Dear Presidential Candidate,
In last night’s televised debate, the candidates spoke about the importance of being honest with the American public. However, there was a basic dishonesty in the presentation by all the candidates that is being duly noted by independent voters in New Hampshire and across the country.
The most heated moments in your debate revolved around who had led on the question of opposing the war in Iraq, and when and how that leadership was expressed. That’s a very important issue. However, no one on the stage acknowledged that the leadership for turning the country against the war came from the American people and, more explicitly, from independents, whose opposition to U.S. policy in Iraq has driven many of the changes we’ve already seen.
Despite the fact that 44% of New Hampshire voters and 38% of voters nationally (according to the latest Gallup poll) are independents, and despite the fact that independents overwhelmingly oppose the war, every Democratic presidential candidate failed to make note of these facts. This was an extraordinary omission, given that it is so obviously in your self-interest to do so. New Hampshire is an open primary state where already 69% of independents say they intend to vote in the Democratic primary.
Contrary to the statement by Senator Clinton, Iraq is not George Bush’s war. It is Washington’s war—signed, sealed and delivered by both political parties. Independent voters have a special sensitivity about policies that are enacted because elected officials are playing politics, rather than doing what’s best for the American people. That’s why they chose to become independents in the first place. If you want to deal honestly with the American people, you could begin by honestly acknowledging and giving credit to independent voters. We have a vision for a new kind of America. We are watching to see if that is true for any of you.
Some pols say "One problem candidates have in reaching out to independent voters is that there's no sure-fire way to appeal to them. Generally, independents are less likely to vote than are Democrats and Republicans, and their unpredictable nature convinces some campaigns that they're better off ignoring them than trying to figure out how to reach them and get them to vote."
But independents say "Invite us in for the conversation, that's all we're asking, we can't believe that they don't understand the power of this. They think we're an unpredictable bunch, that we're going to hurt them. But we don't need our own candidate. We'll make our choice based on the best leader, but we're not going to find that best leader if we keep asking them the same questions."
Michael H. Drucker
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1 comment:
Mike - great job with your blog! I have cross-posted this at The Hankster. Keep up the good work.
Nancy
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