Jackie Salit

Jackie is a highly respected political innovator and advocate for the rights of independent voters and President of Independent Voting, the country’s leading strategy and organizing center for independents, with chapters in 40 states.

What RFK's Mistakes Teach Us About the Future of the Independent Movement

Now that the celebratory trashing (by Democrats) and overheated celebration (by Republicans) of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s decision to suspend his independent presidential bid and back former President Donald Trump is in the rearview mirror, it’s time for an independent to sort this one out.

By Jackie Salit

/ August 27, 2024

What RFK's Mistakes Teach Us About the Future of the Independent Movement

Being in Bensonhurst: Remembrance. Resistance. Reality.

I. The marches in Bensonhurst are a distant memory for me. They were 30 years ago. I don’t recall many of the specifics, the details. We rode on busses

By Jackie Salit

/ August 11, 2020

Being in Bensonhurst: Remembrance. Resistance. Reality.

THE SPEECH THAT BERNIE SHOULD GIVE (but probably won’t)

Hello America! Hello my Brothers and Sisters! This campaign, this race for the Democratic Party presidential nomination, has come to a critical point. A boiling point, some would say. And

By Jackie Salit

/ March 9, 2020

THE SPEECH THAT BERNIE SHOULD GIVE (but probably won’t)

A Poem by Jessie Fields

Dear IVN Reader, ‍ For the holidays I give you this beautiful poem by my beautiful friend Dr. Jessie Fields. A physician, a leader, a conscience and a poet, Dr. Fields

By Jackie Salit

/ December 18, 2019

Being Mike Bloomberg (Presidential Candidate?)

I rarely give advice when it is unsolicited. But when you know someone, and you’ve had a history with them, and when the stakes are high and people are

By Jackie Salit

/ November 13, 2019

Being Mike Bloomberg (Presidential Candidate?)

Suicide by Stupidity? Arizona Democrats Close the Presidential Primary

The Arizona Democratic Party voted down a resolution on September 21 to open the party’s presidential primaries in March to the state’s 1.3 million independent voters. It

By Jackie Salit

/ October 9, 2019

Suicide by Stupidity? Arizona Democrats Close the Presidential Primary

The Arizona Democratic Party voted down a resolution on September 21 to open the party’s presidential primaries in March to the state’s 1.3 million independent voters.

By Jackie Salit

/ October 9, 2019

The U.S. Open and Open Politics

The corruption of American politics is deep and stifling and it is producing levels of alienation and antagonism that are frightening.

By Jackie Salit

/ September 11, 2019

Long Live the Crackpots!

I first heard the news that Ross Perot had died last Tuesday afternoon and it didn’t take long for the major media obituaries to appear. In public life in

By Jackie Salit

/ July 17, 2019

Poor Bernie

Poor Bernie Sanders. It’s not enough that he had the balls to challenge The Anointed One in the Democratic Party primary in 2016. It’s not enough that in

By Jackie Salit

/ June 12, 2019

2020 and Beyond: The View from County Road T

For the last several years, I’ve been spending time in rural Wisconsin in a small farmhouse set on 130 heavily-wooded acres on County Road T, Polk County. This is

By Jackie Salit

/ May 15, 2019

2020 and Beyond: The View from County Road T

Basketball Battles and Political Scores (Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Game)

With politics in a permanent state of chaos, we might have to look outside the political sphere to be grounded politically. At least I do. Sports is a good place

By Jackie Salit

/ April 10, 2019

Basketball Battles and Political Scores (Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Game)