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Dear Independents: It's my pleasure to welcome you to our website - and to an ever-expanding political movement in New York State and our nation. The core belief of the Independence Party is to wrest control of our democracy from the almighty politicians and give it back to the people. We will accomplish this by enacting electoral and voter reform such as initiative and referendum, campaign finance reform and same day voter registration. The media and the Democrats and Republicans share a special etymological bond when it comes to reporting the political events of the day. It's the language of the two party system - and it almost always fails to connect to the notion that America is, in fact, a multi-party system. While nightly newscasters talk about the "new era in bi-partisanship" in Washington and the politicians themselves tout their successes as the product of "bi-partisan compromise," hundreds and thousands of Americans, third party and unaffiliated voters, are feeling left out and shut out. On the surface, most people would suggest that we have indeed entered a "new era." These are the same people who have been complaining about "partisan politics," and its resultant mean-spiritedness, and welcome the new term and its application to American governance. After all, they would say, partisanship sharpens divisive politics and bi-partisanship leads to compromise and cooperation, therefore it must be good for America. To many of us in third parties the notion of bi-partisanship, as its currently used, represents nothing more than a ploy by the dubious political duopoly to maintain their status quo by inhibiting multi-party dialogue and competition. Perhaps I'm over-analyzing the underlying motives of the media and the major political parties, but language usage on the part of leadership is central to any democracy that is rooted in the notion of free expression. Every American citizen, whether registered as a Democrat, Republican, Independence, Conservative, Working Families, Green, Libertarian, Right-to-Life, Liberal, or other party member, should feel a genuine stake in the political process. So I invite you to explore our website, our ideas and to join us in making independents a true and organized force in local and national political culture. Sincerely,
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