FED UP WITH THE ARCHAIC, CORRUPT AND INCOMPETENT TWO-PARTY SYSTEM? LOOK AT THE INDEPENDENT VOTING MOVEMENT

All my life I had been a Democrat, liberal in my outlook in the humanist point of view. Even tried to work for the Democratic Party in Arizona, but after witnessing some of the ineptitude of the organization heads, gave up, eventually deciding to withdraw my help. After some thought about how I wanted to pursue my political philosophy—which is still liberal, but not bleeding anymore—decided to become an Independent, and quickly changed my voter registration accordingly. Even then, knowing what a good President Barack Obama would be, once again offered my services to his organization in Arizona.

They didn’t even follow up to contact me; doing this to many potential volunteers as I later heard, and, no doubt, the major reason he lost the state of Arizona. I still voted for Obama, though.

Following the changeover, I did a couple of posts on Independents in May and June of 2007 you can see here and here. That stirred up some action with a couple of folks who are at the heart of the national Independent movement, who later put me in touch with my local Independent voter group, Grand Canyon Independent Voters, who is not officially affiliated with CUIP. By the way, be sure to check out the Committee for a Unified Independent Party (CUIP) site. Click on “Activist Center” at the top and look for your state’s group. Also, click on “About Us” for a wealth of fascinating information about CUIP and the whole Independent movement.

The national drive to organize Independent political thinkers has already been very successful. According to CUIP, 35 percent of American voters consider themselves independent. In Arizona, the registered number is 28 percent. The intent of the Independent movement is not to organize a new third party, rather, to give those voters who are no longer satisfied with the two-party system a way to express their political beliefs. And to have a solid organization behind them from which to get the truth about the candidates.

To give you an idea what your local Independent voters group is doing, I am quoting from a recent newsletter published by Arizona’s Grand Canyon Independent Voters (GCIV) organization. To summarize their “Mission,” it strives “To protect and further the rights of all of Arizona’s electorate.” Giving a voice to Independent and unaffiliated voters in the state. Encouraging and working with candidates to run for office. And to continue to expand our country’s traditions of democracy.

Those interested Arizonans can contact Scott Brannon at his e-mail address: gciv@npgcable.com or telephone him at 480-201-2162. Ask for a copy of the recent newsletter; it is full of interesting information and facts on the Independent voting movement. Currently, GCIV’s Web site is down for maintenance, but here it is for future reference: azindependentvoters.com.

One of GCIV’s goals—and one that should be important to any state without this option—is to open Presidential Primaries to Independent voters. As an Independent in the state of Arizona, I was not allowed to vote in the 2008 Presidential Primary. Thanks to a clinging “good-old-boy” network in Arizona’s legislature, an attempt to change this was thwarted.

Arizona could be a model where Independent voters show the rest of the country that a third voice—not party—with beliefs and ideas outside the traditional two-party system can be effective…and elect political candidates who agree. Call or e-mail Scott Brannon today.