really about forgiveness — a cornerstone of our Western religious traditions. I would ask parishioners to be big enough to forgive one another for their differing political and religious views. And in so forgiving, people would heal themselves. Withholding forgiveness is like drinking poison and hoping your enemy will feel sick.
• Let's seriously consider how we can give the public some sense of ownership of our party. If that means primaries, if that means letting them settle the "what is liberalism" debate themselves (and as a result getting the Liberal Democrat Party they really want) then we should do it. (The Great Liberal Democrat Future National Referendum - Charlotte Gore blog)

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

OPEN PRIMARIES

• Progressives and Independents (Liberal Arts Dude, Mirror On America) Here's an idea: how about Leftist Progressive activists join Independents in efforts for radical structural reform? One effort they can join very easily right now is the effort by Independents for Open Primaries.
  
• Gumm wants open primaries (OkiePolitics.com) Oklahoma law currently mandates that parties have closed primaries. Gumms SB5 would allow party officials to open up the runoffs to independents (you know, swing voters like me) and members of rival parties.
  
• It's Politics: Charles Calderon weary of political 'bickering' (By Mike Sprague, Whittier Daily News) His solution? Bring back a version of the open primary that would in a sense turn all state offices as well as legislative races into non-partisan races, similar to how counties run.
  

 

POLITISOPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS

• Obama's Divisive Choice of Rick Warren (By Michelle Goldberg, Religion Dispatches) Warren is something of a magician. He has convinced much of the media and many influential Democrats that he represents a new, more centrist breed of evangelical with a broader agenda than the old religious right. 
  
• Sturm and drang over Rick Warren (by kos, Daily Kos)
  
• Taking Yes For An Answer (Andrew Sullivan, The Daily Dish)
  
• Is Obama moving too far to the right? (The Daily Voice) Writing in Black Agenda Report, Glen Ford said Obama had earned a designation as a center-right politician after he had "endorsed the bankers' bailout, put the economy's future in the hands of the same people that set the stage for financial meltdown, and let Bush's War Secretary keep the keys to the imperial armory."
  

NEW YORK POLITICS/INDEPENDENCE PARTY

• Judge upholds Independence Party status quo (BY TOM WROBLESKI, Staten Island Advance) In a ruling released yesterday, Justice Anthony Giacobbe said that Frank Morano's bid to wrest control of the county organization from chair Sarah Lyons was invalid.
  
• Sharpton's Birthday Shout-Out To Council Candidate 'Johnny T' (Elixabeth Benjamin, Daily News/Daily Politics) Sharpton, who met recently with Tabacco at his National Action Network, called the candidate his "friend and brother" at last night's get-together and joked that he might be the only person who could bring Sharpton and Sliwa together.
  

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Has Congress gone deaf? (By Greg Awtry, York News-Times) The First Amendment also states the people can petition their government for a redress of grievances. Too bad it doesn’t contain any language about the elected officials listening to us. 
  
• Can Obama fix it for Bob the Builder? (By SCOTT MILFRED, Madison State Journal) I started to wonder if the president-elect had subliminally used Bob's catchphrase to brainwash independent voters like me. After all, I've been a fan of Bob since my own first daughter arrived three years after Malia. 
  

• An Open Letter from Independents to President Elect Barack Obama. Excerpt: By virtue of being able to vote in the primaries and caucuses in 33 states, independents cast the votes that gave your campaign its margin, and continued to support you in the general election...Sign onto the letter online   Printer friendly format   

NEW YORK POLITICS

Another Billionaire For N.Y. (George F. Will, Hartford Courant) Any child can grow up to be a billionaire, thereby meeting what seems to have become the threshold qualification for mayor.

LAST WORD

Can Obama Lead Us Out Of Post-Colonial Age? (David Ignatius, Hartford Courant) We are long past the era of decolonization that Fanon was describing. What's tragic is that in many parts of the world, the United States — formed in the first great anti-colonial revolution — has come to be seen as the heir to European imperialism.

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

OPEN PRIMARIES
Party elite punishes Sen. Kurita (The Leaf Chronicle) In effect, the party elite selfishly used questionable evidence and flimsy excuses to disenfranchise 4,477 voters who wanted Kurita to continue to represent them.

CAMPAIGN

• PA: Whose county will it be Nov. 4? Independent voters will tip the scale (Lancaster Eagle Gazette)
• NC: New voter registrations could shift balance (Fay Observer) “What really jumps out at me is the unaffiliateds,” Woodcox said. “The independents are registering at a higher pace than Democrats or Republicans.”
• WV: Independent voters on the rise in state (REGISTER-HERALD REPORTER) Since the 2004 general election, Democrats have witnessed a 15,230 drop in their ranks and there are 1,433 fewer Republicans registered, but the non-affiliated, or so-called “independents,” have soared by 27,205.
• The GOP's New Love: Bi-Post-Non-Partisanship (BuzzFlash.org - IL) Oh, and they are Republicans, by the way. But you wouldn't know that to hear them talk … and talk, and talk -- and in some cases actually blame that party without reference to their own irresponsible membership, as though they'd been living some sort of out-of-body, existential misunderstanding for the last few years.

Campaign Finance: Reform or Revolution?

submitted by Linda Curtis
Independent Texans
http://IndyTexans.org
PO Box 14294
Austin, TX 78761
512-535-0989

A frustrated Member of Congress once likened the attempts over the last thirty years to reform campaign financing to squeezing a balloon. You restrict the flow of money here, and it just swells up somewhere else. There is always some inventive loophole that can be exploited by wealthy special interests: cut off the flow of soft money (as the McCain-Feingold bill did in 2002), and up pop the 527 organizations (like the infamous "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth"). Barack Obama's decision to opt out of the public campaign finance system has drawn a chorus of criticism from Republicans and some Democrats as well. They point to the shocking fact that he is the first presidential candidate ever to forego general election funding since the system was set up in the post-Watergate era.

Many independents, including the authors of this editorial, believe that the Obama team's internet savvy has done more to enhance the influence of small donors than 30 years of failed campaign finance reforms. No other candidate has harnessed the power of grassroots donors to the degree Obama has: over 1.5 million Americans have contributed to his campaign, and 47 percent of the $263 million raised has come in amounts of $200 or less.

Moreover, Obama is mobilizing hundreds of thousands of volunteers, many who are new to politics, many of them very young. One cannot overstate the importance to the health of our democracy of this massive increase in participation by ordinary citizens. Obama's "post-partisan" rhetoric has been much discussed, but less attention has been given to his unprecedented ability to reach out to voters directly, without the mediation of the party machine – or the "special interests" that smother inclusive dialogue on the important issues facing our nation. Unlike his Republican rival, John McCain, Obama has refused contributions from political action committees and currently-registered lobbyists.

America's campaign finance laws have failed on their promise to deliver a level playing field. That's because in a market economy like ours, it is simply not possible to prevent moneyed interests from exercising undue influence. Successive efforts to close the loopholes in the original reforms have merely complicated compliance, effectively tipping the balance against grassroots candidates and insurgent campaigns that cannot afford high-priced lawyers and have no political influence with the Federal Election Commission. Sen. McCain's well-intentioned efforts to reform our campaign finance system have tried, unsuccessfully, to limit the abuses of the powerful. Meanwhile, Sen. Obama has accomplished something truly revolutionary: he has increased the power of the abused.


Jim Mangia, a longtime independent leader, based in Los Angeles, is the former secretary of the Reform Party USA and co-founder of IndependentMovement.org. Linda Curtis, founder of Independent Texans, helped pass a citizens petition initiated city charter amendment in Austin, Texas called "Austinites for A Little Less Corruption" -- a system she believes is a failed reform.