The Appearance of Impossibility

As Kimberly Wilder notes at On the Wilder Side, Tuesday August 18th was the last day to file an "independent nominating petition" to run for elected office in New York State this November. Downstate, the wide array of third party and independent candidates for mayor of New York City have garnered a fair amount of attention in the media. Incumbent Michael Bloomberg has been endorsed by the Independence Party, while performance activist and Green Party hopeful Billy Talen submitted more than twice the number of requisite signatures, as did the slate of candidates running on the Socialist Worker's Party ticket, headed by Dan Fein. Here at Poli-Tea though, news from upstate also hit close to home, as it were. Michael O'Connor of the Rotterdam Windmill reports that the No New Tax Party filed petitions to establish an independent ballot line for a number of elected offices in the Town of Rotterdam and Schenectady Country for elections this fall. In a guest post here in June, if you recall, Michael wrote:

I’ve been told more than once a run like mine can’t succeed . . .I couldn’t possibly hope to deliver any coherent message to voters, let alone get my name placed on the ballot. I was wasting my time, they told me.

Today at the Windmill, he states: "Many thought this effort was an impossible task. Guess what? The impossible task just became possible." In the two-party state, the appearance of impossibility is often only an appearance. Congrats, Michael! It can be done.