Independent Party

There are 34,000 fewer voters on the rolls in Oregon than in 2006, according to the Secretary of State. The only political party to grow in Oregon was the Independent Party, which added more than 10,000 voters in 2007, its first year of existence.

Party	       Jan 2007	Nov 2007	1yr change 
DEMOCRATIC	766,129	753,212 	- 13,200
REPUBLICAN	703,125	684,285		- 18,800
NON-AFFILIATED	438,251	431,986		-  6,200
LIBERTARIAN	  15115	 14,329 	-    800
PAC GREENS	  12086	 11,221 	-    800
CONSTITUTION	   3194	  3,000	        -    200
WORKING FAMILY	   1465	  1,485	        no change  
INDEPENDENT	   -      9,376	        +  10,745
TOTAL	  1,974,957   1,940,889	        -  34,068

In some ways, this shift is unsurprising.

According to a Gallup poll, commissioned by USAToday, 58 percent of Americans feel that they are not well-represented by the two major parties and believe that a 3rd force is necessary. Only 30 percent of Oregonians hold a favorable impression of the state legislature -- the lowest level ever given by such a survey.

Ron Beasley, one of Oregon's smartest bloggers has a post over at MEJ discussing the possibility of third party candidates on the left and right running in the 2008 presidential election.

Ron alerts us to a meeting of influential evangelicals who have spoken with the Constitution Party about running a third party candidate if pro-choice Giuliani gets the Republican nomination, and predicts a similar run from the left in the event that Hillary gets tapped.

We'll add a few more logs on the fire by pointing out that a recent poll suggested that just 33 percent of Americans feel well-represented by the major political parties and 58 percent of Americans would like to see a strong third party emerge in American politics.

Independent Party of Oregon Founder, Linda Williams sat down with Colin Fogarty to discuss the Independent Party -- why it was created, what are its goals, etc.

Well worth listening to for anyone who wants to know what all of the hullaballoo is about.

According to press reports, former Eugene Mayor, Jim Torrey, who narrowly lost a race for the State Senate to Democrat Vicki Walker has joined the Independent Party of Oregon.

Torrey said that he wants to advocate for issues he cares about without being shackled to the GOP platofrm:

58 Percent of Americans believe that the country needs a strong 3rd Party, according to a USA Today Poll conducted from July 6-8. The same poll indicated that just 33 percent of Americans believe that the two major political parties do "an adequate job" of representing the American people. In 2003, 56 percent of Americans believed that the two major parties were doing an adequate job.