The New York Times

Sunday, October 12, 2003

Political Points Michael Janofsky

Anyone Have An Umbrella?

The Green Party doesn't provide quite the right niche, and for that matter, neither do the Reform, Natural Law, Libertarian, Socialist Workers, America First, Constitution or Prohibition Parties.
Still, some independents, who make up more than a third of the national electorate, are looking for an umbrella.Jim Mangia, a former officer of the Reform Party, is part of a group aiming to provide one.
Made up of disaffected third-party members as well as others from the Big Two, the group is asking the Democratic hopefuls to commit to building coalitions with them by supporting efforts to open the elective process through ballot initiatives, nonpartisan elections, same-day voter registration, term limits, campaign finance reform, open primaires, even the right to recall.Mr. Mangia said that Howard Dean, John Edwards, Dennis Kucinich and the Rev. Al Sharpton had committed to supporting the goals of the group and that John Kerry and Wesley Clark had expressed an interest.
Noting, "We've learned from the failures of the Reform Party," Mr. Mangia said: "We don't need another party. What we do need is a political force that challenges partisanship and reinvigorates democracy through more political reform."
He pointed to the possibilities raised by Arnold Schwarzenegger's victory in last week's race for governor in California.
"That's what happens when you open the process," Mr. Mangia said. "When you change the environment, you have a populist explosion."

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Jim Mangia is the President of the Coalition for Political Reform and the former national secretary of the Reform Party.