Major Parties in Minority?

Left: Almost one-fifth of Florida's registered voters claim no party affiliation. In Massachusetts, slightly more than half claim no party affiliation. Graph source: Florida Division of Elections

Today's so-called major political parties, the Democratic Party and the Republican National Committee, might want to take a lesson from King George III, who discounted the American colonies with famous results. A few 18th century discontented colonists in Massachusetts changed world history. More than a few 21st century discontented voters in Massachusetts, and in other states, may be signaling the coming of an equally revolutionary change.

When Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown won last month's special election to fill what had been, for almost half a century, Democrat Ted Kennedy's Senate seat, many people viewed it as revolutionary a development as that which began 200-some years ago at Lexington and Concord. A Time magazine article, for instance, quoted some as calling it "the Scott heard round [sic] the world."

Not only did a Republican take a Democrat's seat, Brown's election tipped the power scales in the U.S. Senate. Yes, the Democrats still have a majority of seats -- 59 to 41. In a simple majority vote, assuming all senators of each party vote the same way and in opposition to the other party, the Republicans still don't have enough votes to defeat the Democrats.

But not all votes are simple majority votes. For instance, two-thirds, or 60, of the Senators must agree to stop a filibuster, a tactic that delays decisions from being made. That may not be so easy now that only 59 U. S. Senators are Democrats.

A January 16, 2010, Christian Science Monitor article hinted at an even bigger tipping of power: Among registered voters in Massachusetts, the article says, 51% are "unenrolled." That means more than half the registered voters in one of the founding states in the union -- technically, it's the Commonwealth of Masschusetts -- are not registered with any political party. 

Historically, large numbers of registered voters have not claimed either of the major parties.

According to Massachusetts Registered Voter Enrollment: 1948-2004, a report found on the Massachusetts' Secretary of the Commonwealth's Web site, there were 2.485 million registered voters in the Massachusetts in 1948. Democrats accounted for 25.46% of the registered voters, 25.30% of voters registered as Republicans, and 49.25% -- almost half -- were unenrolled.

In 1958, during the time when John F. Kennedy represented Massachusetts in the U.S. Sentate (1953-1960), 31.03% of the state's 2.556 million voters were registered as Democrats, 26.16% were registered as Republicans, and 42.01% -- still more than in either of the so-called major parties -- were registered as unenrolled.

In 1968, six years after Ted Kennedy was elected to his first term as a U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, Democrats claimed 43.13% of the state's registered voters. Republicans claimed 21.52% of the voters, but 35.34% of the voters still were unenrolled.

The percentage of unenrolled voters has steadily increased. In February 2000, 50.32% of registered voters in Massachusetts were unenrolled, and in January 2008 50.34% -- slightly more than in the two major parties combined -- were unenrolled. One Massachusetts county, Franklin, had 57.99% unenrolled voters in January 2008.

"Unenrolled" should not be confused with any of the officially registered "third" parties -- also a misnomer. In Florida, for instance, there are 33 officially registered political parties other than the two "major" parties (as of December, 2009). Thirteen of those parties had enough wherewithal to have a candidate on Florida's 2008 presidential election ballot.

Nor should the term "independent" be used, as several minor parties use the word "independent" in their name. America's Independent Party of Florida (AIP), the Independence Party of Florida (IDP), Independent Democrats of Florida (IDF), and the Independent Party of Florida (INT) have all officially registered in Florida. The National Independent American Party currently is "seeking to organize in Florida," according to its Web site.

The number of unaffiliated voters in Florida has also risen. A pie chart on the Florida Division of Elections' Web site, shows 19% of registered voters unaffiliated, 3% registered with minor parties, 36% registered as Republicans, and 42% registered as Democrats, as of November 2009.

In 1972, only 3.37% of Florida's registered voters did not affiliate with either the Republicans or Democrats.

In Pinellas County, whose Supervisor of Elections office updates the registration information daily on their Web site's home page, the December 2009 voter registration report showed 38.82% of the county's 599,720 voters registered as Democrats, 36.65% registered as Republicans, 19.24% with no party affiliation, and 5.27% registered with other parties.

According to the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections' office, the minor parties with the largest number of registered voters were the Independent Party of Florida (INT) with just over 20,200 registrants, the Independence Party of Florida (IDP) with just over 3,000 registrants and the Libertarian Party of Florida (LIB) with just over 1,300 registrants.

Almost 5,000 registered voters in Pinellas County are designated as Unknown (UNK), usually because they didn't indicate an affiliation with any of the registered parties nor did they mark the "no party affiliation" option.

None of this, of course, takes into account the large number of adults who are eligible to vote, but haven't registered at all.

Still, while Scott Brown's election may have been "the Scott heard round the world," a new American revolution may have been quietly brewing for decades.

"A Cinderella Story" Sizzles, Swings, and Scat-a-tat-tats

The spoiled stepsisters learn to dance at an Arthur Murray studio, Handsome Hunk Charming swaggers ala The Fonz and the heroine is saved by her pet poodle? Wowza!

Forget Prokofiev's ballet, forget Disney's cartoon, and forget Rodgers and Hammerstein's made-for-television musical. The Royal Winnipeg Ballet's A Cinderella Story, presented recently at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, Fla., is about as traditional a rendition of the fairytale as West Side Story is of Romeo and Juliet. Although the RWB cast performs pirouettes aplenty and arabesques with abandon, and although the music -- oh, the music! -- is indeed by Richard Rodgers, this version, which debuted in 2004, stands firmly on its own slippered merits.

(Also forget a 2004 movie by the same name. No relation whatsoever.)

For starters, the set -- designed, as were the costumes, by Sandra Woodall -- is decidedly not misty-past European. Think instead Frank Lloyd Wright-ish upscale 1950s, lines and circles everywhere, a cabinet television topped with rabbit-ear anntenna, a sunburst wall clock, and a touch of neon.

Plopped in front of the TV, a girl named Nancy (Serena Sandford), "whose life is like a Cinderella story," according to the program notes, and her dog (Yosuke Mino) have just tuned in to the 1957 premiere performance of the R&H Cinderella. When Nancy's father (RWB senior ballet master Johnny W. Chang) brings home a new witch -- er, wife (Tara Birtwhistle) -- and her two daughters (Emily Grizzell and Chelsey Lindsay), it's easy to see where the story, codified in 1697 by French writer Charles Perrault, is headed.

How it gets there is another matter altogether -- a marvelously inventive matter of the combined talents of artistic director Andre' Lewis, choreographer Val Caniparoli, and arranger Ron Paley. The three pay homage to the 1957 production, playing snippets of the original sound track, including a bit by Julie Andrews, then turn the story on edge and en pointe to a score that sizzles, swings, and scat-a-tat-tats.

Arranger Ron Paley took Richard Rodgers' tunes such as "This Can't Be Love," "The Lady is a Tramp" and "Blue Moon" -- most written between 1926 and 1947 when he partnered with lyricist Lorenz Hart -- and turned them into big band jazz arrangements. Paley and his nine-piece band pair with Caniparoli's jazzlet? bajazz? which blends moves with the carriage and precision of ballet with the looser-jointed moves of jazz into a smooth-as-cayenne-blossom-honey sensation.

It more than works.

Tuesday's opening number featured the Butler's (Alexander Gamayunov) effortless entrechats with a soft-shoe feel to an a cappella scat tune sung by a gravelly-voiced Paley. Hero Bob (Gael Lambiotte) made the girls swoon as he swaggered into the Starlight Ballroom, then guided Nancy through a pas de deux as reminiscent of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers as of Rudolph Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn. Ensemble numbers combined catch steps and jazz walks with coupés and jetés.

All of which means the dancers have to be versatile, strong and quick. It can't be easy to slink one's way on stage and then step in to an en pointe attitude or to time fouettés en tournant to a funky jazz riff. But the RWB dancers made it look oh-so-easy. Even more, they looked like they were having a blast.

Wowza!

[Photos courtesy of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. For a more personal take on this performance, go to Just The Write Touch. Also check out the short video interviews with Val Caniparoli, Ron Paley, and some of the performers on YouTube or at the RWB Web site.)

Vocab Rehab: Due Diligence

"I did my due diligence," one blogster wrote about her hair cut disaster. She even showed up 10 minutes early. But still she got "the worst haircut known to mankind."

Google the phrase "I did my due diligence," and you'll find all sorts of entries by people who swear they did it and still got taken.

Maybe they wouldn't have if they had known what due diligence means.

As it is, a grammatically incorrect phrase has wormed its way into our language leaving holes in our thinking and slime trails over our assumptions of what other people mean.

The Wikipedia entry for due diligence says the term "first came into common use with the U. S. Securities Act of 1933." The same act that, for almost 75 years, prevented what's happening now in the stock market. Then some of the provisions were rescinded -- but that's another story.

A 1908 textbook, "The Law of Evidence in Civil Cases," by Burr W. Jones, cites Bartley v. Phillips as a case where the phrase due diligence was examined as to whether it was ambiguous (p. 574).

As a side note, other examples cited in the book of cases where language was scrutinized for specificity included:

• Coit v. Commercial Ins. Co.: "that sarsaparilla was not a 'root' within the meaning of a policy of insurance,"
  
• Astor v. Union Ins. Co.: "that by the understanding of the trade, 'furs' were not included in the term 'skins and hides,'" and
  
• Com. v. Pope: "that the phrases 'satisfaction due from man to man' and authorizing a friend to make 'necessary arrangements' contained in a letter meant a challenge to a duel."

A pity Jones didn't enlighten us as to the ambiguity surrounding due diligence in the particular case cited.

Regardless, Rule 203a.2.iii.B of the U. S. Securities Act of 1933 uses the term as a specific legal defense, saying that a broker or dealer would not be liable in certain cases if "due diligence was used to ascertain that" specific circumstances existed in the process of making a sale. The opposite is true, as well. If something is a legal defense, it can also be grounds for charges being brought of failure to use due diligence in ascertaining that something was or was not so.

The question, of course, is what constitutes due (adj.:owed to, appropriate, sufficient) diligence (n.: persevering and painstaking investigative effort or care).

And that is the question we journalists too often fail to ask, mainly because we've allowed the phrase to become jargon, slang, shorthand.

Consider this St. Pete Times article from October, 2007, about the sale of the Tampa Bay Lightning NHL team from one entity to another.

Here's the reporter's lead (lede, if we really want to talk jargon) sentence:

"BOSTON - Commissioner Gary Bettman said Thursday that the league has yet to begin its due diligence into Palace Sports & Entertainment's proposed sale of the Lightning to Absolute Hockey Enterprises."

Granted, the reporter was paraphrasing this direct quote, which appears later in the article:

Asked if the league has concerns about an ownership transfer, Bettman said, "We haven't evaluated it yet. It would be premature for me to speculate, but everything that I'm hearing is that it's on track and there shouldn't be any problems. That's what we're being told. But as I said, we're not yet at the stage where we would start doing our due diligence."

And the commissioner is not the only one using the phrase this way. Here's another quote from the same article, this from the bidder:

That is news to Absolute Hockey's Doug MacLean, who said in a text message, "They're well on their way on due diligence. We are on schedule."

As your mother would say, just because everyone else says it that way doesn't mean it's right. One does not do due diligence. One uses due diligence to do something else.

Here is what the NHL commissioner meant to say: "We're not yet at the stage where we would start following the specified procedures regarding such a sale."

At which point, the reporter would have asked the commissioner, and then told the reader, what those specified procedures were. Does it mean a full audit of the financial health of the bidder? Or does it just mean a cursory glance at bidder-prepared financial statements? Or does it mean something else entirely?

Due diligence is a subjective term, defined by policies, procedures, legislation pertaining to each particular company, case, situation. It is not something we can just assume is the same in every case and that everybody knows what is involved.

Let's strike the phrase due diligence from our own writing, and let's pin other people down as to exactly what they mean when they use the phrase.

Let's use due diligence in finding out what constitutes due diligence. Isn't that our job as journalists?

At the least, maybe people will stop thinking "doing their due diligence" means they'll never get a bad haircut.

All 13 Presidential Candidates on Florida's 2008 Ballot

Barack Obama isn't the only person with African heritage running for president, nor is Sarah Palin the only woman on a ticket. This year's candidates include an Arab-American, one who graduated from a U. S. military high school in Iran, an all-female ticket, and one who isn't a U.S. citizen. But each has spent the time, invested the money, and gathered enough support to qualify for Florida's ballot. Here they are, in alphabetical order by party, with a short blurb and links to other sources for each. Yes, I use Wikipedia for some of these sources. Additionally, Vote USA sent over 800 topics to each of the candidates -- not just the top two -- and has posted a side by side comparison of responses to its Web site. Our Campaigns is a "collaborative political Web site" with detailed info about each of the candidates. On The Issues is another site with comparative responses from each of the candidates. America's Independent Party (AIP) -- Alan Keyes, P; Brian Rohrbough, VP Here's what World Net Daily says about Keyes, one of WND's columnists (also where I found the most writing by Keyes): "A high-level Reagan era diplomat, a media personality and a conservative political activist, Alan Keyes is well-known as a staunch pro-life champion and a leader in the effort to restore the eroded sovereignty of the American people by securing our borders, abolishing the federal income tax and bringing the federal Judiciary back within proper constitutional bounds. He formally severed his Republican affiliation in April. He has since joined with other conservatives of conscience seeking to forge an Independent alternative in 2008 and has been nominated by the newly minted America's Independent Party as its choice for president. His name will appear as an alternative to Obama and McCain on many states' ballots, and will be available as a write-in on most others. More information and useful links can be found at www.alankeyes.com, www.americasrevival.com or at www.aipnc.com." And here's a link to Daylife's entry on Keyes -- Daylife is a news aggregator. Photo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Keyes Boston Tea Party (BTP) -- Charles Jay, P; John Wayne Smith, VP The link above takes you to the party's platform; the link to BTP's voters' guide shows different VP candidates listed on the ballot in different states. When Jay ran as the Personal Choice Party candidate in 2004, he was listed only on Utah's ballots. BTP's Web site indicates the party endorses a number of Libertarian candidates throughout the nation. The bio on Jay's Web site -- which seems to be unchanged since his 2004 run -- says he is a "New Jersey native, . . . a graduate of the University of Miami (Florida) and currently resides in Elkhart, Indiana." The bio also says his business background is in the world of boxing as a promoter, commentator and active guardian against corruption in the business. Here is Daylife's entry for Charles Jay. Photo: http://www.charlesjay.com/ Constitution Party of Florida (CPF) -- Chuck Baldwin, P; Darrell Castle, VP According to its Web site, the Constitution Party was formerly the U.S. Taxpayers Party, "one of only five federally recognized national parties," according to a 1999 press release on the Constitution Party of Florida's Web site (different from the CP national site linked above). In fact, in Michigan Baldwin is still listed as a candidate for UTP. In many other states, he's an Independent Party candidate -- sometimes as a write-in candidate. Ron Paul has announced his support for Baldwin (at the very end of a long statement). Baldwin's Facebook page says he is pastor of Crossroads Baptist Church in Pensacola, FL, and lists other links for more info about Baldwin. He is also a broadcaster and syndicated columnist. Here is Daylife's entry for Chuck Baldwin. Photo: http://baldwin08.com/Chuck-Baldwin.cfm The Democratic Party (DEM) -- Barack Obama, P; Joe Biden, VP The Democratic Party dates back to 1792, according the DEM's Party History page. Then, however, it was called the Democratic-Republican party and its candidate was Thomas Jefferson. Interesting that the DEM site has FIVE pictures of McCain and only TWO of Obama on its front page. Reverse psychology? Born in Hawaii to an American mother from Kansas and an African father from Kenya, Obama graduated from Columbia University in New York and currently lives in Chicago. He has taught constitutional law. Here's Daylife's entry on Obama. Photo: http://obama.senate.gov/ Ecology Party of Florida -- Ralph Nader, P; Matt Gonzalez, VP EPF's Web site is specific to Florida. Here's the national campaign site for Nader & Gonzalez. As with the DEM site, click on "Skip to the Web site" to get past the sign-up-to-receive-emails page. Ralph Nader has been running for president since 1992 when he agreed to be a write-in candidate for "none of the above" in two states. His first formal campaign was in 1996 and he has run every four years since then. This year, Nader is on the ballot in 45 states. Nader is largely responsible for the existence of such agencies as OHSA and EPA. Wikipedia says he is the first Arab-American and first Lebanese-American candidate for President of the United States. Here is Daylife's entry on Nader. Photo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Naderspeak.JPG Green Party (GRE) -- Cynthia McKinney, P; Rosa Clemente, VP McKinney and Clemente, "the first all-woman-of-color Presidential ticket in U.S. History," call themselves the Truth Squad, according to their Web site. McKinney was elected to Congress as a Democrat in 1992, becoming the first African-American female to represent Georgia at the national level. Before that, McKinney served in the Georgia House and, according to her bio page, "gained national attention for her determined struggle for a fair and just reapportionment plan in Georgia." McKinney also played a highly visible role in challenging the 9/11 Commission Report. Here is Daylife's entry on Cynthia McKinney. Photo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynthia_mckinney Libertarian Party (LBT) -- Bob Barr, P; Wayne A. Root, VP The Libertarian Party's slogan is "Smaller Government. Lower Taxes. More Freedom." Barr, a former Republican U.S. Congressman from Georgia, now works as a lawyer and runs a consulting firm called Liberty Strategies, LLC. according to the bio on his Web page, Barr also "serves as a board member for Privacy International, an international watchdog group headquartered in London." According to Wikipedia, Barr was a federal prosecutor and a leader in the move to impeach former President Bill Clinton. Raised in a military family, Barr graduated from high school in Iran and originally was a Young Democrat activist. Here is Daylife's entry for Bob Barr. Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26574201@N07/page2/ Objectivist Party (OBJ) -- Thomas Robert Stevens, P; Alden Link, VP One of the newest political parties, the Objectivist Party was formed by Stevens on February 2, 2008, and is now chartered in 18 states. February 2 is Ayn Rand's birthdate, and the party "seeks to promote Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism in the political realm," according to the party's Web site. Dr. Stevens, a former Libertarian who supported Ron Paul in the Republican primary earlier this year, is described as an "educator, attorney and political activist." Here is Daylife's entry for Thomas Robert Stevens. Photo: http://www.facebook.com/people/Tom_Stevens/538957202 Prohibition Party (PRO) -- Gene Amondson, P; Leroy Pletten, VP This is Alaskan Gene Amondson's second run for President as the Prohibition Party candidate. With a degree in zoology and a master's in divinity, Amondson works as an artist, writer/illustrator and presents an impersonation of preacher Billy Sunday. According to Amondson, the Prohibition Party is America's oldest third party and the 13 years of Prohibition cut crime, mental institutionalization and occurrences of cirrhosis of the liver. Wikipedia says, "Amondson's third place finish in four Louisiana parishes was the first time since 1960 that the Prohibition Party candidate for President outpolled all other minor party candidates for President in any county." Here is Daylife's entry on Gene Amondson. Photo: http://www.geneamondson.com/ Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) -- Gloria LaRiva, P; Eugene Puryear, VP The PSL's Web site says, "The Party for Socialism and Liberation is a newly formed working class party of leaders and activists from many different struggles, founded to promote the movement for revolutionary change." LaRiva is president of the Typographical Sector, Media Workers Union, Local 39521, CWA, and was the Peace and Freedom Party candidate for California governor in 1994 and 1998. LaRiva has organized anti-Iraq demonstrations and immigrant rights. One part of her platform says, "As a labor activist, I know firsthand the deteriorating wages and benefits that millions of workers are facing today. My campaign calls for a $15/hour minimum wage, strengthening union rights, healthcare for all, free education through college, and a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions housing is a right!" Here is Daylife's entry for Gloria LaRiva. Photo: http://www.peaceandfreedom.org/home/index.php/articles/partisan-number-25/121-gloria-la-riva Republican National Committee (REP) -- John McCain, P; Sarah Palin, VP According to the Party History page on the GOP (does anyone remember this stands for Gallant Old Party?) Web site, the Republican party provided a major third party upset in 1856 when their first presidential candidate, John C. Fremont, captured 30% of the popular vote, effectively ending the Whig party. Four years later, the Republican candidate, Abraham Lincoln, was elected president. Born in the Panama Canal Zone to military parents, McCain graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, worked briefly in public relations after his career in the Navy, and lives in Arizona. Here is Daylife's entry on John McCain. Photo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mc_Cain Socialist Party of Florida (SPF) -- Brian Moore, P; Steward Alexander, VP Here's the link to the national Socialist Party USA which says at the beginning of it's Statement of Principles: "THE SOCIALIST PARTY strives to establish a radical democracy that places people's lives under their own control - a non-racist, classless, feminist socialist society... where working people own and control the means of production and distribution through democratically-controlled public agencies . . . " According to Moore's Web site, he was raised in Oakland, Calif., earned an M.A. in public administration from Arizona State University, worked as a health care executive and an executive recruiter and currently lives in Florida. He appeared last night on The Colbert Report. Here is Daylife's entry on Brian Moore. Photo: http://www.votebrianmoore.com/background.htm Socialist Workers Party (SWP) -- James Harris, P; Alyson Kennedy, VP I couldn't find an actual Web site for this party, so the link above is from Wikipedia. The Wiki article says the SWP is a communist political party that claims industrial workers and trade union members as the bulk of its members. The article also says that the official candidate is Roger Calero, a Nicaragua journalist. Because Calero isn't a natural-born citizen -- he's a permanent resident alien (green card), James Harris is a stand-in candidate on the ballot in many states. Here's an NPR link "Socialist Workers Party Candidate's Uphill Battle" explaining more about the party and the candidate. Daylife had no entries for Roger Calero, so here is Daylife's entry on the SWP. The photo is of Roger Calero NOT James Harris. Photo: www.politics1.com/pix1/calero.jpg