The Independent View: Can American Politics Be Repaired?

Yesterday, I attended a lunch/discussion/fundraiser sponsored by Independentvoting.org and The Centrist Project, to delve into the question "Can American Politics be Repaired?".

The featured speakers were:

> Jacqueline Salit, President of Independentvoting.org

> Larry Pressler, Candidate, U.S. Senate (I-SD), former Republican U.S. Senator

> Charles Wheelan, Founder , The Centrist Project & Author, The Centrist Manifesto

If you are a reader of this blog, you have read my thoughts about taking the majority away from the House, a tough slog, and the Senate, a nearer possibility.

So as one of the first to buy Wheelan's book, I was fortunate to meet the author and discuss his electoral strategy to elect five centrist U.S. Senators empowered to broker bills across party lines. The Centrist Project's ultimate goal is to help pragmatic leaders and voters solve America's greatest policy challenges.

CLICK HERE to find out more about the Centrist Project.

To help meet this challenge, we met Senator Pressler. He was a three term Republican Senator and two term Congressman from South Dakota. He's now running as an independent so he can be free to build the consensus so badly needed in Congress today. He is fiscally and environmentally responsible, socially tolerant and believes in a pragmatic approach to politics.

Some of his issues are:

- Fiscal Responsibility, with a focus on "Budget" and "Integrity".

- Supports Gay Marriage as one of the signers of the Amicus Curae Brief sent to the Supreme Court.

- Environmentally responsible dedicated to ensure clean water access and water rights.

CLICK HERE to help Larry make this new journey to the People's House.

Then there is Jackie, one of my political activist mentors.

She is a highly respected political innovator and advocate for the rights of independents by building the largest network of independent leaders and activists in the country. As President of Independentvoting.org, the center now has chapters in 40 states and since 2005 has hosted a bi-annual national conference of independents in New York City.

She managed Michael Bloomberg's three campaigns for New York City Mayor on the Independence Party(IP) line. In 2012 she authored Independents Rising: Outsider Movements, Third Parties and the Struggle for a Post-Partisan America, her firsthand account of this growing and influential voting bloc. Salit, who spent 30 years as an insider in this growing movement of outsiders, revels how independents underestimate their own power and how they can make the most of their newfound influence in American politics.

Click Here to watch the full event.

As I said in a video I made for her, We are no longer the swing vote, we are now the sway vote.

CLICK HERE to learn more about independent voting and how you can get involved.