By Bill Golden
Bill4DogCatcher.com and JeffersonConservative.com
My prediction is that there will be 5-6 independent senators in the U.S. Congress by 2014, many or most will be former Republicans.
These are the Republicans that are generally conservative in nature but centrist in their ability to work with others on that great playground that we call American politics — where rules are usually for the other guy.
Independents will have major impact in 2012 based on their ability to provide critical votes; there should be at least 3 if not 4 independent senators within Congress.
Those parties that do not move to the middle will find their efforts defeated within these critical few votes.
Outside of the senate, independents are picking up some momentum across the country. Recent successful ballot initiatives like California’s no political party primary referendum will help speed up the success of independents and independent-minded members of political parties as voters will no longer have to pick the lesser of two evils (on most days).
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From this morning’s USAToday:
“Independents gain favor in governors’ races”
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2010-07-05-independents_N.htm
Excerpted:
There are more signs of centrists stirring as national politics remain sharply polarized, a factor some candidates cite for leaving or being pushed from their old allegiances. Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who became an independent candidate for the Senate when the GOP seemed certain to nominate Tea Party favorite Marco Rubio, now leads the three-way field. In California last month, voters approved a constitutional amendment to make primaries open and non-partisan, a measure intended to boost moderate contenders.
“One of the things we’re seeing this year is a voter revolt against the extremes in both parties and a desire to find candidates who can be elected from the middle and who can govern from the middle,” says Eliot Cutler, a former Carter administration official who is running as an independent for governor of Maine.
