Iowa's Third Parties Analyze Election Outcome

Iowa's Third Parties Analyze Election Outcome

Only two percent of Iowa voters supported third party presidential candidates this year, but Iowa's third party activists are more analytical than disappointed when they examine their levels of support.

“My suspicion is that there is a kind of 'automatic' knee-jerk third party vote which is almost always guaranteed,” said Holly Hart of the Iowa Green Party. “None of the third party candidates since Nader's 2000 run have broken past that.”

Third party vote percentages dropped steadily from Ross Perot's 1992 peak through 2004, but held about steady, increasing just slightly. from 2004 to 2008.

“Perhaps just the increase in voter turnout drew out more third party votes; plus, I think conservative third party supporters tend to be less apt to part from their far-right third party candidates,” said Hart.

Ralph Nader finished in third place in Iowa with 0.5 percent of the vote. Libertarian Bob Barr was narrowly ahead of Chuck Baldwin of the Constitution Party; each had 0.3 percent. Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney was sixth with 0.1 percent.

The Iowa rank order was the same as the national rank order. The gap between Barr and Baldwin was much closer in Iowa than the nationwide percentage. But a state to national comparison is a bit misleading. Baldwin missed the ballot in some large states including California, New York and Texas. According to Ballot Access News, 95 percent of voters nationwide saw Barr on their ballots, as opposed to only 60 percent who had Baldwin as a choice.

“I perceive the Constitution Party as our immediate competition for undecided voters who are fed up with the statist parties,” said Kevin Litten of the Iowa Libertarian Party. Litten said Baldwin's strong performance in Iowa was a surprise, but credited libertarian Republican Ron Paul's endorsement of Baldwin for much of the Constitution Party candidate's support.

“Voters are more pragmatic, not interested in risking a vote for a top-of-the-ticket third party candidate,” said Hart. “But an increasing number are willing to vote for down-ticket candidates if they think they can actually win.”

In the highest profile down-ballot race for a third party, Green 2nd Congressional District candidate Wendy Barth won 2.2 percent. Barth was the Green candidate for governor in 2006. “Considering that I put much less effort into this run compared to the governor's race, I'm pleased with my showing this time around,” said Barth. “In many of the counties in the 2nd district you will find more straight ticket Green voters than there are Greens registered in that county.”

Barth and independent candidate Brian White were included in one of the two 2nd District debates, and Barth said she won some media attention. “The (Cedar Rapids) Gazette consistently mentioned my name in articles about the race, usually a quick last sentence: 'Green Party candidate Wendy Barth is also running.' The (Iowa City) Press-Citizen was gracious as well.” But Barth said she needed reach out beyond the district's two largest counties.

The Libertarians and Greens won a place on Iowa's voter registration forms at the beginning of 2008, the first time any third parties have had status since Nader's 2000 run as a Green. Nader ran this year on the “Peace and Freedom” ticket and finished far ahead of Green nominee McKinney.

“Nader was expected to get more votes than the other third party candidates from all ends of the spectrum,” said Hart, “because he is more widely known, and because he had $4 million and paid field coordinators in 35 states, and was on more ballot lines because he was able to hire petitioners.”

“I suspect some of Nader's votes would have gone to McKinney had he not been in the race, possibly placing her ahead of Baldwin,” said Hart.

“Nader is well-known and respected, and has a greater following. It takes a lot to become recognized, once you have that recognition it gets easier, as incumbents well know,” said Barth. “McKinney is often portrayed in an unflattering light in the media.” (Most reports about McKinney mentioned a 2005 confrontation with a Capitol Hill police officer during her last term in Congress.)

Third parties often minimize the difference between Democrats and Republicans, but both Greens and Libertarians seem to acknowledge that Barack Obama's win over John McCain was significant. “In 2008, there was the double phenomenon of Obama and the overall substantial increase in pre-caucus interest, with the view toward getting past the Bush administration,” said Hart.

“I expect the Republicans to regroup in some way over the next four years which could either hurt us or help us,” said Litten. “The same can be said for what the Democrats do while in office.”

Few Voters Registering Third Party

Few Take Advantage of Green, Libertarian Registration

Less than one Iowa voter in every 2,000 has taken advantage of a change in state law that allows people to register with two third parties.

The Greens and Libertarians fought hard in court for the change, which established a petition procedure for parties to earn a place on the voter registration form without winning the two percent of the top of the ticket vote required for full party status. An out of court settlement, later enacted into law, kicked in on Jan. 1, and the first registered Green was "elated" at the chance to express his preference.



But through Nov. 26 only 1357 voters--0.05 percent--have registered with one of the third party "political organizations." 937 are Libertarians and 420 are Greens.

The Greens had full party status in Iowa for two years, after Ralph Nader won 2.2 percent of the state's vote in the 2000 presidential election. At the end of the two year run, Iowa had 2,480 registered Greens. That's only one of every 700 voters, but it's six times more than they have now.

Holly Hart of the Iowa Greens says there has been "slower but steady growth" in Green registration during 2008 than there was in 2001 and 2002. "Since there has been far less general interest in high-profile third party candidates in the past two cycles, and more aggressive recruiting by the Dems, I am not surprised that the growth rate is slower than before," she said.

Libertarians also seemed on the verge of a breakthrough in 2008. Ron Paul was seeking the Republican nomination, true. But his network of email contacts and online contributors would have been a priceless tool for Libertarian nominee Bob Barr. Paul endorsed Constitution nominee Chuck Baldwin instead, and . Barr scored the half a percent range that's been typical for Libertarian nominees for the last 20 years.

"For every registered member you have, you get three or four votes for your top of the ticket candidate," said Kevin Litten of the Iowa Libertarian Party. "My goal is to make that number grow, and I don't know how yet."

Further down the Iowa ballot, the Greens and Libertarians stayed out of Iowa's 2008 U.S. Senate race. Both parties ran candidates against Tom Harkin in 2002 and Chuck Grassley in 2004. The Greens only ran in one congressional district, and the Libertarians ran in none.

"The big difference is the level of awareness of the option. Nader made a big splash and a lot of people were excited about his candidacy, which led to a lot of people making the effort to register Green," said 2nd District Green congressional candidate Wendy Barth. "Last year a quiet little modification was made to the state law, and only a few people went out of their way to take advantage of it."

LaRiva battles ballot access and media access

LaRiva battles ballot access and media access

"I hear people say, 'There's socialists? There's actually socialist parties? I didn't think they existed.' We get no media access," presidential candidate Gloria LaRiva said over coffee in Iowa City. "We can hardly get through."

Presidential candidate who? Look at your ballot. She's there, along with Obama and McCain and six others in Iowa -- Gloria LaRiva, nominee of the Party for Socialism and Liberation. She had the time to give this member of the media a 45 minute world exclusive interview -- something I failed to obtain from her Republican opponent the next day.


Presidential candidate Gloria LaRiva addresses a crowd of about 20 on the University of Iowa campus.

It's hard to picture the serious LaRiva, visiting Iowa City as part of a driving tour that took her to Louisiana, Tennessee, and Chicago, as a Letterman or Leno guest. She says she is never asked the kinds of personal questions about things like family or musical tastes that the major party candidates are asked about. "They ask me 'president of what?'" she says, and then voters, and LaRiva, quickly move on to the issues.

LaRiva, whose day job is as Typographical Sector of the Northern California Media Workers Union, Communication Workers of America, says she's in an unusual position for a third party candidate in that she actually represents majority opinion, citing health care as one example.

"When you hear Obama and McCain talk about health care, McCain is obviously for privatizing health care because he speaks to the rich. Obama's audience is the working class, but it's hard without a leftist or progressive explanation to know what he's saying. What did he say the other day in the debate? He said 'we will make it more accessible for people to buy insurance from all the plans that Congresspeople are entitled to. And if millions of more people buy insurance, it'll lower the price of the premiums.' Says who? There's no discussion about limiting how much insurance companies can charge you for health care. There's no solution to the health care crisis with Obama or McCain."

"What do we say? End the war now. Use the military budget to provide health care. It should be provided by government. That should be the role of government, to make sure everybody has the right to see a doctor and have preventive care simply because they're human."

This is LaRiva's second presidential bid. She was the nominee of the Worker's World Party in 1992, was their vice presidential candidate four times, and has also run for state and local office in California. "Since I've run so many times, I've learned that people take elections very seriously."

The new Party of Socialism and Liberation was founded in 2004, and this is their first time on the presidential ballot. "We've accomplished quite a lot in our four years of existence," said LaRiva. "The fact that our first time out we are on the ballot in more states, twelve, than other socialist parties, is quite a feat. It's an endeavor to get on any state ballot." Iowa requires 1,500 signatures to get on the presidential ballot. LaRiva and volunteers gathered the names during June, when they also helped sandbag flooded areas.

"The fact that third parties have to go from state to state to get on the ballot, while the Democrats and Republicans are on automatically, shows that the game is locked up for them."

Ballot access is one barrier for third parties of the left, but LaRiva says the Democratic Party is also a barrier. "They have historically been the party that captivates and co-opts the movement."

LaRiva lives in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco congressional district, and helped antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan get on the ballot against Pelosi. "There were a lot of progressive people saying, 'Why are you doing this, (Pelosi)'s the best hope we have' --even though she voted for the war budget and against impeachment."

"He's raised a lot of good ideas," LaRiva says of Democrat Dennis Kucinich. "A lot of people are still wedded to the Democratic Party but very unhappy, or think it's the only viable option." But she added even a Democrat like Kucinich had trouble getting media access.

"Even though the Democrats, when they were running in 2006 said 'elect us and we'll end the war,' they used it simply for political purposes," said LaRiva. "Both parties have financed every dollar. It's interesting to even now hear Obama say 'I was against the war from the beginning,' when every vote for emergency funding has been unanimous. So they're both guilty," she said of the major parties.

"A lot of the people we've met, from New Orleans to Tennessee, Iowa, everywhere we're going, there's a strong sentiment for Obama. Which is fine. I mean it's understandable, because all they see is two choices," said LaRiva But they are very open to what we think."

"The financial crisis is due to the deregulation of the last 20 years," is what LaRiva thinks of the bailout bill. "The right wing always talks about less government, less government, but what they really mean is less government on the right of capital to exploit." She is calling for the prosecution of those responsible. "They're getting rewarded and given a free ride. Congress can't even find the guts to limit executive pay." Then LaRiva corrected herself: "Not pay -- pay is when you work for it."

"They're guilty of war crimes," in Iraq, LaRiva says of President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and others in the administration, hoping they will eventually be prosecuted. "The progressive movement, of which we're very much a part, has over the years had tribunals, indictments, and people's prosecutions. It's very necessary for the historical record."

In Iowa, five of the nine candidates on the ballot can generally be described as "left." But as for the thought that the multiple candidates of the left split the vote, LaRiva disagrees. "It's a question a lot of people new to the movement ask; why not just have one candidate? But if all the left got together, we're still not big enough. We really work together in many ways. We don't spend our time fighting each other. We all have our different areas and outreach, and together it adds a lot."

La Riva describes one of her opponents -- though she certainly wouldn't characterize Green presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney as an "opponent" -- as a "great friend," and it doesn't sound like the My Great Friend platitudes major party politicians pile on each other (usually the pile gets deeper the less they like each other). "We support each other very much," she said. "And Ralph Nader has a right to run and a right to be considered a legitimate presidential candidate."

LaRiva doesn't indulge in the vanity of some obscure contenders who rhetorically pretend they're going to be elected. "I know where we'll be" at noon next Jan. 20, said LaRiva. "We'll be in Washington at a counter-inaugural."

"It'll be interesting in 2009," she said of the next inauguration. "Probably Obama will win, if things continue as they are with the economy. And if he wins, it'll be thoughtful for us to figure out how to have a counter-inaugural in the wake of a historic development of the first African American president. We will want to take note of that and recognize the achievement and what it means for the African American community and all of the United States. At the same time, we know that that will not make a change in terms of the end of the war, employment for people. And Obama will be the head of an imperialist government in a capitalist country."

Third Parties Less Than The Sum Of Their Parts

Third Parties Less Than The Sum Of Their Parts

On Thursday, the first day of in-person early voting, a staffer friend of mine was marking his ballot and wondering aloud about the plethora of socialist options among the nine presidential candidates on the ballot. Socialist, Socialist Workers, and Party of Socialism and Liberation, not to mention the Peace and Freedom Party and the Green Party.

As one considers the minor arcana of dogma that separates these groups from one another, it's easy to recall this scene from Monty Python's Christ parody, "Life of Brian." (NOTE: The video has NSFW language that's amusing but not essential to the point.)

REG: Right. You're in. Listen. The only people we hate more than the Romans are the Judean People's Front.
PEOPLE'S FRONT OF JUDEA (a grand total of five people including the new member): Yeah... Splitters!
FRANCIS: And the Judean Popular People's Front.
PFJ: Yeah. Oh, yeah. Splitters. Splitters...
LORETTA: And the People's Front of Judea.
PFJ: Yeah. Splitters. Splitters...
REG: What?
LORETTA: The People's Front of Judea. Splitters.
REG: WE'RE the People's Front of Judea!
LORETTA: Oh. I thought we were the Popular Front.
REG: PEOPLE'S Front!
FRANCIS: Whatever happened to the Popular Front, Reg?
REG: He's over there (indicates one man sitting alone).
PFJ: SPLITTER!

It's a lot like academic politics or student government. The bitterness of the disputes are inversely proportional to the stakes.

The same dynamic occurs on both ends of the spectrum, as Erich Hoffer noted in his 1951 classic, The True Believer. Hoffer argues that movements are interchangeable, that fanatics will often flip from one movement to another, and movements resemble each other in style and method, even when their stated view are diametrically opposed.

This was evident in the past week as Congressman Ron Paul, erstwhile Republican presidential candidate and the internet phenom of November-December 2007, made his endorsement. Paul remains a sitting member of the House GOP caucus, but has explicitly NOT endorsed John McCain.

Two weeks ago, Paul hosted a press conference of several third party contenders and endorsed a generic, vote for any third party stance. But Paul's presumed favorite, Libertarian nominee Bob Barr skipped the event and held his own event instead. Paul, who was himself the Libertarian candidate in 1988, retaliated by endorsing Chuck Baldwin of the relatively obscure Constitution Party instead.

By third party standards, Libertarian nominee Barr is a relative celebrity, a former member of Congress who had a high media profile back in the Clinton impeachment era. In contrast, Baldwin is a classic third party contender--an leading activist in a tiny movement with no profile among the broader voting public. Third parties are often torn between nominating a longtime loyalist like Baldwin or a celebrity newcomer like Barr.

Electorally, they've done better with the big names, like Jesse Ventura, who went through some party splintering himself. He was elected governor of Minnesota in 1998 on Ross Perot's Reform Party ticket, then split after Pat Buchanan's hard-right hostile takeover. Ventura started his own Minnesota Independence Party, which has lived on past his governorship. No, it's not advocating that Minnesota become a country, like the Alaska Independence Party that First Dude Todd Palin affiliated with for a while.

Back over on the left, the strained relationship between Ralph Nader and the Green Party has led to electoral results less than the sum of the parts. Ralph Nader did much better running with the Greens in 2000 than he did running against the Greens, and their obscure party activist nominee, in 2004. Of course, there were other factors, like the Florida results of 2000. But the resources of the left, and the willingness of the media to cover lesser-known candidates, hurts both Nader and 2008 Green nominee Cynthia McKinney.

The candidates of the libertarian and right spectrum are likely to have a bigger impact than the left, as Barr may be a factor in several close states. Perhaps not so much Iowa, which is looking stronger for Barack Obama by the week. But Barr could be significant in some of the Rocky Mountain states, where Libertarians have run well, and in his native Georgia, which Obama is trying to put into play. (McKinney is also a Georgia native, but her African American base seems solid for Obama.)

But Paul's decision to back the obscure Baldwin, rather than the better-known Barr, is a classic case of the third party movement crumbling late in the game. It probably gives McCain a small boost in a few close states, but one would need special scientific instruments to measure it.

Socialists Take Different Approach to Ballot Access

Socialists Take Different Approach to Ballot Access

The ninth and last presidential ticket to qualify for the Iowa ballot before last week's deadline used an obscure approach, Ballot Access News reports.

Most third parties qualify for Iowa's presidential ballot by getting 1,500 signatures. But the Socialists held a "party meeting" provision, and used it very loosely.

"Recently the Secretary of State ruled that the 250-person meeting requirement may be satisfied by holding a meeting at an outdoor location," writes Ballot Access News editor Richard Winger. "The Socialist Party set up its meeting at an outdoor spot on the campus of the University of Iowa. That spot had lots of pedestrian traffic. Persons walking by were asked to sign, and that person was considered an attendee."

"Good going on the homework and implementation for these folks," said Karen Kubby of Iowa City. Kubby is no longer active in the Iowa Socialist Party, but while she was, she served 11 years on the Iowa City council. "They deserve some attention for this, Kubby said. "I hope it doesn't result in Iowa tightening any definitions."

Nine Choices on Iowa Presidential Ballot

Nine Choices on Iowa Presidential Ballot

Two presidential tickets filed on Friday's deadline day, giving Iowans nine candidates to choose from. The last minute additions are Chuck Baldwin of the Constitution Party and Brian Moore of the Socialist Party.

The Constitution Party started as the US Taxpayers Party, an umbrella group of several single state conservative parties. It changed names in 1999. Baldwin was the 2004 vice presidential candidate. He's running under different labels in some states.

The Socialist Party is the lineal descendant of Eugene Debs' campaigns of a century ago and elected, as Alice Cooper duly noted in "Wayne's World," three Socialist mayors of Milwaukee. The party faded almost to non-existence in the 1960s but has been an off and on presence on Iowa's presidential ballots since 1980.

Nine presidential tickets is about average for Iowa in recent presidential cycles. The most crowded ballot was in 1992 with 14 candidates.

The big news in Congressional filing was the non-filing by Democratic primary loser William Myers in the 4th Congressional District. There will be three-way contests in the 3rd and 5th Districts, and a four-way race in the 2nd. The U.S. Senate race is a two way contest between incumbent Democrat Tom Harkin and Republican Christopher Reed.

Complete list of candidates at the Secretary of State's site (.pdf)

Barth Files in 2nd CD

Green Candidate Barth Files in 2nd CD

Wendy Barth, the Green Party's 2006 candidate for governor, filed for Congress Wednesday in the 2nd Congressional District, setting up a four-way contest.

Barth joins Democratic incumbent Dave Loebsack, Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks, and independent Brian White in the race.

In other paperwork filed with the Secretary of State Wednesday, Barth is also listed as the Green Party's vice presidential candidate. The Greens are expected to replace Barth with the party's actual vice presidential candidate. Use of a stand-in for petitioning purposes is common in third party ballot access efforts.

In state legislative races:

Independent Kenny Abrams filed in open Senate District 6, where Republican Thurman Gaskill is retiring. He'll face former Republican senator Merlin Bartz and Democrat Doug Thompson.

Libertarian Eric Cooper is making a second run against Ames Democratic Rep. Lisa Heddens in House District 46. Cooper won 2.6 percent in a three way race in 2006; there is no Republican this time.

While the candidate has not formally filed yet, Polk County Republican Chair Ted Sporer reports on his blog that the GOP nominated Larry Voorhees, owner of several taekwondo dojos, in House District 68 at a Wednesday night convention. Voorhees will challenge Democratic Rep. Rick Olson.

Barr and McKinney File For President

Barr and McKinney File For President

Iowa's two official third parties both qualified their presidential candidates for the state's ballot on Wednesday. In a coincidence, both parties are running former U.S. House members from Georgia.

Bob Barr was a Republican in Congress, but now he's the Libertarian presidential nominee. Cynthia McKinney, a former Democrat, is the Green candidate.

Barr is showing up as a 2 to 3 percent blip in national polls, drawing support from disgruntled Republicans and former Ron Paul supporters. Paul, still serving as a Republican congressman, hasn't endorsed Barr -- but he hasn't endorsed John McCain either, and speaks often and highly of Barr.

First elected in the 1994 Republican landslide, Barr had a high profile role in the 1998 House impeachment of President Bill Clinton. Barr lost his seat in a 2002 primary, when redistricting paired him with another Republican incumbent. He surprised people by working with the American Civil Liberties Union on privacy issues, and left the Republicans last year.

National polls have excluded McKinney, preferring to ask about Ralph Nader instead. McKinney was first elected in 1992, and lost a 2002 primary where she was targeted by pro-Israel groups for her pro-Palestinian views. She won the seat back in 2004, but lost again in 2006 after getting a lot of negative attention over a physical confrontation with a Capitol police officer who failed to recognize her as a House member.

McKinney will compete with Nader, who qualified for the Iowa ballot as the "Peace and Freedom" candidate last week, for a similar group of voters. Nader is the better known name, but the Green Party has more of an organization than Nader's loose network. The Greens had hoped to increase their support from minority voters by nominating their first African-American candidate, but the Democrats seem to have had the same idea.

Greens and Libertarians earned a place on Iowa's voter registration forms on Jan. 1 this year as "political organizations," the new law's term for third parties. Voters can register as Libertarian or Green, but the parties still have to petition to get their candidates on the ballot. The deadline is Friday.

Three Independent Congressional Candidates File

Three Independent Congressional Candidates File

At least three of Iowa's U.S House races are now three-way contests, as independent candidates join the races.

In the 2nd Congressional District, independent Brian White of North Liberty, a self-described moderate, followed through on his announced candidacy and filed. He joins Democratic incumbent Dave Loebsack and Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks. But 5th District candidate Victor Vara of Sioux City is an unexpected addition to the race between Republican incumbent Steve King and Democrat Rob Hubler.

Socialist Workers Party (SWP) candidate Frank Forrestal filed in the 3rd Congressional District, where he'll face Democratic incumbent Leonard Boswell and Republican Kim Schmett. The SWP also filed for president on Tuesday. But the presidential candidate Iowa voters will see on their ballots isn't the party's official nominee.

The SWP, a regular fixture on Iowa ballots in presidential years, has nominated Róger Calero, who also ran in 2004. But Calero is constitutionally ineligible for the presidency, just like Arnold Schwarzenegger, as he is not a native-born U.S. citizen.

"The SWP was for many years the leading voice of Trotskyism in the USA," writes ballot completist Ron Gunzburger of politics1.com. "Since the 1980s, the SWP has drifted away from Trotskyism and moved towards the brand of authoritarian politics espoused by Cuban leader Fidel Castro's style of Marxism." The SWP is the group that actively sells The Militant newspaper.

James Harris will serve as the SWP's stand-in candidate in Iowa, just as he did in 2004. Harris will appear alongside the official vice presidential nominee, Alyson Kennedy. It's not clear what will happen if the Яevolutioи occurs and the SWP wins, but they'll have to improve on their 374 votes in 2004 in Iowa (out of 1.5 million cast) for the question to matter.

Announced SWP U.S. Senate candidate Diana Newberry did not file Tuesday. The deadline is Friday and 1,500 signatures are required.

In state legislative races:

Republican Vic Mokricky, a retired teacher, was nominated in Waterloo's House District 20. First-term Democratic incumbent Doris Kelley won with only 51.5 percent in 2006. Mokricky's nomination leaves 30 races still uncontested.

In Clinton's House District 26, previously announced Republican Jonathan Van Roekel officially filed against Democratic incumbent Polly Bukta.

Libertarian Russ Gibson filed in open House District 60 against Republican Peter Cownie and Democrat Alan Koslow.

Nader qualifies for Iowa Ballot

Nader to file in Iowa Friday

Ralph Nader's campaign has gathered twice the required signatures and plans to file for a place on the Iowa ballot Friday. Democrats are still seething at Nader over his "spoiler" role in Florida in 2000, but a look at election returns show that he has not made the difference in Iowa between Democrats and Republicans in his three previous races.

The Nader campaign planned to submit 3,000 signatures to the Iowa Secretary of State's office, twice the required 1,500. In 2004 Nader's petitions were challenged in many states, including Iowa. "Any challenge would be doomed to failure," said Scott Knight of the Iowa Nader campaign.

The campaign had planned to file on Thursday and hold a morning news conference, but a delay in a FedEx package carrying documents with Nader's signature led to the rescheduling.

As the Green Party nominee, Nader drew 0.5 percent of the Iowa vote in 1996, when Bill Clinton easily beat Bob Dole. But despite the widespread spoiler argument (are you listening, Leonard Boswell?), Nader's 29,374 Iowa votes as a Green in 2000 weren't enough to keep Democrat Al Gore from winning Iowa by 4,000 votes.

Further undercutting the spoiler argument, Nader's percentage in 2004 collapsed to 0.4 percent, yet Iowa flipped from blue to red. Nader's 5,973 votes were less than George Bush's 10,000 vote margin over John Kerry.

Nader ran in Iowa as an independent candidate in 2004, and some of his 2000 support shifted to Green nominee David Cobb. This year, the competition for the Nader niche may be fiercer, as the Greens have nominated a higher profile candidate, former congresswoman Cynthia McKinney.

A four-way national Associated Press-Ipsos Poll released Tuesday showed Nader at 3 percent and Libertarian Bob Barr with 2 percent. McKinney was not included in the survey, which had Democrat Barack Obama ahead of Republican John McCain, 47 percent to 41 percent.

Nader will file in Iowa as the "Peace and Freedom Party" candidate. That ballot label has been used for 40 years as a catch-all left party in California, dating back to the 1968 Eldridge Cleaver campaign. In other states, Nader is running as an independent or as the candidate of the "Independent Party."

"Our chances in the fall really depend on our ability to get into the debates," Knight told Iowa Independent. "If Nader is allowed in the debates the sky is the limit on how well we could do in November." Only two third party candidates have participated in fall debates. Ross Perot debated Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush in 1992. John Anderson debated Ronald Reagan in 1980, but Jimmy Carter boycotted the debate.

"If Nader is not in the debates, then we are hoping to get the Peace and Freedom Party permanent ballot status in Iowa," said Knight. That would require Nader to reach 2 percent in Iowa, the level he reached in 2000.

Nader joins Gloria LaRiva of the Party for Socialism and Liberation on the Iowa ballot. The filing deadline is August 15.

White Takes Independent Road in 2nd District

Brian White Takes Independent Road in 2nd District

Brian White is trying to take a tough road to the House of Representatives, but he believes it's the best route. The 31 year old attorney from North Liberty, running in the 2nd Congressional District, is trying to become the first truly independent candidate elected to the House in more than 50 years.

"Nothing has changed in Washington" since Democrats took control of Congress in 2006, White told Iowa Independent. "And I'm the type of guy that when things aren't going right, you do something about it

White deliberately avoids party labels, but he sees former 2nd District congressman Jim Leach as something of a role model, and interned for Leach one summer. So, would White describe himself as a Jim Leach Republican? "Well, without the Republican part," he said.

Leach had a moderate and independent image during his tenure, but the Republican label caught up with him in 2006 when he lost one of the nation's biggest upsets to Democrat Dave Loebsack.

Independents Elected to House of Representatives

Frazier Reams, Ohio, 1950-1952. The last true independent, Reams won two three-way races before losing to a Democrat in 1954.

Dale Alford, Arkansas, 1958. Alford ran a write-in campaign on a segregationist platform and defeated a Democratic incumbent. Served as, and later ran as, a Democrat.

Joe Moakley, Massachusetts, 1972. Moakley ran as an independent against anti-busing Democratic incumbent Louise Day Hicks in South Boston. The "independence" was purely strategic and he served three decades as a Democrat.

Joe Skeen, New Mexico, 1980. Skeen was elected as a write-in with Republican support after the incumbent died late in the race.

Tom Foglietta, Pennsylvania, 1980. The ABSCAM scandal broke after the party primary, but incumbent Ozzie Myers wouldn't quit the race even after he was convicted and expelled from the House. Foglietta ran as an independent, with Democratic Party support.

Ron Packard, California, 1982. A new congressional district looked so good for the Republicans that 18 candidates ran. After the primary, the winner turned out to be a fraud, and Packard, who lost the primary by 92 votes, won as a write-in.

Bernie Sanders, Vermont, 1990-2006. Elected to eight terms as an independent with open Democratic support, socialist Sanders moved to the Senate in 2006.

Jo Ann Emerson, Missouri, 1996. Republican incumbent Bill Emerson died late in the race and due to quirks in ballot laws his wife Jo Ann had to run as an independent.

Virgil Goode, Virginia, 2000. Goode was first elected as a Democrat in 1996, and then switched to independent in 2000. He was re-elected as an independent that year, but was already caucusing with the GOP. He officially joined the Republicans in 2002.

"He's putting his party's interests ahead of the district," White said of Loebsack. "He's voting with the leadership 98 percent of the time." That might not be a disadvantage in a district that, in terms of voter registration and performance, is the most Democratic in the state. But White disagrees. "There's a lot of pressure to follow the party" in Washington, he says, pressure he would be immune to as an independent. "(Loebsack's) a freshman playing the D.C. game."

White's web site has little mention of the hot-button social issues that motivate partisan activists of the left and right. He says some of those, like gay marriage are state issues. He's focused on "fiscal responsibility" and supports a flat income tax, but not the sales-tax driven "Fair Tax" that was a prominent issue in the Republican caucuses.  White said his own presidential vote is up for grabs between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain.

White says partisan posturing has made a solution to the Iraq War more difficult. "We need to move past the status quo of placing blame for past events and move forward to work together to create solutions that will ultimately bring our troops and our money back home without compromising our security," he said.

"If a person of another nationality wants to move to America and become a citizen, it should not take five years to become one," White says on the immigration issue. He supports increases in legal immigration that would immigrants to establish residency after criminal background checks, followed by a faster path to citizenship.

White works as a legal counsel at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. The medical connection, and Leach-like positioning, could cut into totals for Republican nominee Mariannette Miller-Meeks, an Ottumwa doctor. Neither the Miller-Meeks nor the Loebsack campaign had anything official to say about White's candidacy, though staffers for both candidates were curious.

White has not filed campaign finance paperwork with the Federal Election Commission yet, though he says he plans to soon. He plans a grass roots campaign centered on letters to the editor and individual supporters. Unlike a party candidate "we don't have county chairs built in," said White.

Another disadvantage White faces is the straight ticket line on the ballot. As many as a third of voters are likely to mark the straight ticket and automatically cast a ballot for Loebsack or Miller-Meeks, but White must earn each vote on his own. He says Iowa is one of only about a dozen states that still have the straight ticket, and while it's a state issue he would like to see it abolished.

White said prominent individual supporters have contacted him from both parties, though he named no names. "Every supporter is important regardless of stature, he said." Ultimately, White expects his campaign to cost in the low tens of thousands of dollars. That's small compared to the $470,000 Loebsack has raised.

"Take out the party, and 80 percent of (Loebsack's) money has come from out of state," White says. "I have no delusions we can raise as much." But White says he's in the race to win and is confident he can help bridge the partisan divide in the House, even if he is the only independent.

There are currently no independents among the 435 member House of Representatives, and the odds are long. Bernie Sanders of Vermont served eight terms before moving to the Senate in 2006, but he functioned as a de facto Democrat. Seven other members were technically elected as independents in the last half century. But those members were all elected under unusual circumstances and quickly aligned with a party.  The last true independent was Frazier Reams of Ohio, who served two terms in the 1950s.

The filing period for independent and third party candidates is July 28 through August 15. The bar is low -- 300 signatures, less than party candidates need for the primary.  White says he's well on the way.  He would be the first independent to run in the 2nd District under its current configuration.  The 2006 race was a two-way fight between Loebsack and Leach. Libertarian Kevin Litten ran in 2002 and 2004, but is not a candidate this time.

Mike Gravel Can't Get It Right

Mike Gravel Can't Get It Right

Remember Mike Gravel?

Oh, come on, who could forget? The former Alaska senator, who last won an election in 1974, made the early Democratic presidential debates much more entertaining, with his grouchy grandpa persona that made Dennis Kucinich seem mainstream.

Mad Mike resurfaced this week, getting involved in his third different party nomination battle in one election cycle. But his latest effort is likely to be as successful as his first two.

Gravel livened up the first 11 Democratic debates, making some valid points about the war and corporate power that were mostly lost under his get-off-my-lawn demeanor. But in October, Gravel was tossed from the debates like a rock into a pond. His departure from the Democratic race was announced in some news reports on caucus night, but was quickly and angrily denied. He did eventually leave the Democratic race, and the Democratic Party entirely, on March 26, saying "It is a party that continues to sustain war, the military-industrial complex and imperialism -- all of which I find anathema to my views."

Gravel then moved helter skelter to continue his presidential efforts under the Libertarian banner. In May, he finished a distant fourth place in balloting at the Libertarian convention (liveblogged at our sister site Colorado Independent).

This week, in an email to supporters -- or, at least, to curiosity seekers who signed up for his email list -- Gravel endorsed Green Party presidential candidate Jesse Johnson, an actor who ran for Governor of West Virginia four years ago.

While his party has changed (again), Gravel's rhetoric has not. "We've seen the havoc the two major parties can wreak on a global scale by locking out other voices, third-party voices. Both parties support war and American imperialism, which distract us from focusing not only on our domestic well-being, but also the world's well-being," Gravel writes in endorsing Johnson. "I want to lend my support to those voices that are committed to saving our country from our own shortsighted, greedy actions.

But Gravel appears to be out of luck again. Former Georgia congresswoman Cynthia McKinney has already won enough delegates to next weekend's Green Party national convention to clinch the nomination.

The political world eagerly awaits Mad Mike's next move. My hope is that he'll endorse Ron Paul, who is still holding a handful of delegates for the Republican convention. That would make Gravel oh-for-four in one year.

First Green in state "Elated"

First Green in state "Elated"

The first registered Green in the state is “elated” to finally be able to vote under his preferred political affiliation after years of complaining, but he’s still hoping the Greens achieve full political party status.

Beginning Jan. 2, Iowa has established a new class of minor political party called a “political organization.” The change is part of a settlement of a lawsuit filed by the Green and Libertarian Parties. Political organizations are required to have run a statewide candidate within the last decade and to complete a petition process.

The news, and the handful of new Green and Libertarian registrations, have been buried by the caucuses and the massive waves of caucus-night party changes to the major parties, but that wasn't on the mind of Ron Kinum of Iowa City the morning of Jan. 2. “I really was hoping to be the first if it was possible, without being egocentric about it,” said Kinum. He went to the Johnson County Auditor’s office just before 8 a.m. on Jan. 2, after attending the Hamburg Inn’s Coffee Bean Caucus results announcement.

“I filled in the form and requested they enter my registration in the computer so I would be among the first registrants,” said Kinum. “I really did expect someone somewhere in the state would want to register before they went to work or something. As it turned out, the clerk said I was the very first to register!”

“I was more elated over just being able to sign up as a Green after three years of complaining to the Auditor's office and to the state ID office where I got my ID back in 2006,” Kinum said.

Kinum is still not happy about the way the process treats the Greens. “They still discriminate about us as being a ‘political organization,’” he said. Full party status still requires two percent of the vote for governor or president. The Greens had full party status from 2000 to 2002, and the Reform Party had party status from 1996 to 1998.

As political organizations, the Greens and Libertarians will not hold primaries. Soma activists, like Holly Hart of the Greens, are just as happy not to have a primary, since a low turnout primary leaves a small party vulnerable to takeover by candidates who do not support the party’s values. That happened to the Reform Party in 2000, when Pat Buchanan took over the remnants of Ross Perot's organization and drove the party's only elected official, Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, to quit the party.

Kinum was also displeased with the Coffee Bean Caucus results, noting that Green candidate Cynthia McKinney’s coffee bean jar was not added until December, shortly before her announcement. “Many of (her) 36 (votes) were from me,” he said. “I figure I put in at least a third of them. I am a somewhat regular customer.” (The Coffee Bean Caucus slogan is "One bean, one vote," not "One person, one vote.")

Kinum attended the Democratic caucus for his precinct, wearing green clothing and a Green Party hat. He did not participate because he refused to re-register as a Democrat as required under party rules.

Kinum is well known in Iowa City for attending political events in Iowa City and carrying large hand-made signs, and he made a special sign for the caucus:

GROW UP

CITIZENS OF
OZ!

THE CAUCUS SYSTEM IS

ANTI-DEMOCRACY! 

ONLY THE PRIMARY GIVES YOU A

VOTE!

Kimum was unimpressed with the proceedings on caucus night. “It is so Neanderthal in the process that I cannot believe how ignorant these people are about the way they are doing this! Why don't they have foot races and arm wrestling to decide their candidates?” he said. “They're wasting an entire night to play politics like little children rather than to just have a primary vote and get the issue decided by the tally numbers!”

But other Greens, including Hart, like the caucuses’ system of second choice voting. “The caucus poll is proportional representation, exactly what Greens say we want,” she said. “There are some undemocratic things involved, but the caucus poll isn't one of them.”

Libertarians Want Ron Paul

Libertarians Want Ron Paul

Over the weekend, the Libertarian National Committee passed a resolution inviting Ron Paul to seek their nomination. But a Paul spokesman, while not making a Sherman statement, backed away from the invitation.

"Ron has no intention to run third party whatsoever," said Paul spokesman Jesse Benton.

The Libertarian resolution reads:

“In the event that Republican primary voters select a candidate other than Congressman Paul in February of 2008, the Libertarian National Committee invites Congressman Paul to seek the presidential nomination of the Libertarian Party, to be decided in Denver, Colorado, during the Memorial Day weekend of 2008.”

Paul, a sitting Republican congressman, was the Libertarian nominee in 1988. Paul himself has not directly and absolutely ruled out a run. Last month, he avoided the question at an Iowa City rally.

McKinney meets Bonior at the Hamburg Inn

McKinney meets Bonior at the Hamburg Inn


David Bonior and Cynthia McKinney cross paths at the Hamburg Inn

After finishing the talk at the Cottage in downtown Iowa City, Cynthia McKinney and the local Greens head three blocks up the street to a classic Iowa caucus stop, the Hamburg Inn. Since the Greens don't have party status in Iowa, there's no official caucus, but the Hamburg Inn had been alerted to McKinney's arrival. They had prepared a brand new Cynthia McKinney jar for the Coffee Bean Caucus. In this famous caucus ritual, once featured on TV's The West Wing, diners vote for president by dropping a coffee bean in a jar.

In an example of just how small Caucus World is, who should be sitting in the back corner at the Ronald Reagan table but David Bonior, John Edwards' campaign manager. Bonior was Democratic whip during most of McKinney's time in Congress, and the two old colleagues spend a few minutes catching up.

Since McKinney is looking at running for president as a Green, that means she'd be running against Edwards, or whoever the Democrats nominate. Still, Bonior had nice things to say about McKinney. "She was very progressive in the House," he said. "I know she had a lot of issues with the party, and this is her choice. Personally, our relationship's always been good, and I wish her well."

Bonior is upbeat about Edwards' chances, though most recent polls show him running a close third behind Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. "We have a dead heat, but we have great support and enthusiasm," he said. "Our rural piece is strong, he's on message, and we're moving."

Bonior says there's little Democratic campaign activity in his native Michigan, where four of the top six candidates pulled their name off the Jan. 15 primary ballot. Only Clinton, Dodd, Kucinich and Gravel remain.

As a University of Iowa graduate, Bonior is very familiar with the Hamburg Inn. "I used to come in here after a six pack," he said, adding "I know you're going to use that line" so of course I have to. He was off to Clinton next, for an event with longtime Democratic activist Jean Pardee.



McKinney, meanwhile, was working the full house at the Hamburg -- 11:30 Sunday is pretty much prime time -- before dropping her coffee bean in her brand new jar. She's at least the fifth presidential candidate to visit the Hamburg Inn so far this cycle, joining Joe Biden, John Edwards, Barack Obama, and John McCain. Former President Bill Clinton also visited a couple weeks ago.

Cynthia McKinney in Iowa City, Liveblog

Cynthia McKinney in Iowa City, Liveblog



Good morning from the Cottage in downtown Iowa City. I'm here with ten or so folks to hear Cynthia McKinney. former Democratic congresswoman from Georgia, who's looking at a presidential campaign as a Green.

Several of the usual Green suspects are here: `06 governor candidate Wendy Barth, `02 lt. gov candidate Holly Hart, and Karen Kubby of the Emma Goldman clinic.

The run looks like a go: there's lit with a logo, and a website, runcynthiarun.org. Hart and McKinney are discussing the difficulty of ballot access in Oklahoma. "And I thought Georgia was the worst," McKinney offers. That was the state she represented fron 1992 to 2002 and again in 2005-06.

Why Iowa, now, in the middle of caucus season? "Why not now?" McKinney responds. She starts chatting with the local Greens and I get asked, for reasons that seem unclear, to stop the audio recorder, though I'm the only press here. She recalls her first trip to Iowa, for Paul Simon in the `88 caucuses.

They're planning to head up the street to the Hamburg Inn to crash the Coffee Bean Caucus, which only includes the Dems and the GOP. They discuss the logistics of getting into the `burg on a Sunday morning (their busiest time). Barth talks with me about the SODAPop sitins at presidential campaign offices. In Cedar Rapids a group meets every Wednesday at one of Hillary Clinton's Cedar Rapids offices. Why Hillary? She's the worst on the war, won't apologize for her vote, says Barth.

The crowd's up to about 15. At 9:42 the program gets slightly more formal, but the sound system's not on or needed. (As it's getting more formal, the audio recorder goes back on. I didn't miss any great Green Party secrets.) Hart is going the introduction, everyone applauds the word "impeachment."

McK compares the present era to the civil rights era in that things are bad -- but in the `60s things were moving in the right direction and there was hope. "How could it be that the myth of American prosperity could be laid bare before the world with Hurricane Katrina?" And New Orleans is a microcosm of what could happen to the rest of America. "We had Blackwater troops patrolling the streets. How could we turn mercenaries on our own people?" They're not rebuilding public housing, they're building million dollar condos.

"Since they don't have grounds to go to war, they lie to the American people." Says last two elections were stolen. "How could it be that we let these things happen and yet do nothing?" "You know that the election in Florida was stolen, and you know what happened, and yet we did nothing. In 2004, as in 2000, the theft turned on the black vote." Yet Dems, who get 90% of black vote, did nothing. "Where was the dissent on the part of the Democratic party, who conceded the very next day in 2004." Says we know what happened in Ohio in 2004 because of the Greens.

"Election theft didn't start with electronic voting machines, but now we have a problem with electronic voting machines." Cites errors in her district in `06, and ongoing court battled. "The court ruled that the election results belonged to Diebold. That's the state now where we are."

Moving to domestic spying. The greatest generation went across the ocean to fight for democracy and freedom, but they didn't fight for this. Dr. Martin Luther King and Coretta didn't dream about this."

Says her travels are showing her "the tremendous capacity" of America. Cites the Ike military-industrial speech. "There's a lot of theft. $2.3 trillion out of the pentagon is missing. It's not missing. They just don't want to tell you who got it." When I asked the Pentagon comptroller, they said "the computers don't talk to each other." And they spent $20 billion to try. "I'm sure the computer science students at Iowa State and UI could go a long way to making those computers talk to each other and net spend $20 billion." Calls the war a "credit card war."

Says economy is "a house of cards, and a little breath from China or Japan or the oil states could blow it over."

As she tested waters, she asked young black voters "are you wedded to the Democrats, and have you done your research." Says she didn't get one yes. "Every young black person I spoke to is open. They're open." So what's that something different? For some it's running, for others its opening their minds to a new political party. "Not only are young people looking for that kind of hope, but they're looking for hope that will talk directly to them and go where they are. So we have to do that."

For the Greens, it means "we have to go deep into some neighborhoods where it's hard to understand the accent -- now I have a REAL Southern accent -- we have to go to where the people are." And we have to know the votes will be counted. "You might not agree with the outcome, but you at least have to feel your position was considered."

People are coming who are Dems, indys, GOP... "in most places my audience have been small on the Green side and large on the independent thinking side."

Q and A. Why didn't Gore and Kerry fight the results harder? "You would have to ask them. But in Florida the African American turnout was nearly 100%. And their votes weren't respected enough to be fought for. For me it is absolutely unacceptable. It was the black vote that created the Dem majority, yet not one of those Senators elected because of the black vote raised their hand in objection. It would not have overturned the election, it would have merely given us two hours to debate what happened in Florida." It wasn't about Gore, it was about the voters.

Wendy Barth notes that Greens were founded by "environmentalist white folks," and how can that build a coalition with blacks? "I hope it's going to work and I wound be doing it if I didn't think it would work." Says her old district largely Georgia, and there were people who wouldn't even shake her hand. "But in four years we overcame a lot of mistrust. SO I think me coming from the south, having already gone into areas that were unfriendly... there was a tremendous burden on the whites there who didn't want to be up front, but did a lot in a subtle way." Then the district was abolished as a gerrymander "and destroyed all the good work we did."

Says there was a Green internal issue with the Jema 6. "It's important that my party be there on these issues. Can't just sit there and watch. And a beautiful press release was done -- and then the pushback came and people were saying it was inappropriate for the Green Party to make a statement. And then I received a message from one Green who was concerned. She agreed with the release, but her fellow greens disagreed on this issue. And she didn't know who's compass was off. And I told her, on this voyage, some will be left behind, because they're not ready. Some of the Greens are going to be just as alone as I have been."

Campaign finance. "The issue is where the $ comes from and what people expect when they make contributions. That's why the Green Party has taken a position -- which I think should be tweaked a bit. Usually corporate contributions are funneled through PACs and all PACS are not equal. I think we should be careful to be sure that our money is conscience money, heart money, and we should produce justice, peace and truth. Those values are worth making campaign contributions for. I've always supported public financing, which we don't have. It's interesting that the arms dealers support Hillary's campaign. I don't know what that means for the war machine."

Iran. "War should always be the last resort, and usually it is the last resort, even the war we have now. I would suspect that war will always remain an option if other items on the agenda are not achieved."

Do Dems like Kerry and Gore value their position in the elite so much that they caved on the election? What made you resist that? (Question hard to hear -- and follow.) "The initial bill to fund the war passed by exactly the number of voted required, 218. The War Party - Democrats and Republicans -- were counting their votes in 2006. If you are able to eliminate one sure No vote, you're closer to 218. I was the only member of the Democratic caucus who lost in 2006. Why? Because I was a sure No vote. The person recruited to challenge me voted yes."

"The people who don't share my values are good at what they do, and they are determined to thwart people like us." Notes how unrepresentative Congress is -- too old, too male. "I've been invited to the club many times, but the cost was not only my integrity, but my dignity."

First presidential term? Rolling back executive power, a Department of Peace (through the State Dept.) Pullback military around the world and an immediate jobs program. "The construction trades are here" (can't be outsourced) so focus on that. "Retrofit for a green, carbon-neutral lifestyle and repair our crumbling infrastructure." Calls it "radical common sense."

I ask about the Nader/spoiler effect. "Pay attention to the black vote. Democrats abandoned it, Republicans obstructed it. The facts include one million black people not having their votes counted, they said they were 'spoiled'. It has nothing to do with the Green Party, it has everything to do with who's counting the vote. There was a concerted effort to construct a convicted felon list, and the when a similar named person showed up to vote they couldn't And there were 90,000 names on that list. Those of us who researched this or were victimized by it, we're outraged."

McKinney says she's backing Cindy Sheehan in her primary challenge to Nancy Pelosi, and emphasized the importance of having people running for office. Ask who in the room has run for office, four hands go up (Barth, Hart, Putman, me.) "Because accountability is not permitted, I get kicked out in 2002, get kicked out again in 2006. I'm being held accountable to the wrong values. If our elected representatives fail to be held accountable, we hold them accountable, or we change them, the way they changed me. Katherine Harris was rewarded with a seat in Congress, and I was thrown out."

What else would you do different? McKinney talks of budgeting. "The biggest snarer of your dollars is the Pentagon. I would significantly decrease the amount of money spent by the Pentagon." Roll back Patriot Act and such. Roll back Bush tax cuts. "I've supported every universal single payer health care plan. People who rail against `socialized medicine' in Canada and the UK have to explain why life expectancy is longer in Canada and the UK, why infant mortality is lower in Canada and the UK." Interested in the role of "assassination as a tool of the state," citing MLK, Fred Hampton, Tupac.

I've spotted a late arriving elected official -- Kelley Putman from the Soil and Water Conservation Commission. (Last I talked to her, she was backing Bill Richardson.) She asks about home district support. "Not yet, because this effort is as yet unannounced. There's a massive effort to get the Green Party to get on the ballot." Says she didn't lose her primary to Democrats, she lost to Republican crossover. "They used redistricting as a tool to try to get rid of me."

After the speech, Putman, who's been active in both the Democrats and Greens, said she's still considering Richardson, but has some concerns with him about the death penalty. "I can't believe we don't have a better group of people who want to be president," she says.

"We're on the wrong track on just about every issue that concerns our way of life," says McKinney.

After the talk, I ask McKinney what Greens should do on caucus night. She doesn't nibble: "I'm not here to talk about the Democrats, I'm here to talk about the Greens." Ron Kinum of Iowa City says, "Dennis Kucinich is closer to the Greens." McKinney is happy about the Ron Paul movement. " It's wonderful for the Greens, because people are thinking independently."

In part 2: Caucusland is a small world.

Iowa Party Registration Case Resolved

Iowa Third Party Registration Case Resolved

Ballot Access News reports that the lawsuit filed by the Iowa Libertarian and Green Parties in 2005, with the support of the Iowa Civil Liberties Union, was settled this week.

Iowa will now print a blank line on the “political party” question on the voter registration forms. Voters will be allowed to register into any “unqualified party” that (1) submits 850 signatures and (2) has placed candidates on the ballot in the last ten years.

Before this agreement, the only way Iowa law allowed for voters to register in a third party was for that group to earn qualified party status. There was only one route to that status: winning 2 percent of the vote for president or governor. Two parties qualified in recent years -- Reform in 1996 and the Greens in 2000. Both lost their status after two years by failing to poll 2 percent for governor.

Other parties that have run candidates in the last ten years include the Constitution, Socialist, Socialist Workers, and Pirate parties, and the now-defunct Natural Law Party.

Kansas is now the last state in which it is physically impossible for a voter to register into any party that is not a ballot-qualified party.