The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense. – Thomas Edison To win a political race, it’s not enough to be right about the issues. You’ve got to be able to mobilize a coalition of people who will support you. Without that, you’re just another person with good ideas. As we move into May of election year, our hard work is paying real dividends in my independent race for Governor of Massachusetts.On April 2, I w...

“I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him.”  ~Abraham Lincoln The political scientist Juan Enriquez has observed that when empires fall, it is because people give up on their government, and stop believing that their leaders represent their interests. What was once a vibrant, engaged society becomes a population of individuals focused on narrow self-interest. Quickly, what was once a purposeful nation of shared bel...

Month 8 in Evan Falchuk’s diary of his Independent campaign for Governor of MassachusettsAny campaign for public office is busy, I’d guess, but I didn’t realize quite how busy until I began running as an independent in Massachusetts. It’s an understatement to say it’s been a busy year in my independent campaign for governor of Massachusetts. We’ve hired 20 full-time staff and interns, brought on board hundreds of volunteers, raised some money, met with thousands of voters in more than 90 cities...

Month 7 in Evan Falchuk’s diary of his Independent campaign for Governor of Massachusetts A lot of people I meet are worried about the future. They’re worried that our politics and government are broken, and that our elected leaders can’t come up with practical answers for the serious problems that just keep getting worse. They worry that we are reaching a point of no return, where the very foundation of what makes America so much more than just a place on a map will be lost.  A new poll out th...

As we move into the ninth month of this campaign, there is an increasing amount of news about the large and growing numbers of independent voters. It should come as no surprise, given that the headlines have been dominated by the ongoing partisan battles in Washington, D.C. There are independents running in the many 2014 elections, but are the latest partisan failures enough to turn these races in favor of independents? Put differently, is voter dissatisfaction enough to make people change the ...

Evan Falchuk / United Independent Party Month 4, September 2013 "The way to get started is to quit talking, and start doing." – Walt Disney In the fourth month of this diary of my independent campaign for Governor, things that were previously unclear have now come into sharper focus. Two candidates announced they would be running in 2014, and both are favorites for their respective Democratic and Republican party nominations.  On the Democratic side, there is Attorney General Martha Coakley, ...

Month 2, July 2013 In my campaign for Governor of Massachusetts, it’s been interesting to learn how many people think voters in our state are almost all Democrats. They’re nearly always surprised to learn that, in fact, a majority – almost 53 percent of voters – are “unenrolled” – independent voters who choose not to be tied to either Democrats or Republicans. As IVN reported last month, Massachusetts leads the pack nationwide of states with the highest percentage of independent voters. I can t...

Many thoughts go through your head the moment you really, truly decide to run for governor. Even more thoughts go through it when you know it will be as an independent. If you’re doing the hard work of very deliberately planning the many details of your campaign, the questions at first are almost nonstop: “How will my family and friends take this?” “What about staff, headquarters, and fundraising?” “Which are the best ways to reach voters with what I know is a credible message?” “How do I ...