OPINION
COMMENTARY
Independence Party now needs to build on Golisano's success
Yancey Roy

11/22/2002
Poughkeepsie Journal
Page A10
(c) Copyright 2002, Poughkeepsie Journal. All Rights Reserved.




Here's Frank MacKay 's difficult checklist:
1. Get the state Legislature to reform campaign-finance laws.
2. Change state election laws to allow millions more people to vote in
political primaries.
3. Build a real third party in New York.
MacKay is the chairman of the Independence Party, whose candidate,
billionaire Tom Golisano, garnered 15 percent of the gubernatorial vote on
Election Day -- the party's best showing in its eight years of existence. He
wants to use that propel the party and its agenda onto bigger things.
His idea: allow people who aren't enrolled in any political party to vote in
Independence primaries.
Unaffiliated a prize
There are 2.3 million unaffiliated voters in New York. Surely some would
want to participate in primaries without actually joining a party. Opening
the gates of the Independence Party would create a buzz about its primary,
build a constituency for third-party hopefuls and attract new members,
MacKay figures.
And it might boost voter turnout.
''We would hope to be seen as a bridge for voters to express themselves,''
MacKay said. ''We're saying: this party wants you.''
Trouble is, state law might not permit it. Election law says someone must be
a member of a party to participate in a primary. So the possible scenario is
this: the Independence Party state committee votes to adopt MacKay's idea at
its February meeting, then sues to nullify the election law.
Other states, such as Connecticut, have allowed unaffiliated voters to
participate in primaries. So MacKay and allies are counting on precedent.
Still, there are more tasks if the Independence Party is going to become a
legitimate force and not just a phenomenon that appears every four years
when Golisano decides to spend part of his fortune on a campaign.
One is to shore up the rift from this year's primary. MacKay and most of the
party leaders wanted to give its nomination to Gov. George Pataki. Golisano
and other balked at the notion of an anti-status-quo party endorsing an
incumbent, Republican governor.
Some Independence members went all out for Pataki. ''We had some leaders who
were in the Pataki war room every day,'' said Jeffrey Graham, a former
Watertown mayor and the party's 2000 U.S. Senate candidate.
Golisano edged Pataki in he primary and ran a vigorous campaign in the
general election. Graham, who supported Pataki in the primary, said it was
good for the party that Golisano won. Otherwise, it would've taken the path
of other minor parties: not offering true alternatives but merely endorsing
major-party candidates in exchange for political favors.
''We fell into that trap last year of cooing over major-party candidates too
much,'' Graham said.
And while it's good MacKay wants to push a legislative agenda that includes
campaign-finance reform and initiative-and-referendum, the party has a more
pressing need, Graham said.
''No one talks about cultivating candidates,'' Graham said. ''The Golisano
campaign was a wakeup call for what third parties are supposed to be
about -- which is independent candidates.''
The party has had slow growth over its eight years. Founded as a spinoff to
Ross Perot's first presidential campaign, it's focused on cleaning up the
process of government and has attracted 220,000 members or about 2 percent
of the electorate. It's not elected anyone to the state Legislature yet.
Still, it's got some momentum -- more than it ever has -- from Golisano's
showing. So now is MacKay's time to strike.
(Yancey Roy is a columnist for Gannett News Service. Write him at 150 State
St., Albany, NY 12207. E-mail: yanceyroy@y...)



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