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A bill under consideration in Salem and scheduled for a hearing this afternoon, HB 2442, would prohibit the use of the word “independent” in the name of any political party. The sponsors of this little bit of nonsense seem to have gone to the “Alice in Wonderland Institute of Politics,” where they teach you to change reality by changing what things are called.
Or perhaps they learned how to neutralize their opponents at the Joe Stalin Graduate School of Political Maneuvering. Don’t like what the party does? Just ban its name.
The sponsors didn’t even put their name on the thing. It was introduced by a committee. Whoever did sponsor it — his spokesman says it was not Democratic leader Dave Hunt — evidently was unhappy with the maneuvering last year when lots of Democratic and Republican candidates also competed in the Independent Party’s online primary to win an apparently coveted “Independent” label next to their names on the ballot.
The online primary was an interesting novelty, but confusing? Hardly. How stupid do legislators think Oregon voters are?
Apr 14, 2011
OR: Anti-Independent Trial Balloon Shot Down
From the Democrat Herald:
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5 comments:
I have been reading some of your posts and I think it is unfortunate that people do not pay attention to all candidates on the ballots. Since I have begun to pay greater attention to the platforms of candidates I have started to find myself crossing party lines & etc. It came to the point where I updated my voter registration by dropping my party affiliation. I am unhappy that I cannot vote in the primaries, but I feel I am more independent and I will not be connected to a party at this point. I vote for the candidate I support and I don't care if it is an independent or third party candidate.
I know there are those who say I am wasting my vote, but I feel my vote is wasted when I vote for a candidate I do not support.
Thanks Ryan. I walked away from any party affiliation a few years ago myself. imo, the only wasted vote is a vote for a Democrat or a Republican.
You might also like Poli-Tea.
The title of this blog post, saying the bill had been "shot down" is not accurate. The bill has not been defeated, although I predict it will be defeated.
Good point, Richard. I think I was referring more to the court of public opinion, rather than the official process. It doesn't seem to have any public supporters and a lot of critics. Do we even know who sponsored it yet?
The House Rules Committee sponsored it, and we do know which legislators are on that committee. The Senate Rules Committee sponsored an identical bill. Generally bills sponsored by committees are acting on behalf of the legislature's leadership, who are Democrats in one house, and members of both major parties in the other house due to a tie.
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