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Bob Pickard registered for the Independent Party of Oregon this year, one of a growing number of Oregonians who has made one of the state's newest third parties, its largest. He used to be a Democrat. But you can't tell too much from that. He also used to be a Republican. In fact, he served in the Oregon House of Representatives as a Republican about 20 years ago. He says it's party politics he's trying to get away from by becoming a member of the Independent Party. But he is excited about the party's all-online primary —the first in the country — which wraps up on Friday.
But what does the Independent Party stand for exactly? If you're looking for a party platform, you won't find it, though you can suss out some issues from the party's website. Most of the candidates running for the nomination are actually already nominees for one of the two major parties. So, that left us wondering, what makes a party, a party?
Are you a member of the state's largest third party? Regardless of your party affiliation, would you be more inclined to vote for a candidate that had won the Independent Party nomination along with that of a major party? What role do you see third parties playing in Oregon politics?
GUESTS:
- Linda Williams: Chair of the Independent Party of Oregon
- Bob Pickard: Independent Party member
- Lori Steele: CEO of Everyone Counts
- Paul Gronke: Professor of Political Science at Reed College
Tagged as: 2010 election · independent party · minor parties · politics · third parties
Photo credit: hi fi parasol / Creative Commons
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You mean the Rupert Murdoch Tea Party? His far right media propaganda empire started and enabled it and they promote it big time. It's not a grass roots party in any sense at all, it's a phoney lawn.
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Can ‘any’ PARTY be considered Independent?
They are most often made up of zealots that splinter off of the Far Left and Right. After 30+years in the Democratic Party, I finally gave up and dropped all party affiliation. The only thing any party membership offers is, blinders allowing lock step party line voting and the “privilege” of casting a vote in the primary.
Eliminating ALL Party’s is the only real solution to the lunacy that is politics in this new century. I have no hope of that ever happening, far too much money involved for a return to statesmanship first to happen. -
The Constitution tries to prevent the accumulation of power in the hands of a few for a protracted period of time. It does so by empowering the people to oversee governnment, and by creating separate co-equal branches of governement, and by protecting the ability to bring many different perspectives -- think free speech -- to name just a few mechanisms it applies.
Political parties are concerned with the accumulation of power in the hands of a few for a protracted period of time. Political parties seek to control the discussion, to create barriers to entry by other parties, such as redistricting, and to span separate branches of government.
One might conclude that the way political parties operate today is inherently unconstitutional.
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A party should only exist if it seeks to serve the needs of the people...that means all the people. Currently neither major party seeks to serve all Oregonians and that's why 3rd parties are so popular here.
It's pretty easy to carve off voting blocks by understanding demographic "hot button topics". It's also easy to win the support of interest groups by asserting support for certain public policy objectives that benefit their clientele. Both major parties are in the act of doing this right now in Oregon as they seek to fund and execute campaigns.
We won't emerge from November 2010 elections with elected representatives that are aligned, focused and ready to solve problems. In the process of becoming elected they never had to listen to anyone that they couldn't win over. Why would they start listening to each other and their constituents while in the Legislature if ideology, interest groups and strategy won them the seat?
Here's the hope that the Independent party excited in me: a party that listens through online polling..."listening" being the key word here. Of course both Republicans and Democrats currently use polls and surveys to extract information in order to carve off demographic groups with hot-button issues - but that's not listening.
Listening is empathetic. Listening is digressive. Listening enables understanding. Listening leads to problem-solving.
What I like about the Independent party is that they are attempting to listen to a wide variety of viewpoints through the use of an online survey.
We'll see what the Independent Party does with the information, but I'm hopeful that they will build a political movement that is radically different because it listens more than it talks.
And if this works, both parties might learn a lesson...and Oregonians might get the representation that we deserve.
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Please ask the following questions of Linda Williams:
Why she and Sal Peralta endorsed two Republican incumbents (Frank Morse and Andy Olson) in Linn/Benton county Senate and House races;
Why they changed the rules several days after the online election started to allow candidates to essentially buy the right to mail passcodes to IPO voters;
How much money did the IPO leadership save in mail costs for reminder postcards by having candidates assume that responsibility;
Did the IPO receive any contribution or promise of a contribution from any of the incumbents in return for IPO endorsements;
Who else has the IPO endorsed for this race;
Ethically, how does the IPO leadership explain the decision to endorse candidates - isn't it a contradiction that Independents should need to have their party leadership tell them who to vote for?
How can the IPO leadership possibly justify endorsing Andy Olson when Olson voted against many bills the IPO supported, including the Fusion Voting bill, itself?
Finally, how much money are the IPO leaders having to pay for the online election because they failed to consider all of the aspects of conducting an election and their "pay for play" ploy was shot down by the Secretary of State?
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1. Individual party members (including me) can express opinions about potential nominees. An independent is free from outside control or domination, but not forbidden to speak her own mind. Other Independents are free to ignore me!
2. No one "changed" any rules--at all times the party has kept control of passcodes and planned additional passcode reminders--I have already borne the costs of the first mailing--and since I am not a millionaire--I was happy to let the candidates take over the tasks of voter outreach and information with safeguards such as providng passcodes to the printer ourselves (not thru any candidate) and requiring the printer to sign a confidentiality agreement with the party.
3. No.
4. The Independent Party has not endorsed any candidate. I have no idea the total number of candidates for whom some Independent Party member has voiced support.
5. See (1) and (4).
6. To my knowledge, incumbent representative Andy Olson had 80% on the Independent Party Legislative scorecard.
7. The total costs of the election and the loans from party members will be obvious and C&E reports. I personally loaned the party $6500. I personally believe we considered many aspects of this election process--we sought bids, negotiated contracts, researched online voting and other platforms. There was no "pay to play" scheme--we tried to raise money to conduct an election to chose the nominees. We wanted to have as full participation by members as possible. Both Republicans and Democrats complained about our efforts to fundraise, but dozens of the same people seem perfectly content to compete in an historic election so long as I pay for it!
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What if technology created a new type of independent party?
A party whose platform was created by a community of online citizens. With dynamic polling to determine the current party opinion. A wiki type interface could be used to collaborate on solutions to complex problems.
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America is not a three party political system. The greatest effect of a third party is the spoiler in a close election. And the result may be diametric to the interest of the third party. Example is the 2000 Presidential Election of Geo Bush vs Al Gore. The results ultimately lay with the state of Florida in a VERY close race--537 Votes in over 10 million cast. THIRD PARTY CANDIDATE Ralph Nader of the Green Party spoiled it for Gore and changed history of American World Leadership under Bush.
A right wing Tea Party arguably may undermine future Republican candidates and NOT help Conservatives. It is the Law of Unintended Consequences. Having a fumbling figure like Sarah Palin in headlines will also do much to consume all the oxygen in the room for more competent, viable, and serious Republican candidates. This may be the best gift the Obama presidency could hope for. Maybe they should become a contributor to Tea 2012.
Let Time be the test of the Tea Party. See how next year's 2010 Congressional Elections treat the Democratic Majorities: I predict Democratic margins will increase slightly. And the medium term test: whether Obama wins a second Presidential Term in 2012, which I see as probable at this point.
jacob — Wed April 21st 8:19p.m.
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I really don't see how you can consider yourself "Independent" if you belong to any party at all. The problem I have with most party members is that they have a tendency to vote along party lines. That is not independent. I have regestered as "non-affiliated" for this reason, but feel it is unfair that I can't vote for certain candidates in primary elections. And while I more often lean a bit left of center, I still voted for both Republicans and Democrats during the last election. I feel I am truly "Independent".
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So they're holding an On-line Primary, huh? What checks and safeguards, if any, do they have in place to ensure that each participant votes only once? Or is this on-line primary being operated under the Old Chicago maxim, "Vote Early, Vote Often?"
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Independent (?) Party of Oregon
I refused to vote online in IPO's "election," simply because of the reasons Penny from Eugene stated. First off, before I get the announcement postcard that there is going to be an online-election, I get some sort of warning or advisory mailer from Candidate Kitzhaber. That was an immediate turnoff as much to Kitzhaber as it was to the online election. Was that Kitzhaber's real goal -- to derail the online election? Let Kitzhaber know that I didn't read his mailer, just as I read no candidates fluffy mailer or endorsement mailer: it went in the recycling bin torn in two.
The the election postcard notice shows up, disclosing to anyone who might see it my "registration number." Let's say that this card got waylaid or swiped on its way to me. Anyone with that card and the registration number now has my name, address, an election authorization PIN.
Screw that!
No way am I going to jump on this sort of band-wagon. Wave of the future? If that's the case, count me out.
When I pulled away from the Democratic party 6 years after moving to Oregon from Central California, I had long since given up on the state of party politics. I had worked for the CA Secretary of State and had grown fed up with redistricting shenanigans there, a tradition nearly as old as the state itself. It isn't much better here in this Great State of Oregon; the near-stasis in Salem shows that much.
When I went Independent, I meant independent. I had no intent of throwing my hat in the ring of another muddy organization with unclear intentions other than becoming a political split party. The IPO has a lot of work to do to convince me that staying allied with them is worthwhile.
My ultimate goal as a voter is to freely choose any and all candidates from an entirely open slate of candidates in primaries and final elections regardless of their party affiliation. No more, no less.
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Every Independent Party member was issued a unique 8 character passcode created by algorithm issued by the elections vendor. The Party mailed the unique codes to each member. Once a passcode is used to complete a ballot that ballot is encrypted, a receipt code created, and the passcode is locked out from reentering the system.
To use a passcode, the voter must also enter date of birth, and that information is sufficient to display the particular races in districts for which that voter may vote.
Anyone using the passcode and personal information of another to cast an electronic vote would be committing a class C felony under Oregon law. ORS 165.135.
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I registered Independent when I turned 18, 30 years ago, but about 10 years ago I switched to Democrat, solely because when you're registered independent, you get calls from BOTH parties during elections. I had to take action to reduce the number of phone calls soliciting my vote.
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To make independant parties work, we need some kind of "instant runoff" or preference voting to prevent voting for an independent assuring the election of the candidate you like the least.
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Yes, this is simple to do with e-voting. The Independent Party did not have enough candidates in any race to make this a useful option, but IRV or other kinds of preference voting are easily managed by e-vote. We did include the Nevada style "None of the Above" choice as an experiment to see how voters liked it.
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While I respect the right of the Independent Party to call themselves whatever they choose, I find myself frustrated with the fact that those of who want to remain truly "independent" of ANY party affiliation have a harder time identifying ourselves these days. I am INDEPENDENT, not a part of the Independent Party. I have yet to find any party with which I truly identify, so I choose to remain independent.
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I agree.
I used the identifier of Independent to communicate that I am independent of the two sheep parties.
I have refrained from using the more accurate label, which I will now use.
I am not a Demicant or Republiwont nor do I belong to any other party.
I am an Oregonian, first and always. -
"I used the identifier of Independent to communicate that I am independent of the two sheep parties. " -- Desolation — Thu July 29th 10:14a.m.
Good for you! I refuse to be "just one of the sheeple," too!
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INSTANT RUNOFF VOTING
Third Parties in General would be aided by elections using instant runoff voting. This would allow a voter to put down (say) Ralph Nader as first choice but a more mainstream candidate as second choice. If no one gets 50% of the vote, the second choice of the canditates with few votes would have his votes added to the second choice. IRV is hard to explain in a few words, but it has a lot of benefits. The detriment is that it requires computers and the integrity of the computers is paramount. Tom parks
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I like that IRV idea.
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"Third Parties in General would be aided by elections using instant runoff voting."
Unfortunately, this isn't true. IRV still has "spoiler" candidates. Example, with 3 candidates (A, B, and C) and 9 voters:
4 voters: A > B > C
1 voter: B > A > C
1 voter: B > C > A
3 voters: C > B > A
If this election is just A vs. B, then B wins. But when you add candidate C, the winner changes... to A! This is a spoiler, and it can happen anytime the 3rd party candidate gets near 25% of first-place preferences.
A better system, one that can ACTUALLY help third parties because it doesn't have this problem, is approval voting; which has the added advantages of being easy to explain (vote for as many candidates you want; the most-voted-for candidate wins; that's it) and doesn't require high-integrity computers (which Minneapolis is learning don't exist.)
Learn more about approval voting at http://rangevoting.org
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Parties are needed to organize and accomplish goals.
50,000 grass roots organizations with 1 million independent thinkers = Tangle Chaos of Obstinancy/ ANARCHY.
A Belligerent Strong Armed Dictator would be a slight improvement.
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Technology (and internet voting in particular) is the key to the future of democracy. Regular mail is inconsistent, and we all know what disasters can occur with paper ballots (helloooo 2000 election). Especially for those voters who are disabled (like my mother, who is often hard-pressed to find a wheelchair-accessible polling place), and our military serving overseas. They are sacrificing their lives for our country; they should not have to sacrifice their right to vote due to logistical issues.
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Comments are now closed.
IS the TEA PARTY considered Independent? It seems to be a splinter group of Far Right Republicans and probably will collasce behind any national Republican Candidate. It is fadishly popular at the moment, but it is an illusion that it is independent. It should be considered Sarah Palin's Facebook Friend's List and comparable to Oprah's Girlfriends. It is just a media fueled circus without real roots.