Friday, April 25, 2008
I did it
I registered with the Democratic Party. Am I a sellout? Maybe. I just know that I want a stake in who will be the next president, and the Oregon primary is actually going to matter this year. I'm going back to being unaffiliated as soon as the primary is done. Oregon's so silly. They actually have an Independent Party, which is only a few years old, and it's different from being unaffiliated. I guess it gives a foundation to run for people who aren't Democrat or Republican, so I support what it's trying to do. Do any other states have an Independent Party?
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2 comments:
Oregon has a proud history of independent politics. We are one of 3 states to elect an independent as Governor (Julius Meier). Wayne Morse served as an independent in the United States Senate.
In 2005, the Oregon State Legislature enacted House Bill 2614, a law intended to keep independent candidates off of the Oregon ballot by disqualifying all Republicans and Democrats who vote (on anything) in the primary election from signing any petition for a candidate seeking to qualify for the general election.
Unfortunately, it is now all but impossible to run for public office as an independent candidate in Oregon as most registered voters are Rs and Ds and will be disqulaified from signing a petition.
In response to this new law, citizen activists collected 26,000 signatures during 2006 to form the Independent Party of Oregon.
There is a loose network of third parties, some of which have "independent" (DE, NM) in their names or "Independence (MN, NY), but Independent Party of Oregon is emphasizing state issues, in particular election reform--campaign contribution and spending limits, direct democracy (protecting initiative and referendum, instant runoff voting, fusion voting, publicly financed elections, election hardware and software integrity (audits, verifications, certifications).
Take a look at www.indparty.com
Ooh, thanks for all the info!
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