Tag: independents

Why Your Third-Party Vote Is Not Wasted

The key word in the title is N-O-T!

As I predicted I have been hit with a bit of a BS thing when people learn that I am leaning for an alternative candidate….in my case it is Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party.

I have been getting the usual cowardly predictions of doom and gloom if I vote that way….or that I am crazy for not following the sheep and voting for one of the worthless candidates we have this time.  I vote for issues and principles…I care NOTHING for rhetoric.

First let me say…BITE ME!  It is my vote and I will give it to whoever I want.  Plus I refuse to let some nose picking ass scratcher dictate to me when it comes to voting.

If Americans truly cared about their country then they would research what is best before voting….but they had rather let some mental midget like Alex Jones or a handful of MSM pundits tell them where to place their vote.

It was in George Washington’s Farewell Address that he warned political parties would be “potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people, and to usurp for themselves the reins of government.”

This is exactly what’s happened as both parties serve moneyed interests rather than the will and the common good of the American people.

According to Pew Research, in the 2000 Presidential election cycle, 29 percent of voters were Independent. Gallup’s most recent poll brings that percentage up to a stunning 42 percent, compared to 26 percent Republicans and 29 percent Democrats.

Source: Independents Decide 42% Of The Vote. Why Your Third-Party Vote Is Not Wasted – Collective Evolution

If the voter truly wanted to “Make America Great Again” then they would spend more time learning about the candidates and less time bending over for their masters.  They could see the flaws and see the weaknesses….but sadly they cannot see past some vague message that has nothing to do with their governing style.

For me issues are far more important than the platitudes I am giving by the major candidates….I do NOT fall for slogans……I want to see answers to the important questions of our time…..so far I got NOTHING from the 2 “biggies”…

You vote for the idiots….I will vote for solutions…..whether they win or not.

The Struggles of Third-Party Candidates Through the Years

This election, 2016, has more people thinking about an alternative to the 2 major candidates….one is popular with old men and the other is popular with neocons……neither is truly that popular with the average voter…..

There has been a bit of a history with third party candidates (there I got my historical perspective in) and the NT Times has a pretty good piece on these candidates and their campaigns…..

Major third-party presidential candidates have never had an easy time of it, even when they were former presidents or billionaires.

Recent polls show the Libertarian Party nominee, Gary Johnson, at around 10 percent nationally, a relatively high number for a third-party candidate this late in the campaign season. Major third-party presidential candidates have never had an easy time of it, even when they were former presidents or billionaires. Here’s a short history of their mostly quixotic campaigns.

Source: The Struggles of Third-Party Candidates Through the Years – The New York Times

Just to let my readers know that there have been some successful third party runs for there presidency….just not a elected person for the office.

THINK GREEN

How About Those Independents?

Election is over and for a year, maybe longer, we heard from the MSM all about the independents……daily we were told all about the need for the independent vote to win the election….remember those days?

Just in case you are not at all sure what an independent voter is all about…….

More recently, scholars focused on self-identification as a good measure of a person’s political independence. The value of self-identification as a measure of a person’s political independence or partisanship is that it is seen as a proxy for the behavior which should be exhibited by the independent voter. Additionally, self-identification could be easily captured either with a nominal question “Do you self-identify with an existing political party?”, a question which is answered with a “yes” or a “no”, or by a structured ordinal question “Generally speaking, do you consider yourself a Democrat, a Republican, an Independent, or what?”. The first analyses of this measure of political independence found that there were significant differences between those individuals who self-identified as “independent” and those who listed “no preference” as to party identification. Individuals who expressed “no preference” usually exhibited low levels of interest in politics, low levels of knowledge about the candidates and issues, low frequency of voting, and less confidence in their ability to influence politics.

Although some scholars continue to conclude that self-description is the best measure of partisanship or independence, Even the nature of a survey instrument as a measure of partisanship and independence has been called into question.

Yes, I have never thought the independent vote was gonna be all that…..of course the partisans made it all about these voters, especially in Ohio and Florida…..these voters were going to be the make or break sector………

Hate to tell you guys this…IT IS ALL SO MUCH CRAP!

in 2004, the so called independents broke for John Kerry and he lost the election…….now in 2012 the independents broke for Mitt 50% to 45%…..and he lost (in case you missed it)…..

This is just another illustration of how the media wants to drive the news….they are the ones that made this group a whole lot more important than they were….they were NOT the deciders of the 20122 election……..

Keep this in mind for we will hear about these voters again and again…..and they will be painted as the sole decider of a future election….at least the media will want them to be…….

I Will Not Have An Obasm!

An Obasm?  Yep, an semi-orgasmic delight of Obama….I wish I could say that the term was mine and mine alone….but alas I cannot…..

The Urban Dictionary has had a definition since 2007: “The pleasure that a liberal-leaning journalist gets when writing a fawning story about U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL). An ‘obasm’ is a story so gushy and so fluffy, bereft of objectivity, that one imagines having to clean up after the writer with a mop and bucket.”

Personally, I never thought that change was gonna come with the election of Obama and I wrote about it on Daily Kos and was attacked because I was not 100% behind Obama as the site was…..goes to show that even us Leftist do not want to hear the truth……..both parties are concerned with power than solutions and the American voter is more concerned with who is president than what is done for the country they proclaim that they love and honor…….

I will not write a flowery post about Obama just because he is Obama….I will defend a policy that I think is best for the country and its people….I care not who is in power…I will not defend someone that I do not agree with or someone whose policy is not in the common good……

I have spent time reading blogs, both left and right leaning and i still shutter when I see the condemnation of anyone just because they are of a different stripe……..I may think a person is a moron and an idiot but I try to refrain from calling them such (not always successful, but t least I try….more than many can say)…..I am not condemning the person but rather a policy I do not agree with….

These days we hear much about ‘moderates’ or ‘independents’………in my mind a moderate is  a made up term to make someone appear more reasonable……an independent is someone who will put political agenda aside to work for the good of the country…….

Recently when I was having an exchange with a friend and loyal reader of Info Ink, Terrance of Sibboleth Nation (go to blogroll and visit his site…it is thoughtful and well written)………he stated that he was not sure where I stood on political issues, at times I sound like a socialist and others a straight liberal….and that exchange got me to thinking that there maybe others out there that would like to know where I stand…..it is a fair question and a fair request…….

And this is something that I have seldom told anyone….for reasons I cannot say….

I am a Leftist and I guess one can analyze that anyway that they choose….I believe that government has a duty to look after the people that it rules…to see that everyone has an equal opportunity at life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness (sorry could not resist)……when I was very young my grandfather gave my a copy of Paine’s “Common Sense”…..and that work put me on the road that I still travel…

But the biggest influence was a man named Ahmed Massoud…..a man I met during the time that I was in service to my country….it is not my intent to write a biography of the man just to illustrate how he influenced my political thinking….(Google him if you want to know more about him)…..

He was a leader of men….he would not set himself above any of his men, he cooked, washed, stood guard duty and when ever he entered a village he would shake the hand of everyone and acknowledge them, he would not take special gifts that the villagers offered because they needed it more than him…..his first concern was for the safety of the people above all……the needs of the people and the wants whenever possible…he listened to every person that wanted to talk with him, whether it was a problem, idea or just a bitch and he would act on them as he had promised….he never told the people anything that he was not willing to do……of course, he had is agenda but he never let his political ambitions get in the way of his duty to the country and its people…….he would put aside his ambitions whenever it conflicted with the needs, desires and wants of the people……

After watching this man in action, I felt that American politics should function along these lines…our politicians pretend to care, pretend to listen but their actions show they do not CARE…..policies have a dollar value in this country……..much can be learned from people like Massoud…it is a shame few listen!

Will It Come To Independents?

Bummer!  USA loses to Japan 3-1 in PKs!

We hear all the crap fed to us by the media….you pick the media, none of them offer a real analysis….they are telling us that the independents will make all the difference in the 2012 election….will Obama convert them or will it be the GOP nominee?

I recently wrote a post on the centrist vs independent debate….http://t.co/UCvygdG (if you would like to refresh your memory…..personally, I do not believe all the hype on the independent thing, as we will read….and it seems that a few agree with me, at least partially…..

I found this on political wire…..

Alan Abramowitz dispels the idea that independent voters are the largest segment of the American electorate and will decide the 2012 election.

“Research by political scientists on the American electorate has consistently found that the large majority of self-identified independents are ‘closet partisans’ who think and vote much like other partisans. Independent Democrats and independent Republicans have little in common. Moreover, independents with no party preference have a lower rate of turnout than those who lean toward a party and typically make up less than 10% of the electorate. Finally, independents don’t necessarily determine the outcomes of presidential elections; in fact, in all three closely contested presidential elections since 1972, the candidate backed by most independent voters lost.”

I have been calling this BS for the last 10 years and it is good to see that people are starting to see what a pile of manure that is being fed to the public……media analyst use it because they cannot explain what is happening in the electorate and it is easier to make up something than to do the research…..

The independents are the biggest myth that has been perpetrated on the public by the media in the last couple of decades…….we are political animals and few of us are truly independent…..

Centrist Vs Independent

College of Political Knowledge

Subject:  Political Theory

As the 2012 election starts up we hear a lot in the media about the independents……we are told that most Americans are this and then we are told that most Americans are centrists, either center right or center left….but from a purely political analyst point of view, I do not buy into this concept.  I believe that people call themselves centrists because it is easier than doing the research to pick a position and stick with it.  By the media’s definition if you are a strong supporter of….say abortion but also one of Medicare (examples only) then you would be a centrist or an independent….being equated as one in the same.  This is erroneous, at least in my mind…..it is just the mass media trying to drive the conversation by defining people in their terms, not in reality.

Let us go to the definition……a centrist, classically defined, as…..a political philosophy of avoiding the extremes of left and right by taking a moderate position or course of action….it can be said more complexly, but the simple definition works just as well…….

And then there is what the media is fixating on….independents, which means…….an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do not feel that any major party addresses. Other independent candidates are associated with a political party and may be former members of it, but choose not to stand under its label. A third category of independents are those who may belong to or support a political party but believe they should not formally represent it and thus be subject to its policies.

The last line in above definition is basically what the media wants us to believe is the definition of an independent…….basically a person who votes on issues and not party nor personality….I do not think that is so…..while people may answer the endless and continuous polls in an independent way, when it comes down to the actual act of voting then party or personality will once again be the deciding factor….I am NOT saying that everyone that claims to be an independent is lying, just that reality says they are NOT true independents.

Let us return to centrist….this is where many Americans are on the political spectrum….either center right or left……..personally, I think it is that they are concerned with the extremes of the left and right….so they opt out of the ideology in favor of a more moderate view of the issues…..the problem is that the people/voter may be of the moderate wing, the people they elect are NOT!  Ergo……partisan politics where little is accomplished and government grinds to a stop.

Look at the American system…….if we are truly a centrist nation then that could explain the total lack of cooperation that is now prevalent in Washington…..PRINCIPLES!  The lack of concrete principles is a death shot to the head of federalism…….one can possess principles without being an ideologue and we cannot have an effective government without debate and compromise…….

I say if you want to change things in Washington then let ALL the ideologues have their way and once the country is totally screwed then we can set about change things for the better and we Americans can have our country back from the abyss that we are slowly being sucked into……

We Are All Centrists

Or Why We Hate Labels……….

College of Political Knowledge

Subject:  Political Science/Political Theory/

Lecture

We hear daily, especially if you are a political junkie, that the country is a centrist country, wither center right or center left, and that we all are that with a few exceptions of those lunatics on the far right and far left…..most media pundits say that we move to the center after each election, because that is where most Americans are located…is that true?

Centrists are fence sitters……most Americans are fence sitters….ergo, most Americans are centrists

You may think about it for a long time, but the answer will always be the same……yes we are….we are a centrist people…..but why are we a centrist people?  It is NOT because of the thinking of the people….but rather the political system that forces us to be centrist….yes I said forces…..why?

The two party system comes to  mind first……the voter has NO choice beyond Dem or Repub….any other choice and it is marginalized by the media so that the two parties may continue their strangle hold on the electorate….

Rhetoric may be Left or Right, but action is almost always center….very few exceptions…….and then there this new movement of centrists or moderates, if you will….No Labels, they call themselves…..they do not want to be put into a certain ideologue camp………they are CENTRISTS!……..but think about that for a moment….(pause here for reflection)…….

Here is Nolabels.org statement of purpose:

  • Americans are entitled to a government and a political system that works – driven by shared purpose and common sense.
  • Americans deserve a government that makes the necessary choices to rein in runaway deficits, secure Social Security and Medicare, and put our country on a viable, sound path going forward.Americans support a government that works to spur employment and economic opportunity by encouraging free and open markets, tempered by sensible regulation.
  • Americans want a government that empowers people with the tools for success – from a world-class education to affordable healthcare – provided that it does so in a fiscally prudent way.
  • America should be free from discrimination and should embrace the principle of equal opportunity.
  • America must be strong and safe, ready and able to protect itself in a world of multiple dangers and uncertainties.

Holy crap!  What novel ideas!  Sounds like every other party and their statement of principles…..where is this any different than the crap we live with now?  Just looks like another PAC that is seeking money to advance their ideas and their candidates….none of it sounds anywhere near a new idea…..

A new organization of centrists that will NOT be labeled…..fine,  but first…..

Sorry guys….that is a LABEL!

You may call yourself a conservative or a liberal (present day progressive)….but that is all it is a title that bestowed on yourself to explain, to  try to explain, why you feel or believe the way that you do.  Below the rhetoric, we all are centrists….it is NOT a special movement afoot….it has been that way since the beginning in 1787 and we just enforce that center path with our choices…….

These so-called centrists want us to believe that there is another way of governance, other than the two party system….there is Not…why?  Because we are all centrists…….we have always been a centrists country……

This effort kinda remains me of another con job, Unity ’08, it was a “movement” of moderates to find a better way than the two parties….but it was mostly to raise money and to try and get Bloomberg to run….nothing about issues other than some vague concept of working together…….a con job will always be a con job…..smells more like a money scam…….

Why Is The GOP Not More Appealing?

The GOP has been struggling recently to find its footing in the mpolitical climate of the country and so far they have failed miserably with the exception of the their core membership…..old white guys in the South.

Why is this?  A story recently published by the AP could help explain their problem.

Multiracial Americans have become the fastest growing demographic group, wielding an impact on minority growth that challenges traditional notions of race.The number of multiracial people rose 3.4 percent last year to about 5.2 million, according to the latest census estimates. First given the option in 2000, Americans who check more than one box for race on census surveys have jumped by 33 percent and now make up 5 percent of the minority population — with millions more believed to be uncounted.

Demographers attributed the recent population growth to more social acceptance and slowing immigration. They cited in particular the high public profiles of Tiger Woods and President Barack Obama, a self-described “mutt,” who are having an effect on those who might self-identify as multiracial.

Population figures as of July 2008 show that California, Texas, New York and Florida had the most multiracial people, due partly to higher numbers of second- and later-generation immigrants who are more likely to “marry out.” Measured by percentages, Hawaii ranked first with nearly 1 in 5 residents who were multiracial, followed by Alaska and Oklahoma, both at roughly 4 percent.

Census data also show:

_More than half of the multiracial population was younger than 20 years old, a reflection of declining social stigma as interracial marriages became less taboo.

_Interracial marriages increased threefold to 4.3 million since 2000, when Alabama became the last state to lift its unenforceable ban on interracial marriages. (The Supreme Court barred race-based restrictions on marriage in 1967.) About 1 in 13 marriages are mixed race, with the most prevalent being white-Hispanic, white-American Indian and white-Asian.

_Due to declining immigration because of legal restrictions and the lackluster economy, the growth rates of the Hispanic and Asian populations slowed last year to 3.2 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively, compared to multiracial people’s 3.4 percent. The black population rose at a rate of about 1 percent; the white population only marginally increased.

This could be one of the reasons for the growing amount of people that indentify themselves as Dems or Indies and the falling numbers of those that find Repub ideas not as appealing.

Vote Nader?

For more than four decades, Ralph Nader has saved lives, opened minds, implemented solutions, and inspired citizens everywhere to participate in building a better, more democratic world. He has founded or organized more than 100 civic organizations, authored countless books and publications, and perhaps more than any other person has defined our modern understanding of the American ideals of democracy, civic duty, and participation for the public good, rather than dominance by the corporate powers. Known for his ethics, integrity and independence, Ralph Nader is recognized world-wide for putting democracy to work.

What is less well known is that in his 2000 bid for President of the United States, Ralph Nader earned the votes of citizens across the political spectrum. Under the banner, ‘Not for Sale’, millions responded to Nader’s message to the American people calling for greater accountability for corporations and an end to corporate-controlled government. According to the exit polls conducted by Democratic pollster Stanley Greenberg, fully 25% of his votes came from Republicans, 38% from Democrats, and the remainder from people who would not have voted. No other American leader can be credited with such broad appeal across the divides of our polarized nation. No other American leader can claim such unfettered independence from the ethically bankrupt quagmire of insider politics where the lives of ordinary Americans are regularly sacrificed to commercial interests.

To his credit, Ralph Nader does more than just talk. As the New York Times said, “What sets Nader apart is that he has moved beyond social criticism to effective political action.” Part of his mammoth legacy is the effective national network of citizen reform groups that labor to preserve the safety and quality of life of EVERY SINGLE AMERICAN. His groups have made an imprint on many areas including civic skills, tax reform, pensions, aviation, regulation of atomic power, renewable energy, clean air and water, clean elections, food, medicine and auto safety, safety in the workplace, access to healthcare, civil rights, civil justice, Congressional ethics, campaign finance, discriminatory lending, the tobacco industry, corporate crime and reform, investor protection, corporate globalization, agribusiness and small farms, intellectual property, medicine prices abroad, freedom of information, and government procurement. The list goes on and on.

Once again, Ralph Nader is standing up for all Americans, proposing brighter solutions and futures while decrying the big government erosion of civil liberties, the vast diversion of tax dollars for wasteful military spending, the Iraq quagmire, and the daily abuses and frauds suffered by ordinary Americans at the hands of corrupt corporations and indifferent bureaucracies. The campaign is seeking participators, to invoke Jefferson’s word, who support his independent campaign for the office of President of the United States.

Ralph Nader is a consumer advocate, lawyer, author, and has been named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential Americans in the Twentieth Century.

For over four decades Ralph Nader has exposed problems and organized millions of citizens into more than 100 public interest groups to advocate for solutions.

His efforts have helped to create a framework of laws, regulatory agencies, and federal standards that have improved the quality of life for two generations of Americans.

His groups were instrumental in enacting the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and the Safe Drinking Water Act.

In the past decade, Nader has dedicated himself to putting people back in charge of America’s democracy, launching three major presidential campaigns.

Because of Ralph Nader we drive safer cars, eat healthier food, breathe better air, drink cleaner water, and work in safer environments.

Nader On The Stump

Anti-corporation sentiments flourished at Gravity Lounge on Sunday afternoon, where White House hopeful Ralph Nader stopped by on his independent presidential campaign tour.

“[Corporations] were never designed to rule us,” said Nader, who first appeared on the presidential ballot in 2000. “They were designed to be our servants, now they have become our masters.”

Speaking for roughly 45 minutes, the candidate presented 12 “on the table” issues that he said neither mainstream-party hopeful, Republican Sen. John McCain and Democratic Sen. Barack Obama, has addressed.

Among those were cutting the military budget, adopting single-payer national health insurance, completely reversing the United States’ policy in the Middle East, impeaching President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, and cracking down on corporate crime and welfare.

Nader added that several previous U.S. political parties — Populists, Greenbacks and the National Woman’s Party — brought about many of the rights that currently exist, though they never won a national election.