Third Party and Independent Daily discontinued

Unfortunately, this news blog has become inactive and I have been unable to get in touch with the Owner/Administrator in order to redo, or simply close it.
Therefore, anyone who ventures on here should be informed that this blog is now defunct and non-operational.

Third Party Independent: Building Independent Media

As some of you are already aware, last month I launched a newspaper in New York City devoted entirely to third party and independent political news and views: Third Party Independent.  The paper was conceived as a print companion to Third Party and Independent Daily, and is intended to raise awareness of alternatives to the Democrats and Republicans, while providing another media platform for third party and independent advocates to have our voices heard above the duopolist din.  The first issue hit the streets the week of Independence Day, with eleven articles by nine authors from across the third party and independent blogosphere.  I would like, once again, to thank all the contributors to the first issue! The second issue is already in the works and should be available in the next week or so.

The main reason why I have not yet mentioned the paper very much online, if at all, is because the website is still under construction.  However, aside from some minor cosmetic tweaks that are still necessary, all the basic functionality is there, and the layout is pretty much set.  The site is set up to be an open community blogging platform for third party and independent activists.  Anyone can sign up and start publishing.  So far as I'm aware, though there are numerous such sites for Democrats, Republicans, progressives and conservatives – the most well known being Daily Kos and Red State – there is no such site on the web for third party and independent activists across the political spectrum.

Though the website, at this point, is still a work in progress, I would like to extend an invitation to readers to head over to Third Party Independent, look around a bit, check out the first issue of the newspaper, and, if you're so inclined, sign up for a free account and publish a couple test posts to the site.  Any and all feedback, comments and suggestions are more than welcome!  Indeed, it will be crucial to build the site into a vibrant community dedicated to escaping the dead end and breaking the deadlock that is Republican-Democrat party politics.   

Independent Political Report Goes Up for Sale

An announcement at Independent Political Report states that the site's publisher, Chris Martin, "is currently looking to sell Independent Political Report."  From the announcement:

Independent Political Report is, by traffic rank and by reputation, the top news website covering third party and independent candidates in American politics. Founded in April 2008, within months Independent Political Report became a popular destination for third party and non-partisan activists, candidates, and aficionados who wanted a community to discuss the latest electoral or ballot access news.

Independent Political Report has accumulated over 1.5 million unique views in the 2.5 years it has existed, as well as over 4.1 million pageviews. This means it has averaged around 1,500+ unique views per day. The site is incredibly productive, with over 9,500 news posts getting posted since the site’s creation, or around 10 posts per day. Thousands of comments have been posted on the website by readers since its creation—the site is known for its thriving community of commenters.

IPR is ranked somewhere around the 50,000th most popular website in the world, depending upon the ranking system you’re using. Various website value estimation programs, experts, and websites have found that Independent Political Report is worth between $15,000 and $45,000. With a page rank of 5 and a ton of incoming links, this is not surprising.  The Publisher of IPR is currently looking to sell Independent Political Report—so feel free to click here and place a bid. . . .

Otter Limits Puts Spotlight on Third Parties

The Otter Limits blog has begun a series of posts spotlighting various third parties, including the Constitution Party, the Boston Tea Party and the Modern Whig Party.  On the Modern Whigs, Otter writes:

Something that appeals to me about this party is their focus on state's rights.  In their tenet on Fiscal responsibility they state that their philosophy "is to empower the states with the resources to handle their unique affairs" and in their tent on States' rights they state that "Each state can determine its course of action based on local values and unique needs."

I really like the idea of letting the states handle most of its affairs and making the federal government handle only what it is prescribed to do so in the United States Constitution. You remember that? The document our country was founded on?