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2010 INDEPENDENT PARTY PRIMARY ELECTION: DEMONSTRATION PAGE

THE 2010 INDEPENDENT PARTY PRIMARY ELECTION WILL BE HELD JULY 8 THROUGH JULY 30

Thank you for your interest in the 2010 Independent Party of Oregon Primary Election. Our primary election is being conducted on a secure server hosted by Everyonecounts.com, a leading provider of secure internet elections.

This page will be the actual location provided to Independent Party members when the election commences on July 8th at 8:00 am.

Independent Party Caucus: Voting to continue until Feb 28th

There are three candidates nominated for two positions on the IPO statewide caucus. Voting opened in February and will end on February 28th. All IPO members are eligible and all are encouraged to vote. If you are authenticated on the web site, you need to log in in order to vote. If you have not been authenticated on the web site, you may register for the web site. If you have problems registering and voting you may contact the party using this contact form. If you have been authenticated as a member and have access to the web site, please VOTE HERE

Here are the candidates:

  • Joan Horton - Incumbent - Joan Horton is a CPA who has served as the party's treasurer for the past two years.
  • Travis Diskin - Incumbent - Travis Diskin is a political consultant who specializes in the Initiative and Referendum. Travis managed the campaign to form the Independent Party and has helped to put 5 measures on the Oregon ballot over the last 3 election cycles.
  • Ken Embery - Ken lives in Eugene, OR. He holds master's degrees in political science and journalism, and has worked at KEZI, an ABC affiliate in Eugene and as an executive level project manager for large video game companies. You may view his bio here.

Oregon Governor Money Race

One way to track the viability of a campaign is to track how much money is being raised.

So without further adieu, here are the cash balances of the campaigns as of April 10, 2010:

CANDIDATE
-----------------------------
Dudley     $ 470,000
Kitzhaber  $ 614,000 
Bradbury   $ 141,000
Alley      $  72,000

Note that these are cash balances only and do not reflect the debt of each campaign. For example, the Alley campaign owes about $220,000 to the candidate's wife.

The Oregon Attorney General is not enforcing any of the limits on campaign contributions enacted by the voters as Measure 47 (2006), so a labor union, corporation, or wealthy individual can wipe out any advantage with a single large contribution. Contributions of $100,000 by individuals and $300,000 or more from OEA and SEIU would not be out of the ordinary in an Oregon Governor's race. In 2006, the Republican Governor's Association spent more than $4 million for the Republican candidate for Governor in Oregon.

Independent Party hit 51,000 in 2009

For details, go to the Secretary of State's Voter Registration Data.

Revisiting Paul Tsongas and the Sensible Center

new york times

by Senator Paul Tsongas
New York Times
December 10, 1995

The following piece by Paul Tsongas describes the "sensible center" in American politics as fiscally conservative, socially inclusive, supportive of the environment and of campaign finance reform. Not much has changed in the 15 years since he wrote it. - editor

If you are ever in front of an audience and searching for an engaging topic, try this: suggest there is a "passionate center" to the American body politic -- or "sensible center," as Colin Powell would say, or "radical center" as others would argue. Suggest that this center is held together by four basic points of agreement.

First, it is fiscally conservative. It strongly supports a balanced budget -- not so much because of the economic consequences of large-scale debt but because of the irresponsibility such debt symbolizes. While it is true that a balanced budget will reduce interest rates and free up capital to enhance America's global competitiveness, the passion for fiscal responsibility really flows from people's adamant opposition to saddling their children with a $5 trillion debt.

Second, the passionate center is socially inclusive and protective of individual liberties. Most Americans are not racist or sexist. Increasing numbers accept homosexuality. Polls show, unsurprisingly, that most Democratic and independent women are pro-choice, but they also show that most Republican women are pro-choice as well.

Third, it is pro-environment. Where did anyone get the idea that Americans were so fed up with Federal regulations that they would want Congress to gut the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act? Or to open up wildlife refuges to oil companies? Or to support any of the myriad bonehead ideas of the last year? Most Americans, especially the young, see the environment as fundamental to their quality of life, as a legacy to be protected, not a place to be plundered for the profit of the few.

Fourth, the passionate center wants campaign finance reform. Americans are sickened by political action committees owning Congress and by "soft money" funds that evade campaign laws to benefit the very people who passed those laws. When President Clinton and Speaker Newt Gingrich shook hands in New Hampshire in June and agreed to strengthen campaign laws, most Americans doubted that they were serious. As the weak "reform" package passed by Congress shows, the skeptics were right.

Follow the campaign money

“When I have to choose between voting for the people or the special interests, I always stick with the special interests. They remember. The people forget.”
- Henry Fountain Ashurst

Anyone who has been following politics in Oregon or at the national level knows that our political system has become increasingly polarized and divided along partisan lines. It’s an unfortunate sign of our times that seemingly every major issue facing the country eventually becomes a straight party-line debate.

Statesman-Journal Article on SB 326

Bill eases path for outsider candidates
A 2005 law made it harder for non-party runners to qualify

Peter Wong
Salem Statesman Journal • July 17, 2009

Minor political parties and independent candidates will get a boost from an elections bill that Democratic Gov. Ted Kulongoski plans to sign.

Senate Bill 326, which cleared the Legislature on its final day June 29, does two things.

It repeals a 2005 law that bars voters from signing nomination petitions for a partisan public office in a general election if they already cast Democratic or Republican ballots in a primary election. The law made it more difficult for candidates not affiliated with a party to qualify for the ballot.

It also allows candidates on a general-election ballot to list nominations by a maximum of three political parties, instead of just one. This proposal has been described as "fusion light," based on what is done in seven other states, but advocates say it simply returns Oregon law to what it was prior to 50 years ago.
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