independent politics

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.

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:

Senator John Tester of Montana is the first Senator in U.S. History to post his daily schedule online. Tester's commitment to transparency is a model for legislators in all levels of government to follow.

Reformers like Tester have helped to enact some of the strongest and smartest campaign finance laws in the country. They should serve as a model for legislators in Oregon and other parts of the country.