The Independent View

Vote for NYC Mayor, Block by Block Maps

2009-11-07T18:01:00.002-05:00

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg won re-election Tuesday, but voters were less enthusiastic about him than the last time he ran in 2005. The mayor did well in high-income white areas of Manhattan and Queens, and also in election districts dominated by immigrants, like Flushing and Brighton Beach. But his vote fell sharply in black neighborhoods, especially southeast Queens, where the black middle class has been hard-hit by foreclosure.

Use the above link to use the interactive map to view the election results by block.

Michael H. Drucker
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Serious as a Heart Attack: The Independent’s Story

2009-11-06T22:16:00.003-05:00

Independents went left in 2008, but Jackie Salit warns that the Right wants them back. Are Dems listening?

When we finally get far enough down the road on health care reform, it will become clear that a driving force in the intensity of the fight was a heart attack. Not the medical kind. The political kind.

Use the above link to read an article by Jackie Salit, the president of IndependentVoting.org, executive editor of NeoIndependent.com (a magazine for independents) and the campaign coordinator for Mike Bloomberg’s mayoral campaign on the Independence Party line.

Michael H. Drucker
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Will we see the rise of a viable third party?

2009-11-06T17:59:00.003-05:00

Some of the nation's top political commentators, legislators and intellectuals offer some insight into the biggest question burning up the blogosphere today.

Independents and third parties have been playing a bigger role in recent elections. With poll numbers for both parties on the decline, is there a real opening for independent/third party candidates?

Use the above link to read the answers from:

Rep. Charles Gonzalez (D-Tx.)
David Boaz, executive vice president of The Cato Institute
Herb London, president of the Hudson Institute
Rep. Steve Lynch (D-Mass.)
Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tx.)
John Zogby, founder, president and CEO of Zogby International
John M. Snyder, public affairs director for the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms
Rob Richie, executive director of FairVote
Larry J. Sabato, Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia
Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit
John F. McManus, president of the The John Birch Society

Michael H. Drucker
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NY Instant Runoff Elections

2009-11-06T16:05:00.004-05:00

This post is from an email from "News from STATE SENATOR, Liz Krueger, New York State Senate, 26th District.

"The abysmal turnout for the New York City runoff election highlights the need for election reform. I carry legislation (S.3584), also sponsored by Assemblymember Kavanagh, which would enable, but not require, localities to establish an instant runoff election system.

Runoffs are extremely costly and only a tiny fraction of voters participate. In September we had a runoff for Comptroller and Public Advocate in which only 7% of the registered Democrat voters went to the polls but for which the City spent over 15 million dollars. And in both cases, the winners of the initial primary were the winners of the runoff. And in fact, the City would have had to spend 15 million even if there was only one runoff seat, instead of two. By passing my legislation New York will be able to use an instant runoff system in which, if someone doesn't garner a majority of the vote, the second choice votes will be selected at the same time on the same day. This will let everyone know the outcome of the “instant runoff” that day, saving taxpayers millions of dollars and ensuring that candidates with the maximum turnout of primary voters are elected.

Instant runoff voting gives voters the option to rank candidates according to the order of their choice. The first choice marked on each ballot shall be counted initially by election officials. If one candidate receives a majority of the first choice votes cast, excluding blank and void ballots, that candidate shall be declared elected. If no candidate obtains a majority of first choice votes, then the candidate receiving the fewest first-choice votes is eliminated. Each vote cast for the eliminated candidate shall be transferred to the candidate who was the voter's next choice on the ballot. If at this time one candidate had a majority of the vote they would be declared the winner; if not, then the process would repeat, with the lowest vote-getter again being eliminated until one candidate had the necessary percentage for victory.

There are several potential benefits to the instant runoff voting method. First, voters are free to mark their ballot for the candidate they truly prefer without fear that their choice will help elect their least preferred candidate. Second, it ensures that the elected candidate has true majority support. In addition, the instant runoff voting method should promote higher voter turnout, and encourage positive campaigning, because candidates will seek second-choice and third-choice votes from voters and will therefore be less likely to attack other candidates and alienate voters who support other candidates as their first choice. In situations in which runoffs are already required, it will eliminate the need for a second runoff election, with its increased costs and lower voter turnout.

Passing this bill is common sense. Localities should have a choice as to whether or not they want to save millions of wasted dollars which are needed for far more important purposes. Furthermore, it is a pilot program so if it is successful – which I expect it to be – then we can continue the option. But if it isn’t, then it will sunset at the end of 2012. Since the State and City are moving to paper ballots with optical scanners as the new voting machine technology, it will not be complicated to change to this multiple choice voting system."

I agree with the State Senator's suggestion. What do you think?

Michael H. Drucker
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Independent Wins NY 23rd District

2009-11-04T21:37:00.004-05:00

Thanks to Ballot Access News for this post.

Jefferson County, New York, which is on Lake Ontario, has been represented by a Republican in the U.S. House starting with the 1854 election, the year the Republican Party was born. However, as a result of the November 3, 2009, special election in the 23rd district, Jefferson County will be represented by Bill Owens, the Democratic nominee who appears to have won.

Jefferson County’s largest city is Watertown. In the 1852 election, Jefferson County had been its own U.S. House district, and had elected an Independent to the U.S. House. Jefferson County hadn’t been represented by a Democrat in the U.S. House since a Democrat, Willard Ives, won the 1850 election in that part of New York.

Ironically, the new Congressman in the 23rd district, Owens, is a registered independent, even though he was the Democratic nominee.

Michael H. Drucker
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INDEPENDENCE PARTY BREAKS RECORDS‏

2009-11-04T19:43:00.005-05:00

INDEPENDENCE PARTY BREAKS RECORDS;
142,817 VOTES FOR BLOOMBERG ON COLUMN C DELIVERS MARGIN TO CITY'S FIRST INDEPENDENT MAYOR

New York, NY-The Independence Party vote for Mike Bloomberg yesterday broke numerous records and re-enforced its ongoing mandate for independent governance and non-partisan reform.

Unofficial returns released by the Board of Elections put the IP total on Column "C" at 142,817 votes, nearly 26% of Bloomberg's total and 13% of all votes cast. This means that 1 in 4 Bloomberg voters chose to vote on the Independence Party line.

The vote for the mayor on the Independence Party line was an increase of 91% over its total four years ago, when it drew nearly 75,000 votes on its crucial Column "C".

Jacqueline Salit, who has run all three IP campaigns for Bloomberg stated: The Independence Party's 143,000 votes grows out of the strength of our grassroots organization, the popularity of political independence as a new option and a longstanding partnership with our independent mayor, Mike Bloomberg. This record breaking vote makes plain our growth and our role in the emerging shift in New York City politics. We're a new kind of minor party with an agenda for non-partisan reform. We have a broad and diverse base of support. We gave Mike his margin in a close race. And we made history by electing the city's first independent mayor.

In three consecutive elections, under varying circumstances, the Independence Party has made its mark on the NYC mayoral. In 2001, its 59,091 votes gave Bloomberg his margin over Democrat Mark Green, who lost by 35,000 votes. In 2005, the IP vote for Bloomberg grew by 26%, making it the only political party to demonstrate growth at the polls that year. This year, the IP delivered 13% of the total votes cast- the largest percentage ever-by a minor party for a cross-endorsed mayoral candidate.

For the last 20 years, other minor parties polled between 32,551 (the Working Families Party vote for Mark Green in 2001) and 62,469 (the Liberal Party vote for Rudy Giuliani in 1993).

# # #

Michael H. Drucker
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NYC 2009 Election Results

2009-11-04T18:09:00.006-05:00

Mayor Bloomberg won a third term by 5%, 51% to 46%. But in my district, the 73rd (Eastside of Manhattan), the win was 82% to 16% with 2% for Other. In NYC, the mayor received 142,817 votes on Column "C", the Independence Party.

Use the above link to The New York Times' Election Results and use their interactive map to view each districts' results.

Michael H. Drucker
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Bloomberg Goes All Out to Lift Turnout

2009-11-02T11:19:00.010-05:00

His administration’s record aside, and his campaign’s unmatched spending notwithstanding, Michael R. Bloomberg’s aides in the field mince no words about exactly what will determine the outcome of next Tuesday’s mayoral election.

“At the end of the day, every election is about one thing: making sure your supporters get to the polls and vote,” Lenny Speiller, the campaign’s get-out-the-vote director, declares on the Bloomberg Web site.

I attended the "Get Out the Vote" rally this pass Sunday with Mayor Bloomberg.

I will be a poll captain spending Election Day, after I vote, reminding voters to vote for the Independent Mayor Bloomberg on Column "C", the Independence Party line on the ballot. Then I will help with monitoring the machine counts after the polls close. Oh Yeah, then I will be at the Bloomberg party watching the results.

Use the above link to read the article in the New York Times by SAM ROBERTS.

Michael H. Drucker
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Three’s Company

2009-11-02T11:02:00.003-05:00

The 2009 political season has been surprisingly entertaining, with third-party candidates providing the spark. It’s at the state and local level where an independent politician or party can actually hope to get things done.

The Internet has democratized political organizing in ways that ought to weaken the two-party duopoly. Howard Dean and Ron Paul have proved that you can fund a presidential campaign with a laptop.

For anyone who wants to try, the time is now. This year has been a good year for independent candidates. Given the public mood these days, 2010 could be an even better one — and there will be a lot more than three offices up for grabs next fall.

Use the above link to read the New York Times article by Op-Ed Columnist, ROSS DOUTHAT.

Michael H. Drucker
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President Obama Signs Overseas Voter Act

2009-10-29T10:58:00.003-04:00

Thanks to Ballot Access News for this post.

President Obama signed S.1390 on Wednesday, October 28. This is the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act, contained within the Defense Authorization Bill. The Voter Empowerment Act tells states that in federal elections, they must mail overseas absentee ballots no later than 45 days before the election.

Like the Help America Vote Act of 2002, and the Motor Voter Act of 1993, this new bill is one more instance in which the federal government is slowly setting national uniform standards for the nation for federal election administration. The United States and Switzerland are the only nations in the world in which the laws for administering elections for the national elections are written by various subunits of that nation. As the trend continues, it seems more plausible that Congress will eventually set a federal standard for ballot access for Presidential and Congressional candidates.

In New York like other states, the state board of elections will have to determine how this new law affects state and local election time frames for those absentee ballots.

Michael H. Drucker
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Cops and Kids

2009-10-20T10:58:00.008-04:00

The All Stars Project Board of Directors and management is proud to announce a new innovative performance-based program: Operation Conversation: Cops and Kids.

Operation Conversation: Cops and Kids was started in late 2006 by Dr. Lenora Fulani, as a grassroots experiment in the wake of the police shooting of Sean Bell in Queens. Since then, it has gained support from the New York Police Department and Commissioner Ray Kelly, from the Center for Race, Crime and Justice at John Jay College for Criminal Justice, and from inner-city young people throughout New York. In October, 2009 the All Stars Project (ASP) Board of Directors supported the adoption of Operation Conversation as a program of the ASP.

Use the above link for more information about the All Stars Project and Cops and Kids program.

Michael H. Drucker
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Harlem Rally for True Independents

2009-10-15T19:16:00.005-04:00

Thanks to the Hankster for this video.

Dr. Lenora Fulani speaks in Harlem on the significance of Mike Bloomberg's independent run for Mayor of NYC for the Black community.

Use the above link for more information about the NYC Independence Party Organizations.

Michael H. Drucker
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The Case for Nonpartisan Elections

2009-10-13T18:22:00.005-04:00

Francis S. Barry, has worked as a policy advisor and director of speech writing for New York City’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg since 2002, makes the case in his book "The Scandal of the Reform" that nonpartisan elections can bring back voters who are not registered as Democrats or Republicans. "Why," he asks, "exclude independent voters from the first round of voting [the closed primary] if that is the decisive election?" Messy empirical and practical arguments aside, this is a compelling argument on its face. As new generations of voters entering the polity valuing their independence and refusing to commit to one political party or the other, the numbers of the effectively disenfranchised will only climb.

Mayor Bloomberg likes nonpartisan elections too, but he focuses more on the managerial quality of local government, along the lines of Fiorello LaGuardia's old chestnut that there is no partisan way to pick up the garbage. In 2003, Bloomberg established a charter commission under the chairmanship of Frank Macchiarola, the president of St. Francis College, to investigate and make recommendations for a nonpartisan election plan for the city. The commissioners worked hard, but faced overwhelming opposition from "reform" groups in New York.

Bloomberg's charter commission recommended giving candidates the option of identifying their party affiliation if they chose, but opening the election to all registered voters, thus eliminating the closed party primary. If you are concerned about a crowded election contest that will produce a winner with 10 percent to 15 percent of the vote, no worries -- we can employ instant runoff techniques where voters can select their second and third choices. The top finishers can be paired off with the additional preferences supplied by voters and a winner with a legitimate majority can be crowned.

Voters overwhelmingly rejected Macchiarola's plan for nonpartisan elections, 70 percent to 30 percent. But only 13 percent of registered voters bothered to show up for the off-year election of 2003, and many had ties to the unions, interest groups and political clubs that benefit from the status quo and know how to pull the levers of the current system to their advantage. They were loathe to expand the electorate and risk the surrender of power.

Barry says that nonpartisan elections very well might create a more cooperative spirit in City Hall, and embolden rank and file legislators to break with orthodoxy. I am not so sure -- many cities, after all, have nonpartisan municipal elections and are just slogging it out like we do in the Big Apple. The best case for the adoption of nonpartisan elections is the principled one, removed from any impact it may have: Nonpartisan elections give more people the opportunity to exercise, in a meaningful way, the most fundamental right and obligation in a democracy, the vote.

While taking part in the Independence Party selection of Bloomberg on Column "C" as a member of the Manhattan Executive Committee, the mayor said "show him the way to nonpartisan municipal elections, and I am in."

With 945,931 New York City registered voters who can not vote in the primaries, it just might be the time in 2010.

Michael H. Drucker
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Serious as a Heart Attack: The Independents’ Story

2009-10-12T20:17:00.003-04:00

I found this on the Donklephant Blog from the Hankster. "This article by independent strategist Jackie Salit came across my desk and I thought it was too good not to share in full with you.-Nancy" I agree so here is the entire article.

When we finally get far enough down the road on health care reform, it will become clear that a driving force in the intensity of the fight was a heart attack. Not the medical kind. The political kind.

Independents swung decisively to Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election. And it is this shift by independents – who repositioned themselves from center-right to center-left – that gave the Republican right the political equivalent of cardiac arrest.

In 1992, 19 million independents voted for Ross Perot. In 2008, 19 million independents voted for Barack Obama. Over the span of 15 years, the largely white, center-right independent movement re-aligned itself with Black America and progressive-minded voters.

This did not happen out of the blue. It did not happen by magic. It happened because the progressive wing of the independent movement did the painstaking and often controversial work of bringing the Perot movement and the Fulani movement together at the grassroots. The Fulani movement refers to the country’s leading African American independent, Dr. Lenora Fulani, who exposed the black community to independent politics and introduced the independent movement to an alliance with Black America.

No doubt the dramatics that the right wing brought to the Town Hall meetings this summer were intended for the television cameras. But the organizers, strategists and radio personalities who orchestrated the theatrics had a particular audience in mind: Independents. If they could tarnish Obama’s image with indies, they could damage the black and independent alliance and re-establish the Republican Party as an influential force amongst independents. Some of that could be accomplished, they felt, by claiming Obama’s health plan would drive up the national debt – a concern that animated the early Perot movement. Some Republican strategists felt that if they simply branded Obama a socialist, it would scare independents away – not from the health care plan (everyone recognizes a plan of some kind will get passed) but away from the center-left coalition that elected him.

If indies are feeling somewhat disillusioned with President Obama over the health care reform fight, it has more to do with fears that he is being overly influenced by the partisans in Congress. Since independents voted for him to be a more independent president, it’s easy to see how some felt disappointed by his handling of the Republican onslaught. Obama’s independent appeal was based on his challenge to the prevailing culture of Clintonian opportunism in the Democratic Party and partisanship inside the Beltway. Put another way, the independent vote for Obama was an effort to define a new kind of progressivism, one that was not synonymous with Democratic Party control.

After years of hard work and organizing, independents have become a sought-after partner in American politics. They elected President Obama and New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, arguably the country’s two most independent and pragmatically progressive elected officials. No wonder the Republican Party right wants a clawback.

Independents are vulnerable to being peeled away by the Republican right. The Pew Research Center reports that were the 2010 midterms to be held today, independents would lean towards Republicans by a 43 to 38 percent margin. But, the evolution of a 21st century independent movement is not that simple. First, the movement is very fluid and very new. Historical movements develop through twists and turns, not in a straight line. The far right has attempted to take over the independent movement before. In 1994, Newt Gingrich crafted the “Contract with America” to woo Perotistas back into the Republican tent. And in 2000, social conservative Pat Buchanan hijacked the Reform Party presidential nomination, though he was roundly repudiated by independents in the general election.

If Republicans are increasing their influence among independents, it’s also because the Democratic Party Left has not been a friend to the independent movement. Sure, Democrats were happy that indies broke for Obama. But they were disappointed that we didn’t become Democrats. They equate progressivism with being in the Democratic Party. But they’re wrong.

Neither the Republican Party nor the Democratic Party has been enthusiastic about the development of indies as a third force. For different reasons, surely. But they share a common goal: to maintain the primacy of two-value logic (where there is only one or the other, never neither) and make sure independents are passive companions. That’s one reason that the fight for open primaries – which allow independents to cast ballots in every round of voting – and the campaign to appoint independents to the Federal Election Commission are so important. Those fights are about our right to participate and our right to represent our interests in changing the political culture.

The independent movement went left in 2008, after many years of grassroots organizing to link it to progressive leadership. Now the right wants to peel it back. Obama, presumably, wants to hold on to the partnership, but must also privilege his own party, which turns independents off and makes them more susceptible to Republican attacks. Meanwhile, independents are working hard at the grassroots to hold our own.

Jackie Salit is the president of IndependentVoting.org and the campaign coordinator for New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s mayoral campaign on the Independence Party line.

Michael H. Drucker
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NY Senate Bill Would Eliminate Primary Runoff

2009-10-07T10:48:00.003-04:00

Around 7 percent of registered Democrats voted in the New York City primary runoff last week, in which Councilman John C. Liu of Queens won the party’s nomination for city comptroller and Councilman Bill de Blasio of Brooklyn won the nomination for public advocate.

With such low turnout, the roughly $15 million cost of the runoff meant that the election cost something like $72 per vote cast, according to State Senator Joseph P. Addabbo Jr., a Queens Democrat who announced legislation on Monday to eliminate runoff elections in New York State. Mr. Addabbo’s bill comes after critics have questioned the need for the runoff system, which was created after a New York City mayoral primary 40 years ago.

Other options are “instant runoff,” in which primary voters cast indicate their top choices by ranking their top choices: No. 1, No. 2, No. 3. If no candidate received at least 40 percent of the No. 1 rankings, an instant runoff would take place between the top two vote-getters by allocating the ballots from the defeated candidates to whichever of the top two candidates was ranked next on that ballot. The candidate with more votes would win.

Use the above link to read the entire article.

Michael H. Drucker
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Military ballots at risk in New York's special election

2009-10-05T13:08:00.004-04:00

New York is holding a special election on November 3, 2009, to fill a vacant U.S. House seat. It is very likely that a substantial number of overseas military will not be able to have their vote counted in this election. A spokesperson for the Overseas Vote Foundation predicts that the federal government will soon sue New York again over this issue.

The U.S. Election Assistance Commission has recommended mailing absentee ballots to military voters at least 45 days before they are due. The Military Postal Service Agency recommended at least 60 days.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., alarmed by studies that showed 41 percent of military and overseas voters in Upstate New York (a total of 8,226 voters) did not have their ballots counted in 2008, proposed a reform bill in May.

Schumer’s bipartisan bill mandates that states send ballots out to military and absentee voters at least 45 days before the election. The legislation has passed the Senate, and awaits approval in the House.

Conklin, of the New York Board of Elections, said the state had no choice but to follow its own election laws after former Rep. John McHugh, R-Pierrepont Manor, resigned to become President Obama’s secretary of the Army on Sept. 21.

Voters’ rights advocates say potentially thousands of military voters from Upstate New York could be disenfranchised in what early polls indicate will be a tight, three-way race to pick the region’s next member of Congress due to the delay in mailing ballots and the time it will take to return them.

Use the above link to read the entire article.

Michael H. Drucker
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CATO Book Forum on Two Ballot Access Books

2009-10-03T19:52:00.002-04:00

On October 13, at noon, the CATO Institute holds a free forum with two authors, both of whom have recently written books on ballot access.

The featured authors are Theresa Amato, author of Grand Illusion: the Myth of Voter Choice in a Two-Party Tyranny, and James T. Bennett, author of Not Invited to the Party, How Demopublicans Have Rigged the System and Left Independents Out in the Cold. Bennett’s book is not yet in bookstores, but will be soon.

Use the above link for more information.

Michael H. Drucker
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NJ Gubernatorial Debate Watch Poll

2009-09-28T15:59:00.006-04:00

We need your help to create a buzz!

On Thursday, October 1, independentvoting.org/CUIP is sponsoring a Debate Watch to give New Jersey independents an opportunity to weigh in on the first scheduled debate among the three candidates for governor - the Democratic incumbent, John Corzine, his Republican challenger, Chris Christie, and the independent candidate, Chris Daggett.

This is the first time a qualified independent has ever been included in NJ's gubernatorial debates! We've created a Debate Watch poll that we'll use to project the voice of indies in the race while continuing to build our growing base in the state.

Over the past few weeks we've been reaching out to independents in our network as well as doing cold call polling to indies in NJ - where 46% of all registered voters are independent - to invite them to participate in Thursday's Debate Watch. Both sets of calls are going extremely well. Our goal is to have 100 NJ indies taking part in Debate Watch.

Here's how you can help us to get the word out. Do you know someone in NJ - colleagues, clients, friends, relatives - who might want to participate?

Use the above link to take the online poll.

The debate will take place at 8 pm on all network channels and WNJN will re-air it on October 4.

And of course if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call: 212-609-2800.

Thanks so much in advance!

Michael H. Drucker
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African American Day Parade in Harlem

2009-09-21T11:26:00.006-04:00

Thanks to the Hankster for this post.

Dr. Lenora Fulani leads the NYC Independence Party contingent in the African American Day Parade in Harlem, September 20, 2009. "Vote independent, Bloomberg on C".

Michael H. Drucker
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Independence Party of Richmond County Chairman's Reception

2009-09-19T11:31:00.008-04:00

I and 49 other independent and independent leaning voters and candidates attended The Independence Party of Richmond County's Sixth Annual Chairman's Reception Sunday, September 13th, 2009 at Ruddy & Dean's Restaurant.

Among them were Borough President Jim Molinaro, Congressman Mike McMahon, Councilmembers' Kenneth Mitchell and James Oddo, Justice Phililp Minardo and North Shore Civil Court candidate Lindy Marrazzo.

Executive Committee members delivered a report on the growth of the party in Staten Island citing a 33% increase in party members over the last 2 years. The program also included a letter from Mayor Bloomberg which read in part: "Independents are the fastest-growing bloc of voters in our City: I should know, because I'm now one of them! And over the next two months, I hope you'll join me in working to make history on November 3rd - by electing New York City's first-ever independent mayor! That would be a victory for all independents, and it would allow us to continue our work to build a more open and inclusive democratic process, a more effective and successful government, and a stronger and safer City."

In her remarks County Chair Sarah Lyons said that the Independence Party was in a unique position this year with two independents, Bloomberg and Molinaro, running at the top of the party's line. "We wanted to break the mold and build a genuinely independent party - not one that belonged to either the Democratic or Republican parties. We've accomplished that. We're Column "C" on the ballot and the "C" stands for community because that's who's made this party a success -- people from the diverse communities that make up Staten Island and New York City -- from the most privileged communities to the poorest. Now it's time to put all we've built to use and pull out a big vote on election day for the Bloomberg/Molinaro ticket. Not only are they both independents, they have track records of putting partisan interests aside to get things done. That's what being independent means - putting community first."

Borough President Jim Molinaro spoke of his long history of crossing party lines in order to support what he felt was the best candidate and of his initiative to bring together the four other Borough presidents on a regular basis. "I believe in doing a coalitional style of politics. That's what I've always done and that's what I'll continue to do."

Dr. Lenora Fulani, a founder and builder of the Independence Party, remarked "One of the ways that the Independence Party broke the mold is we built a party from the bottom up rather than from the top down. Not all independents agreed with that. No one has fought harder for grassroots democracy inside the party than all of you in Staten Island. You inspire me."

Michael H. Drucker
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Primary Night with Mayor Bloomberg

2009-09-18T12:29:00.006-04:00

As a member of the Independence Party, the State Representative and member of the Manhattan Executive Committee for the 73AD (Eastside of Manhattan), I collected the signatures on the Eastside of Manhattan to put Mike Bloomberg on Column "C" for his third term as Mayor. I attended his Primary Night Party.

This is Bloomberg's Independent Vision Ad.

Mike Bloomberg's independent leadership has kept crime at record lows and improved our city's schools. Mike's strong leadership and his Middle Class Affordability Plan, which will offer a new prescription drug card to lower costs, expand financial aide for hard-working middle-class students, and open new doors to bring companies and jobs to New York.

Michael H. Drucker
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2009 African American Day Parade

2009-09-16T11:54:00.007-04:00

Michael H. Drucker
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Urge President Obama to Fill Vacancy on FEC with an Independent

2009-09-14T16:34:00.006-04:00

During last night's conference call with Jacqueline Salit, New York, NY, the President of the Committee for a Unified Independent Party, Inc. (CUIP), a longtime journalist, political strategist and “on the ground” organizer and the Executive Editor of The NEO-INDEPENDENT magazine, we were asked to join this effort. Here is a letter Jackie and her counsel wrote to the President about the current openings on the FEC and why they should be filled by independents.

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Obama:

We write on behalf of the Committee for a Unified Independent Party/IndependentVoting.org and our local affiliates in 37 states. We believe that the time has come to appoint one or more independents to the Federal Election Commission and hope you will do so.

As you know, the American electorate has changed dramatically since the FEC was created in 1975, part of an effort to reform our country’s political process. In many respects, your election as President was a statement by the American people that we must find ways to create a new political culture. That change is happening “on the ground” in significant ways. For example, 39% of Americans now self-identify as independents, a startling fact in a system that is so totally anchored to two major parties. And, the institutions which regulate the electoral process must more accurately reflect the electorate. It is no longer the case that bi-partisanship can be equated with non-partisanship.

The Federal Election Campaign Act states that no more than three Commissioners may belong to the same political party. Since 1975, every president has adhered to this statute by ensuring that the FEC was comprised of three Democrats and three Republicans. This arrangement has rendered the FEC largely dysfunctional and has left millions of Americans without a voice in administering our democracy. It is not a healthy situation for those who choose to be Democrats and Republicans to have representation on the FEC while the 39% of the country who choose to be independent do not.

Mr. President, our appeal is not just an abstract plea for fairness. As currently constructed, the bi-partisan bias of the FEC has produced decisions which have impeded the development of democratic initiatives which emanate from independent voters and the third party or third force sector. At a time when many are seeking new and innovative forms of political expression and identity, the FEC has taken positions that reinforce the political status quo, whether by setting restrictive contribution limits for non-party actors, failing to police the conduct of the nationally televised presidential debates, or barring unorthodox independent coalitions from qualifying for public financing.

Your appointment of an independent or member of a third party to one or two of the remaining two FEC vacancies would be an important step in remedying this unfortunate situation. Independents from diverse segments of our movement will come together to prepare a list of candidates for your consideration if you give us the signal that you will entertain this request.
You have reached across party lines in making appointments to your cabinet. Our government is the better for it. We value and respect that. And we urge you to apply the same high standard when it comes to choosing the stewards of our country’s most valued asset: our democracy.

Sincerely yours,

Jacqueline Salit, President
IndependentVoting.org

Harry Kresky, Counsel
IndependentVoting.org

cc: Hon. John McCain, Hon. Russell Feingold

Add your voice to call for the appointment of an independent to the Federal Election Commission. Use these links to contact the White House and your Senators.

Contact the White House

Contact Your Senators

Michael H. Drucker
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Ask the G20 to go to Africa

2009-09-11T11:00:00.005-04:00

We know Africa has the potential to be an economic engine of the 21st century and must be a part of the global economic recovery. Now we need to convince the world. As the leaders of the twenty wealthiest and most powerful nations meet in Pittsburgh for the G20 Summit, September 24-25, we must convince them to hold an upcoming summit in Africa and focus the world on Africa's opportunities and promise.

Use the above link to sign the petition.

Michael H. Drucker
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Dr. Lenora Fulani at the 2009 Caribbean West Indian Day Parade

2009-09-10T19:05:00.007-04:00

Thanks to the Hankster for this video of Dr. Lenora Fulani at the 2009 Caribbean West Indian Day Parade. The NYC Independence Party Organizations' were supporting Mayor Bloomberg's run for a third term on Column "C".

Michael H. Drucker
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