The Party Who Stole Christmas

Have a Happy Hanksta Holiday!
Randy

Feeling distracted? Might be time to get back to basics...

From "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Partisanship" by SydneyAnne Stone on HuffPo

It is time to start focusing on collective solutions for the greater good. Instead of being a nation divided, we need to come together to find answers or we risk losing a great deal more...

 Hear hear! - NH

Google, Facebook: No Room for Change

From "Blame the Internet for partisanship" by Megan Ellisor in Technician Online:

In a March 2011 Ted Talk, Pariser talked about how he noticed that his conservative Facebook friends’ posts began to “disappear” from his News Feed. Because Pariser clicked on more of the links posted by his liberal friends than his conservative friends, Facebook filtered the conservative posts out of his News Feed. 

[Eli] Pariser, author of The Filter Bubble, demonstrated how Google is filtering search results in his March 2011 Ted Talk by showing screen-shots of what his friends found when they Googled “Egypt” on the same day. Both were Caucasian men located in New York, yet Google gave them very different results.

Pariser said Facebook and Google are using algorithms to act as gatekeepers, making information that we are most likely to agree with the easiest to find. But as Pariser pointed out in his March 2011 Ted Talk, these algorithmic gatekeepers do not have the “embedded ethics” that human gatekeepers did.

The algorithms are different than gatekeepers in that they aren’t preventing us from seeing any information. They are, however, making it more difficult to find different opinions. We all have access to the same information, but sites, such as Google and Facebook, are propelling us all to information that seems to only affirm our views. 

**********

I have noticed this for a while with Google and it really really bugs me. They decide what I want to see based on what I have looked at in the past. Talk about no room for change!!!! - NH

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

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

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

END PARTISANSHIP!

Voters Demand for Open Primaries Increases Nationally

NONPARTISANS/ OPEN PRIMARIES

• We’ve moved away from political parties. Should government, too? (Bangor Daily News) For Jacqueline Salit, the structures used in almost every state to elect state officials, then to parse out power in state legislatures, perpetuate the power of political parties to run the system rather than act as engaged participants. Salit managed independent Michael Bloomberg’s three campaigns for mayor of New York City. Today, she is president of IndependentVoting.org and she’s trying to mobilize independents around political system reforms.
• Sunday: Tulsa’s ‘nonpartisan’ election format unlikely to seem that way in the near future (Tulsa World) “We all know that they’re Democrats and Republicans; that’s not the point,” he said. “The point is you run the two top candidates in the finals, and they may be both in same party or not.”
• Maryland GOP holds off on idea of opening primaries to independent voters (John Wagner, Washington Post) “I think that as a Republican party in Maryland, we need to do everything we can to reach out to new voters,” Katie Nash, a Maryland GOP activist who favors making a change, said outside the convention hall Saturday.
• An open primary would benefit Alaska (LETTER By Eric Treider, Soldotna, Peninsula Clarion) Washington, California and Louisiana currently enjoy the benefits of open primaries. The citizens love it and the party bosses hate it so you know it’s got to be good.

INDEPENDENT VOTERS
Morning Consult Poll Results on Politics of Healthcare Reform Shows Shift in Independent Voters (Sac Bee/ The Morning Consult) The poll reveals a significant shift in Independent voters heading into a midterm election year. 58% of independent voters now trust Republicans more on handling healthcare. Among all registered voters, President Obama receives a lot of the blame from more than 50% of respondents for the insurance cancellations, and over 60% say the president deserves a lot of the blame for the insurance exchange challenges. 

Year of the Donkey: Mayoral Race 2013, Adolfo Carrion, the NYC Independence Party, and Political Snobbery and Dysfunction

Statement by the Independence Party of New York City on the results of the 2013 Mayoral race

Congratulations to Bill de Blasio and the Working Families Party on their win.

The political coalition taking over City Hall says it will take on the problem of economic inequality and poverty in our city.  We support that 100 percent!

We hope that the new Mayor's agenda will also include taking on political dysfunction.  With voter turnout at a 96-year low and a million independents locked out of primary voting, New York's electoral process clearly needs some drastic reform.  Fairness happens when a process is fair.  We urge Mayor-elect de Blasio to make political inclusion and participation key goals of his administration.


Below are notes by IPNYC Press Secretary Sarah Lyons from interviews after the election between Jackie Salit and the press:

Where is the NYC Independence Party headed post-election? 

The NYC Independence Party is part of a national movement concerned about the state of our political process and about political dysfunction -- a movement seeking nonpartisan reform.  We'll continue to pursue those reforms as we always have.

How we approach that with Bill de Blasio as Mayor is an open question.  After all, unlike Bloomberg, neither de Blasio nor the Working Families Party supports nonpartisan reform.  Quite the contrary.  But when you have a system that produces the lowest voter turnout in 96 years and a million independents locked out of the primaries, there is something very wrong with that system.

Adolfo Carrion received some 8,200 votes. How do you account for the low number of votes? 

First of all, this was the Year of the Donkey, meaning that after 20 years' exile from City Hall, the Democratic Party was going to win the mayoralty under virtually any circumstances.  Consequently, the mayoral election really took place in the Democratic primary, which the city's one million independents were banned from voting in.  To break through for an independent in the Year of the Donkey was nearly Mission Impossible.

That said, the Independence Party took a shot.  We chose not to run a fusion campaign.  We supported Adolfo Carrion, a political leader who is a man of color who had held public office, and served in the Obama administration, but who left the Democratic Party to become an independent.  He is a reformer who came up against huge resistance from all corners of the political marketplace.  The systemic change of nonpartisan elections that we sought during the Bloomberg years would have leveled the playing field in this election.  But, that hasn't been achieved yet.  So the election was tilted from the outset in favor of the major party candidates.

Independence Party members protest exclusion of Carrion from ABC debate

Carrion was excluded from the debates, marginalized by much of the media, and didn't have the financial wealth that Bloomberg had to overcome the differential of being an independent in a town in which the Democratic Party runs the show.  Many of his donors were afraid to support him as an independent, afraid of retribution from the Democrats. 





The fact that de Blasio refused to debate Carrion meant that the Democrats wanted to give the public no opportunity to consider another progressive option.  All of that meant the odds were severely stacked against Adolfo.  We knew that going in.  But we felt it was important to support a Latino independent looking to shake up the system and to carve out a new option.  Don't make the mistake of underestimating the 8,200 people who voted for Carrion this year.  Those who did made a very forward-looking statement about resisting the Democratic Party monopoly on progressive politics.  They are the nucleus or the core of a bottom-up independent movement.  All the independent votes we got for Mike Bloomberg were hugely important, they gave him a mandate for nonpartisan leadership, but they were votes for a winner. Everyone who voted for Carrion knew he couldn't win, but they voted for him to build something.

Won't the low vote total make people look askance at the Independence Party?

People have always looked askance at the IP, whether we got 150,000 votes, as we did for Bloomberg in 2009, or under 10,000 votes, so that isn't an issue for me.  I'm used to the political class looking askance at us.  Actually, I like it when they do.  

Does this vote total mean that the Independence Party's message is invalid? 

No. First of all, most New Yorkers didn't know Adolfo Carrion was running, they never got the message. But more than that, the main way that voters displayed their dislike with the system and their major party options this year was by staying home.  This year's voter turnout was the lowest it's been in 97 years.  That's shocking!  Everybody should look askance at that!  

IP is part of a very young movement that is in its infancy.  The Working Families Party, now being touted as having eclipsed the IP as the major minor party in New York City, is not an independent party.  It's an arm of the Democratic Party.  The Democratic Party has had a 200-year head start over the independents.  We are playing a long game, and this campaign was one moment in that long game.

We shouldn't forget that New York isn't even a bipartisan town, it's a one-party town.  The Republican Party did poorly because it has no message and no soul.  The Independence Party has both, but it's young, it's under-funded, it's considered illegitimate and it's operating in a city that is run by one party.

###

 

A note from The Hankster:

In a one-party town, what do you do? You organize, and build build build. It was a pleasure working with all of you on the campaign. Onward!

NH

NYC Mayor Race Count Down: Day 5 - Jo Coskie Independence Party Rally for Adolfo Carrion - Teachers for Carrion!

Queens Executive Member of the NYC Independence Party, retired teacher, Jo Coskie speaks about her organizing Teachers for Carrion.

"Mr. Carrion is passionate about improving our schools, recognizes the need to empower teachers, and has a visionary plan. Last month at a press conference on the steps of City Hall, he unveiled a bold comprehensive policy to transform our schools. Adolfo would place our schools at the center of the community to maximize their use. In addition, recognizing that after school development is a key to unlocking our young people's potential, Adolfo has made it a central component of his plan. I could go on. He has the best educational platform of any candidate. It's no wonder Bill de Blasio doesn't want to debate him!"

[Video by Coco Cheung]

NYC Mayor Race Count Down: Day 6 - Jackie Salit Independence Party Rally for Adolfo Carrion - What's Lou Reed Got to Do With It?

[UPDATED due to uploading 'glitches'....] In this video, from the October Adolfo Carrion Independence Party Rally, Jackie Salit, President of IndependentVoting.org, the national center for independent nonpartisan political reform, notes that rock n roll legend, American music innovator, Lou Reed's seminal Velvet Underground album sold 30,000 copies (puny by today's standards, no doubt), but that everyone who bought a copy formed a band.

We're forming bands. It's 1776 in New York City. Take a walk on the wild side!
Get your band together!

NH

[Video by Coco Cheung]

Pride. Power. Independence.

NYC Independence Party video shown at last night's rally for Adolfo Carrion's reform campaign for mayor -- shakin' it up!



[video producer: Sarah Lyons]

NYC Mayor Race Count Down: Day 7 - Cathy Stewart Introduction Independence Party Rally for Adolfo Carrion Transforming the Political Game

NYC Independence Party Chief Organizer and NY County Chair Cathy L. Stewart: "We're not concerned with winning the game. We're concerned with transforming it!"

Join the independent movement.

[video by Coco Cheung]

Independence Party "Band of Sisters" Welcomes Adolfo Carrion to the Fold

NYC Independence Party mayoral candidate Adolfo Carrion and company rally for last week of the campaign at Scholastic auditorium in Soho last night.

[Video by Coco Cheung]

Independence Day is TODAY in NYC: Disrupt the Partisan Status Quo

Hey hey Hanksteristas!

Tomorrow Tonight, the NYC Independence Party is having a meeting and rally at the Scholastic Auditorium in Soho. 

See a new short documentary film, hear from independent leaders and activists, and most importantly, get the "big picture" about how independents are becoming organized to disrupt the partisan status quo that holds back innovation and creativity in our city and country.  

There are more independents than Republicans in NYC, but our candidate Adolfo Carrion was excluded from the debates.  We are prevented from voting in primaries.  The message from the partisan powers that be to independent voters is loud and clear:  Shut Up and Go Away!

But we are not waiting.  We're building.  

See you tomorrow night.  all the details are listed below.  Invite your friends and family, and lease click here to RSVP by Monday at 11:00 AM.  

Pride. Power. Independence.

An Independence Party Rally  

With Special Guest Adolfo Carrion, Candidate for Mayor

Monday, October 28 ~ 6:30 PM ~ Scholastic Auditorium ~ 557 Broadway, Manhattan (between Prince/Spring). N/R to Prince, 6 to Spring or B/D to Broadway/Lafayette ~ RSVP to (212) 962-1699 or click here

[UPDATED 10/28]

Let's do this!

-NH

Media, Media, On the Wall, Who Is the Most Independent of Them All?

Adolfo Carrion, the Independence Party candidate for NYC Mayor, was a guest last weekend on PIX11 (one of my favorite channels for news). See this sharp and intelligent roundtable interview below.

Next up: 

Tune in to NY1 The Call at 9:00pm tonight! Get Adolfo's take on the most recent debate as he answers questions from New Yorkers. Drop them a line at thecall@ny1.com or call in 212-ny1-talk if you have a question for Adolfo.

What: Adolfo on NY1 The Call
When: 9:00pm-10:00pm Tonight
Where: Tune in on NY1, Channel 1 or watch online here.

Contact NY1 The Call through email, thecall@ny1.com,  tweet to @NY1thecall or call in 212-ny1-talk. 


Most media covering this mayoral race are connecting phrases in like "Carrion has 2% support in the polls" and "is not permitted to join the three official mayoral debates"

Ex. "Independent mayoral candidate Adolfo Carrion Jr. was left out of the recent mayoral debates for not meeting the polling requirement. He only received two percent in the polls."

PIX11 says: "For many years Adolfo Carrion was viewed as the Latino community's best hope for winning city office. Running as the nominee of the Independence Party, Carrion has 2% support in the polls and is not permitted to join the three official mayoral debates."

Translation: "Adolfo Carrion should have stayed a Democrat and helped the Democratic Party corral the Latino vote to put the Democratic candidate in office. Since he became an independent, he is excommunicated from NYC politics!"

And yet, as David Chen so eloquently put it in his prescient February New York Times article Adolfo Carrion is not deterred.

Do Voters Count????

We're In with the Out Crowd, We Go Where the Out Crowd Goes...

Yeah, baby! Adolfo Carrion and the Independence Party rocks!

 

Independents turn out for Adolfo Carrion! ABC - shame on you!

A few snippets from the street before ABC's "debate" excluding NYC Mayoral Independence Party candidate Adolfo Carrion.

The government is shut down, 40% of Americans are independent, and the "fourth estate" has become inert -- and anti-democratic. Well, how about that!?

 

 

 

 Stay tuned! More to come!

Candidato a alcalde de Nueva York pide que los latinos vayan a votar

Articulo totalmente en espanol dirigido a que los votantes latinos salgan a votar. (leer mas)

Vamos a insistir en que el Candidato independiente porción alcalde de NYC ESTA incluido en el "debate" el 15 de octubre!

Let's insist that el candidato independiente por alcalde de NYC esta included in the "debate" on Oct. 15!

Vamos a insistir en que el Candidato independiente porción alcalde de NYC ESTA incluido en el "debate" el 15 de octubre!

A loss to the independent family, Athleen Godfrey of Bountiful Utah

I regret that I must pass on some sad news tonight about a true hero in our midst here in Utah. (Obituary here)

While there was no shortage of public figures who tried to muscle in and use the non-partisan Fair Boundaries redistricting effort in 2009 for their personal or partisan advantage, there was a true hero in our midst that you may not have known about. I believe there was just one senate district out of 29 which met the signature requirement for the Fair Boundaries initiative effort. Athleen Godfrey spearheaded a robust and successful effort in South Davis County to gather enough signatures to put the Fair Boundaries initiative proposal on the ballot. Whether they gathered enough signatures, I don't recall, but they knew they had more or less met the requirement and were disappointed the rest of the county and state were not following along.

Athleen was a retired nurse who used a walker to get around, but boy did she know how to use a telephone and a pen and a keyboard; she had been afflicted by polio in her youth but that did not stop her from doing some amazing things for the fair redistricting effort and for the family and community that she loved.

Over the years, she has written a number of fair minded letters to the editor of the Davis County Clipper and the Trib about non-partisan reforms and reasonable approaches to the often unreasonable overtures of the Utah legislature. Athleen donated time, phone calls, hosted signature gathering events and even donated money to the Fair Boundaries effort. And so effective was she, that she delivered the signature quota for her senate district. Hopefully someday she will take her place in our collective memory and history next to notable figures such as Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and others who took their honored places in history posthumously for their efforts to enfranchise all Americans; an activity that we are all interested in extrapolating to make all votes truly count equally.

To put it in perspective, if there had been just 25 more people exactly like Athleen throughout the state of Utah, we would likely have been one of the lucky few states where the redistricting process rested firmly in the grasp of the people.

I hadn't heard from Athleen in a while, so I sent her a postcard this summer I believe. I hope she received it as it sounds like her health was failing.

Athleen passed away October 1st at the age of 79 and we will miss her dearly.

Digital Literacy & Creative Technology: New York Gets Smarter With Adolfo Carrion

I attended Independence Party mayoral candidate Adolfo Carrion's press conference this morning at City Hall Park (you will hear the sounds of the fountain in the background on the video below :-) where he rolled out his Tech policy proposals.

In his prepared remarks, Carrion stated, "It's time for a smarter New York that leverages the latest technology to better connect us, move us, protect us and educate us. A new high-tech infrastructure will keep New York competitive and create jobs for our economy for both today and tomorrow."


Mr. Carrion read from his notes, but went "off script" towards the end of his statement to talk about the need for and importance of digital literacy. "We cannot have our kids in public schools on the margins of digital literacy. They need to know how to operate in this new modern high-tech economy. We also need to ensure that we have digital literacy as part of our job training as we re-tool the workforce for the modern economy."

Mr. Carrion also coupled his statement on the need for improving access to online media for New Yorkers with the need for access to support for small business creation.

I could not agree more!!

My own thoughts, as veteran new media pioneer: creative technology is where it's at here and now. The tech sector in the US has shifted. IT ( or "information technology") jobs are moving offshore and tech innovators/programmers/makers/app-developers/entrepreneurs are the new growth industry.

Right on, Adolfo!

NH