Political Independence is the New Feminism
by Nancy Hanks
Will 2010 be another 1994 with angry white men, a populist revolt, pitchforks, tea parties, throw 'da bums out! kind of a political year??... Voters are angry--and increasingly independent. Upwards of 40% of American voters consider themselves independent. And ndependents decide elections these days. They put Obama in the White House. And take a good look at Massachusetts...
Whoa there - hold on fellas! The new independent movement is increasingly multi-racial and women-led. In a winner-take-all, two-party "good ol' boys" partisan dictatorship, that just might make a difference for the long run. Meet eight pioneers of the new independent movement who are rocking our world:
Jackie Salit: "Painstaking and often controversial work"
A fierce intellectual activist and advocate for independent voters across the country, Jackie is a political strategist and a 30-year veteran of the independent political movement. She managed all three of NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg's campaigns on the Independence Party line, which provided his core support and margin of victory for nonpartisan governance. As the president of IndependentVoting.org, Jackie conducts a regular national conference call with 140 activist independents from 40 states. She is also the executive editor of the Neo-Independent magazine and co-"anchors" (with long-time colleague Fred Newman) Talk Talk, a weekly commentary on the news of the day from a radical independent progressive point of view.
Salit says: "If you don't attend to the political dynamics in the independent movement, you'll pay the price. While the progressive leadership of the movement played the key role in swinging independents to Obama in 2008, the Obama team has turned a blind eye since then, choosing instead to focus only on the Democratic Party base." (on the Massachusetts win by Repub Scott Brown for the late Ted Kennedy's Senate seat.
http://www.independentvoting.org
Cathy Stewart: "We are an unusual political party; we have broken the mold."
Stewart is the savvy and experienced field commander of the formidable NYC Independence Party troops, a founder of the Independence Party of New York and the party's five borough New York City coordinator as well as the Manhattan County Chair . She is also the founder and moderator of a popular program offered by the NYCIP, Politics for the People, designed to give an inside look at politics and history from an independent's point of view.
Stewart says: "We're fighting to make sure our party is a multi-racial, inclusive, up-from-the-bottom democratic party run by its membership, not an appendage of one of the major parties. NYC IP is the "anti-party" party."
Hilary Greene: "Young people are the future"
This 27-year old African American educator and community activist in Kinston, NC, collected a whopping 500 signatures to run as an independent candidate for Kinston City Council in 2008, supporting nonpartisan elections as a way of bringing people together across party lines. Hillary lost that race but is running again because she feels she can make a difference for the community.
Greene says: "The young people are important to our city, they are the future of our city and need to be nurtured and guided to a progressive future."
Jana Kemp: "Running as an independent is an unorthodox strategy, but it isn't a foolish one."
A former Republican state legislator who left her party, Jane is running for Governor of Idaho as an independent. The 44-year-old businesswoman and author cited a recent national poll showing most Americans don't have faith in either party's leaders to solve the nation's problems. "This is the perfect time for an independent to run for governor in Idaho and the need has never been greater."
Kemp says: "The party machinery is not serving Idaho and it's not serving the country."
Joelle Riddle: "It's about the people, not the party"
BIO: Joelle is a County Commissioner in La Plata, Colorado who decided that she could serve her constituents most effectively as an independent. So the former Democrat changed her registration. State law requires candidates who re-register as independents, unlike party candidates, to do so 18 months in advance of the election in which they want to run. So what's she doing? She brought a law suit against the unfair and discriminatory law and is fighting for legistlation that helps all independents!
Riddle says: "Because I value differing opinions and the best solutions for all constituents, I have found that independence has opened up more possibilities for people to come together and achieve what's best for our community regardless of age, race, gender or political party."
Kathleen Curry: "I just don't fit into either party"
A rancher and water rights specialist and water conservancy scientist, State Rep. Kathleen Curry of Colorado, has served her district since 2004. Kathleen decided in December to disaffiliate from the Democratic Party and become an independent, in spite of the fact that the move makes her ineligible to run under current election law. She will run as a write-in candidate in the next election and is drafting legislation to change the law to make it fair for independents.
Curry says: "I have found over the last five years, that the party politics have become too prominent. I have simply made a decision not to be a member of either party."
Lenora Fulani: "Changing the way politics is done..."
Dr. Lenora Fulani was raising the banner of independent politics in presidential elections while Ross Perot was still going to board meetings. Her Campaign for Fair Elections 1988 independent presidential run made history, with Fulani becoming the first woman and the first African-American presidential candidate ever to get on the ballot in all 50 states, and paved the way for the Perot run in 1992. Lenora is a developmental psychologist and co-founder of the All Stars Project, an internationally recognized after-school program for inner city youth. She created and currently directs Operation Conversation: Cops and Kids. Together with Jackie Salit, she was a co-founder of the Committee for a Unified Independent Party in 1994.
Fulani says: "I am a Black independent. I believe that our political captivity to the Democratic Party is the single biggest factor which keeps us undereducated, underemployed, over-incarcerated and underdeveloped."
http://www.independentvoting.org/
Theresa Amato: "Taking a roundhouse punch at America's corrupt electoral system..."
A public interest lawyer, Theresa was the national campaign manager for Ralph Nader in 2000 and 2004. She is the Executive Director of Citizen Works, a Washington DC-based nonprofit founded by Ralph Nader to strengthen citizen participation. A graduate of Harvard College and New York University Law School, Theresa is the author of Grand Illusion: The Myth of Voter Choice in A Two-Party Tyranny, an indictment of the two-party barriers to a competitive electoral system, candidate ballot access and voter choice.
Amato says: "It was easier in the 19th century for regional or small start-up parties to get on the ballot and infuse elections with ideas such as the abolition of slavery, a woman's right to vote, worker and farmer reforms."
Whether you vote for the person not the party, or vote "third party", you'll want to keep an eye on the independent women who are making history. And boy, do we need some!
Nancy Hanks is a long-time activist in the independent political movement. She blogs at The Hankster http://grassrootsindependent.blogspot.com/
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