Welcome to the 2017 National Conference of Independents Blog!
I’m looking forward to seeing all of you Saturday, March 18 in New York City. Register Today!
The conference will be held at the CUNY Graduate Center midtown Manhattan. The conference is free. All you have to do is register online and get to New York.
If you’re coming to the conference or you’ve attended a conference in the past, send me your testimonials. Enjoy reading the ones posted below. Consider this blog a stopping place where you can share your thoughts about the upcoming conference, ask questions, or discuss our ongoing work to create a new political infrastructure and change political culture.
Letter of invitation from IndependentVoting.org President Jackie Salit about the conference:
Just a week after this very turbulent national election, I delivered a keynote at the Arizona State University (ASU) annual Morrison Institute “State of our State” conference. I closed my remarks about independent voters and the independent movement by reading a few verses from a Leonard Cohen song, “Anthem.”
Cohen, the poet/singer/songwriter who died the day before the election, penned this haunting and to me, very relevant-refrain:In a little-noticed pre-election poll designed by the feisty Fox News analyst Pat Caddell, he discovered that 67 percent of Americans believe that the most significant divide we face as a country is not Democrat vs. Republican but the American people vs. the elites. The parties may be trying to define the divide on their terms, but it is getting harder to make that stick. Independents are not at the ideological “center.” But we are at the vortex of this changing paradigm.
The major parties are now reeling from major league conflicts within their respective camps. As Donald Trump assembles a government, as the Democrats’ liberal coalition regroups after its shattering loss, the fault lines inside those parties are more visible than ever. How should independents respond to and organize off of these conflicts? Where do the political and social interests of African Americans, Latinos and other communities of color lie in the post-Obama era? These questions, and others, will shape the agenda for our National Conference on March 18th.
Historically, our national conferences have provided a context for independent activists to connect with one another. We have developed tactics and strategies for transferring power from the establishment — most especially the parties — to the people. We have looked at ways to grow our movement and train our leaders. We have educated ourselves about the state of our movement.
We will do all of that and more in March. But, this upcoming conference takes place in the midst of more political uncertainty and more political opportunity than we’ve had since the independent voter rebellions of the 1990’s. I hope you will join me in these important political conversations.
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Send me your thoughts and testimonials to gmandell@independentvoting.org and register for the conference today!
Independently Yours,
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