Opening the Primaries to Independent Voters

The Winds of change are blowing in the Democratic Party. The party chairman has changed his mind and now supports open primaries. Young women, and yes men, who decline to state a party, will be able to vote in the Democratic Party Primary in 2016. The chairman said that he will change the party rules to allow independents to vote even without a change in the law.  Representative Emily Kane and State Senator Bill O’Neill will introduce a bill to open all primaries to independent voters this next year during the annual meeting of the legislature.  

The Republican Party, to no one’s surprise, does not welcome the change. We can count on Governor Martinez vetoing any bill pasted that would open the primaries to independent voters if by some chance she was reelected. The Republican Party stated that they fear that independents would move their party more to the middle and therefore do not want young people involved in the voting process unless of course they are die-hard extremists.

Currently, there is a lawsuit working its way through the court system that would force the major parties to open their primaries because of the constitutional right to allow everyone to vote. The issue does have merit since no voter should ever be turned away during an election paid for by taxpayers. Perhaps the court will say that if the state pays for the cost of a primary election than that vote should be open to all taxpayers and not just members of the major parties. This would allow republicans to keep their closed dying primary system for a little more time until they drive all rational people from their party.  

At any rate this is a small victory for the voting public since it will increase voter turnout during the primaries. It will allow more of the public to have a say in their local, state, and federal government. Too often primaries are limited to one party and the general election is nothing more than a formality. Perhaps this will force more candidates to attend open free events prior to very late November.

Both parties still need to deal with the fact that fewer candidates are attending free open events where young people can speak to the candidates about their issues. I had my nineteen year old daughter speak to Congresswomen Michelle Lujan Grisham about her experience when it came to Obamacare at the National Night Out event. She will now have the assistance of her congresswomen to help her get through a broken system. Most young people cannot afford $50 or a $100 just to be able to speak to an elected official during the campaigning season. Congresswomen Lujan Grisham is one of the few elected official that still care enough about young voters to get out and attend free events where the younger people can find time to talk with their representatives. Parades are not a good venue for these types of discussions since very little serious conversation goes on while you are walking a parade route.    

The Problem with Political Power Grabs

The problem with limiting the number of people who vote to either elect an individual or place someone on a major party ballot is that it drives people out of the party. People who desire control often attempt to drive people out of their party. Just look at what the Tea Party has done to the Republican Party in the last few years. I have friends who are republicans and they are ashamed of their own party for the lack of inclusiveness. In the past, I have always told them that they are welcome in the Democratic Party. I have to wonder if that is the case at present.   

The lawsuit that would open the primaries up to people who decline to state a party would invite more individuals to vote during the primaries. You can never criticize encouraging more people to cast ballots in our state. The Democratic Party is moving in the wrong direction under the current chairman by excluding voters from key processes. The party does not have large open events because that would allow all the voters to get to know the candidates.  It has become all about giving exclusive access to candidates to only rich people who can afford large dollar events. We are less than a hundred days away from the election but we are seeing very few open events where people can get to know their candidates.

It would be very sad to see the Democratic Party go the way of the Republican Party by only reaching out to the rich. In the past, we would be seeing large campaign events that welcomed everyone to shake hands with the candidates and ask valuable questions. Now all the parties are asking give me $50 or $100 or more dollars just to be in the same room with a candidate. The Fourth of July event at the balloon fiesta field saw just one lonely candidate with a booth. I still remember a time when the event would have been packed with candidates who were interested in getting to know the voters.

I hear from some that candidates are not the best we have every picked. I hear that some are 9 to 5 candidates who limit the amount of time they wish to spend on the job. This will not encourage the type of interaction that can solve issues facing our country or our state. You have to fear that without more voter involvement that our voting process is becoming one where only the rich and powerful matter and that more of the voting public will become disenfranchised. More women are likely to become disenfranchised because they are often the ones who earn the least in this country and this state. You have to wonder if maybe that is the goal of some individuals who see women as only play toys. 

How to Reform the Republican Party

Republican Party’s American Dream nothing more than a nightmare for American Women and their families. The Republican Party has a lot of work to do if they want to win back the support of the women in American. Republicans are old, white, and male.

Their problems start with demeaning women in this country. The Republican Party says that they want big government out of people’s private lives but somehow that does not include women in this country. I no more want a democrat male calling the shots in my private life than a republican male. I got to admit that most democratic men are too well trained. They will not even give their opinion about an issue when asked outright. This is not about hating on men because most of us kind of love them. They help us to create successful families and they make great partners in life.

Next the Republican Party says that they want people to take responsibility for their selves. Yet, they refuse to ask the richest Americans to pay their fair share in taxes. They refuse to force corporations into taking responsibility for paying their workers an income that would cover basic needs such as health insurance, childcare cost, food, or even housing. If corporations stepped up and paid good wages to all their employees and most especially women than most social services would be unneeded. Low wages does not drive the demand for more durable goods to be manufactured in this country.

America has an aging population. We all know that it is the contributions made by current workers that support the benefits provided to the retired individual in this country. Well educated women are not having large numbers of children at present. If we want our seniors to be provided for than we need to import more young people. Immigration will provide the workers that will support our seniors in the future. We have lots of room for growth in this country so why not fix the immigration problem. Self-deportation is the wrong answer at the wrong time for this country. It attacks the very foundation of immigrate families.

The federal legislature is facing some difficult decisions in the near future as they approach the fiscal cliff and those decisions will affect middle class women in this country. It is up to women to demand that the message sent during this election year be heard by the current legislators. For the Republican Party to simply dig their heels in and demand cuts that will harm working women and their children rather than increasing taxes on the rich in order to increase revenues is totally unacceptable.

War on Educators

I would love to be able to say that the Republican Party is the only one guilty of this behavior. The sad truth is that both parties are driving quality educators out of the field on a daily bases at present. Educators get tired of everyone treating them like the enemy. At some point, the fight is just not worth the rewards. Educators get tired of the fight and just want peace.


The job is hard enough with the low pay, overcrowding, students that come not ready to learn because of social issues and a lack of teaching materials. We do what we can while the educational administrators gets richer by the year.

Legislators and government officials at both state and federal levels hand over huge sums of money but refuse to direct the path of that money to the right people. It is like a family member watching a boss hand over the paycheck to an alcoholic. They know that the money will not be spent on basic needs. Educators are then blamed for the failures of the system. They are being forced to take responsibility for circumstances that are out of their control.

Republicans have directed the message to blame frontline workers who get little training, no real support, and low incomes. The wealthy educational administrators and corrupt fund administrators suck up retirement funds. For years, educators have received less than industry standards for their jobs. Any quality educator can leave the educational system and find higher paying work in their field of study even with the current economic difficulties.

Legislators think that the answer is to blame educators and force those educators to teach to some exam that does not reflex the desire to produce thinking intelligent individuals who would be a credit to the workforce. The ability to read, write, and do math is not the only skills that we want from our workforce. Life does not come will an answer key! Problem solving skills and an ability to think critically about issues are abilities that cannot be achieved if students receive all the answers to an exam. Teaching to the exam does not produce productive students.