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To: Lane3 who wrote (18777)	8/4/2002 9:06:28 AM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 21057

I was surprised no one was interested in the article I posted on independents. Here's one on partisans. washingtonpost.com <<Politicians and analysts describe a cyclonic downward spiral that threatens to spin both the DFL and the Republicans farther and farther from the majority. The caucus system used by Minnesota parties to choose their candidates -- once a model of kaffee-klatsch democracy -- attracts fewer participants each year. As a result, direction of the parties has become more and more concentrated in the hands of True Believers. On the Republican side, power is held by Christian conservatives and anti-government ideologues; on the Democratic, the steering is mostly done by labor, environmentalists and aggrieved minorities. When these factions then choose rigidly partisan candidates, they drive loosely aligned voters away from the parties. That, in turn, spells even less diversity in the caucuses, which produces even more orthodox candidates, leading to further disaffection in the middle -- and so on.>>

To: Lane3 who wrote (18777)	8/4/2002 3:00:33 PM
From: Lazarus_Long	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 21057

But just how independent are these so-called political independents? As it turns out, not very, according to recent surveys by The Washington Post. Surprise. The overwhelming majority of independents do favor one party or the other. Surprise. And even more importantly, they are largely indistinguishable in terms of their core political beliefs and policy preferences from Americans who readily identify themselves as Republicans or Democrats. "You scratch independent leaners and you will find closet partisans," Surprise. And I would say that is just as true of our independents on this thread as of those in that poll. You and Steven, for example, have definite "leanings" and it isn't towards Republicans. Think about that the next time you are tempted to throw rocks at JLA and I for our "partisan" stances. The only real difference may be that we call a spade a spade.