It looks like Independents are starting to outnumber Democrats and Republican these days. That will make the future of all races in our nation and in our state very much up for grabs in the coming years.

I’m glad city council and mayor are non-partisan positions, as we have been able to avoid getting bogged down in many partisan allegiance issues. But King County Council, and other state positions, are going to have to reckon with the fact that neither party actually represents a majority of the voters. In fact, the graph below makes it look like the Democrats have more support than Republicans, but independent voter ranks are already greater than either of them, and growing faster.

I have long allied myself with the Democratic party, but like many others in Renton I have been frustrated in recent years with the party’s becoming involved in our Renton elections, especially when they make such poor choices.

There are still many excellent people in both major political parties, and I think they need to work extra hard to reach out to these independents if we hope to maintain a viable two-party system of government.

The other choice is to end up with a three-party or more-party system, but if this happens we may need to get used to a plurality (less than 50% of voters) electing our presidents and legislators.

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Here is the Time’s Story

Party ties mean less as voters shift their allegiance
By David Postman

The middle is back.

Political independents are the hot commodity in the 2008 presidential campaign after all but disappearing into the void left when the nation cleaved into a 50/50, red/blue, Bush/Gore, Us/Them, pick-your-side battleground.

click here for the full story in the Seattle Times

The possibility of a US manufacturing plant for Airbus Aircraft has potential implications for our state. As Norm Dicks says, it’s likely the Airbus proposal is “a Hail Mary at best” on the part of Airbus, as it’s hard to imagine such an arrangement coming together and being approved by congress in the desired time frame. Still, Washington lawmakers, Everett and Renton officials, and labor representatives will want to keep an eye on this.

I like Mobile, and they have some wonderful people there. But they seem a bit remote for locating a major airline factory, and they are right on the coast in the heart of hurricane territory.

Randy
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Here is the story:

Saturday, January 12, 2008

By Dominic Gates

Seattle Times aerospace reporter

Airbus will play a last-ditch trump card Monday in its bid to beat Boeing for an Air Force refueling tanker contract worth tens of billions of dollars.

Chief Executive Tom Enders plans to announce that if Airbus wins the tanker competition, it also will assemble commercial airplanes in the U.S.

Enders and Alabama politicians are to announce the plan in Mobile, where the tankers would be assembled.

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