Comments on: Caffeine Queen on “Unaffiliate!: The 50% Solution!”

By: SteveS

SteveS — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 01:15:06 +0000

“Upstanding, hard-working, tax-paying citizens” keep the engines of this society going, and have little time for the commitment that politics requires. Oh, sure, they (we) can spare some time for it, but unless political activity is a paying career, these citizens (us citizens) have higher priorities and higher responsibilities than mucking about in the political trenches.

They (we) will not form a [third] political party – it takes committed professionals to do that. But I suspect many are ready to seriously consider an alternate to the paff that we are currently being fed.

By: Barbara J. Davis

Barbara J. Davis — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 00:18:22 +0000

After the June DNC debacle, I Knew that I would definitely NOT vote for B.O. but my affiliation with the Democratic Party was a difficult decision. I actually let the Party make the decision for me. I wrote them a number of times indicating that if Party convention was not totally transparent and if Hillary’s delegates were not allowed to vote for her AND IF ALL THE STATES WERE NOT ALLOWED TO CAST THEIR VOTES FOR ELECTORS then I would quit the party after 35 years. While watching the casting of votes, I at first thought they were going to do the right thing….and then it was over so fast with Pelosi drowning out the dissenting voices. So, it was a done deal!! I reregistered as an “independent” the very next day and have had ABSOLUTELY no regrets. I’ll gladly join a third party as a PUMA/JSND/Or whatever it would be called.

By: mountain girl

mountain girl — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 20:10:59 +0000

I’ve been an independent for almost 20 years. I generally have supported Democrats, as I was raised a Democrat and thought I was a liberal/progressive. I left the Democratic party because it was clear that it was no longer the party I grew up in..the base was gone and it was now just a collection of special interest groups.

This year I moved from John Edwards to Hillary to McCain/Palin and now I am leaning toward Libertarian. The whole time, I retained my Independent registration. (although in the state I live in now, it is called unaffiliated). I realize I have always been a Libertarian, although I do not agree with them on all positions. Particularly on caring for those who can not care for themselves. But, they are the closest to what my beliefs are. I think I’m going to a meeting next week to find out what they are talking about.

By: ford

ford — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 18:33:37 +0000

I have been an Independent since 1991. It is been a great sense of freedom for me, and I recommend it.

The up side is you have no dogma to massage in order to vote for your choice. The down side is that I have lived in 4 different states, and the rights you have are dependent on the state you live in. Some states let Independents vote in the primary, some not.

I live in NH now and Independent is great here, you get all the voting rights of the parties, and you remain the swing vote, everybody wants you!

The other states SC, NV, UT were really tough, but it was still where I needed to be to not contribute to the 2 monopolies….

Leave the side of the swimming pool, even if you have to tread water, it’s better than being part of the herd, and giving permission for the Pubs and the Dems to run us further into the dirt.

By: Shtuey Shtuey

Shtuey Shtuey — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 17:50:14 +0000

saving face; one of the greatest challenges we face is a largely uneducated electorate. Most people couldn’t tell you the basic functioning of our government, or tell you the difference between a republic and a direct democracy. That is why along with actions like the 50% solution and the 30% solution, we must also be launching a grassroots effort to go to grassroots America and educate the masses. They need to know what happened in 2008. They need to know that their parties are corrupt. Most importantly, they need to know that they have the power to break the partisan cycle that is killing our republic.

The corruption that we now so plainly see has been around for years. It’s on;y now in 2008 that it became so obvious that there was no hiding it, which is why the media was working overtime to praise the messiah from Chicago. There is so much work to do it’s ridiculous. We’re going to have to learn to multitask, and quick.

By: eriezindian

eriezindian — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 14:45:29 +0000

I had decided to become an Indie after the general election. Then I started hearing Tweety and the chance of running for Senate in PA. Here in PA an Indie cannot vote in the primaries. I will never again be a Dem, as I was,( monthly donations, blind obedience to party line, etc) but may stay one until I can vote against him in the primary. Hopefully he will have a decent opponent….if not, good old Arlen will be my choice in fall, if he runs again.

By: Sassy

Sassy — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 14:43:23 +0000

Uppity, your observations are accurate. In my state, we do not register by party, but I and mine went to the Republican side of the ledger after Senator Clinton was eliminated.
My first conclusion about this election:
Ted Kennedy pulled together a coalition to defeat the Clintons, once and for all.
John McCain only carried white males and seniors over 65, in the data I saw.
Blacks, Hispanics, women, Catholics, Jews and all other minority voters went democratic.
President Clinton is out to pasture now, working with individuals on world economic issues. Senator Clinton is now a go-fer for the “O”, and has lost the clout that one Senator can exert by putting holds on nominees and legislation.
My second conclusion:
The “O” is going to have to be A-One perfect on the economy, national security, and all the issues…thus the inner circle of oldies.
There is always some antagonisim to an incoming administration, and as the economy worsens, more jobs are lost, and things continue to flare up around the globe, I expect the support for the “O” to start to plummet.

By: hootnannie

hootnannie — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 14:11:04 +0000

As I see it, the biggest problem with the American public is disinterest in politics. Too many people are overconfident that our republic will remain solid and pretty much as it is, or they believe both major parties are about the same. But I don’t see what good it does to declare onself an indie. One still has to vote D or R or cast a ballot for a third party, none of which go anywhere because of the blase attitude of too many people. I don’t believe Obama would have been elected if over a third of people hadn’t bothered to vote. And voters are still quite capable of crossing party lines.
I personally feel, however, that most things come out in the wash, so to say. Insiders like Brazile may have thought the Dems had them one far leftie in Obama, but it looks like he’s going to govern like a moderate Dem surrounded by Clintonistas. I’m not an insider, so all I can do is try to influence my representatives to vote in the way I feel is correct. Any pol, regardless of party, can govern in a manner that suits a majority of constituents. Certainly, those from the Deep South look at things differently than those from the West Coast. They can’t just vote in Congress anyway they like, or they’ll be out of office after the next election.

By: saving face

saving face — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 10:10:33 +0000

shtuey — We who come to this site care about issues and what happens to our great nation. Most Americans however, latch on to a phrase like War on Terror or Hope and Change and know nothing about issues. They vote based on a slogan.

How do we get the yobs to care? Seems on the day after Thanksgiving they were so anxious to get their bargains that a Walmart employee was trampled and killed. Until all Americans realize that we have the power to make real change possible — we are all screwed.

By: saving face

saving face — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 09:56:39 +0000

Melisa — Former Dem now Indie–I loved Sarah Palin. She spoke so clearly about what she believed in and what she would do. She was a breath of fresh air. I would vote for her in a heartbeat.

By: saving face

saving face — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 09:51:32 +0000

Actually there is only one party right now. Both parties have decided the most important issue is Welfare for the Rich. One industry after another is going to be feeding off our taxes–while giving nothing back to Ordinary Americans. When the people want bread the media gives us circuses. If we are to be true Independents we need to be independent of the media as well as the 2 parties.

By: Shtuey Shtuey

Shtuey Shtuey — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 06:54:56 +0000

It’s a common thread that unites many movements. When political bodies circumvent your will and your rights you can either take them back, or watch them fade.

I’ll be writing on the Fourth Wave of feminism soon. The way I see it, the real action in the women’s rights movement is happening where women are creating their own institutions, using them to create a base of power for themselves, and then using it to lift up those around them.

It’s the same as the 50% solution. We are going to fashion ourselves into a new institution that no one can control but us. Not something concrete like a political party that can be easily marginalized, but an incorporeal mass where politics, rights, and ideas get souped together. It’s the “I own my vote” statement on steroids.

By: TeakWoodKite

TeakWoodKite — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 06:02:19 +0000

Shtuey Shtuey, This goes back to the loss of the native toungue of the Lackota Americans you spoke of early. I think the 50% solution will only work when every voter is a stake holder and KNOWS IT. Not made apathetic by

The loss of the native words to express and inject meaning into one’s life and the liberty required to do so, go right to the heart of Uppity Woman’s article.

By: betty

betty — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 06:02:17 +0000

I agree Steve1, we are in big trouble. We can’t fight the big money or the media. Big money is given to politicians to control them and the politicians use the big money to dominate in elections.

The only way to fight back is to not need money to get elected and not need the media to pay attention. In the US House party the candidate would be picked at the last possible moment before an election and since everyone has agreed to vote for the winner no matter what, it wouldn’t matter what the media or money bags political parties or politicians could dig up about the lottery candidate. After the election, if the candidate wins all the membership money would be divided into $10 thousand dollar bundles and distributed by random number drawing.

The winning candidate would get the salary of a member of the House of Representatives which is over 100 thousand dollars, I think. Eventually, if enough got elected a law could be enacted that mandated the employer grant a leave of absence for the 2 years of service.

The lure to get people to join the party would be the dividing up of the member ship fee. If 300,000 people represented the majority of a congressional district and each person payed a 5 dollar annual membership fee they would have a 300,000:1 chance to win one of the 150 $10 thousand dollar prizes.

This could be a great political experiment. A reality show that is real.

By: Shtuey Shtuey

Shtuey Shtuey — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 05:57:29 +0000

Exactly Deborah. It’s time the electorate stopped looking to the parties to set the agenda as it is typically a self-serving process. The 50% solution shifts the model. Without their built-in audience they actually have to be thoughtful about the process, and the product.

I’ve been unaffiliated since 2000. It’s the way to go.