THE GATHERING OF THE CLAN

Businessman and former third-party candidate for the U.S. Senate Harry (The Delicate Illusion, 1999) argues for the necessity and viability of an organized Independent political option.

According to the American National Election Study, 38 percent of American voters are either registered Independents or decline to state party affiliation. While most voters end up casting their ballots for Republicans or Democrats, Harry believes this high percentage of political Independents–the largest single bloc of voters–is indicative of a deep dissatisfaction with the parties dominating our two-party political system and the government it produces. The blame, according to Harry, lies with special-interest groups that buy political protection, and with Democrat and Republican leaders who have let their parties fall under the control of ideologues. The solution is to provide these apparently dissatisfied voters with a nonpartisan, viable political option that truly attempts to govern for “(at least) most of the people all of the time and for all of the people most of the time.” Unfortunately, a lack of context and the inherent amorphousness of the Independent voting bloc undermine Harry’s common-sense approach to American politics. Instead of discussing the value issues that have driven both major parties to the extremes, Harry boils conservatism and liberalism down to opposing attitudes toward the free market. As a result, key reasons why many voters might be drawn to the Independent designation–and a fundamental problem in trying to get these registered Independents to vote for Independent candidates–are missing from the discussion. While Harry admits that there is not much we can conclusively say about Independent voters as a group–except that they’re registered as Independents–he nevertheless outlines a political platform based entirely on his own assumptions about what Independent voters want.

A reasonable assessment of the current political climate that falls short in its prescriptive arguments for change.