Indypedia? Calling All Third Party and Independent Political Activists

Among the many hurdles faced by virtually all third party and independent political campaigns is overcoming a lack of name recognition and breaking through the mainstream media filter. Voters who may very well consider casting a third party or independent vote are highly unlikely to do so if they first become aware of alternative candidates in the voting booth. Currently, the top hits on a web search for “third party and independent candidates 2010" are an outdated IPR version of the list I maintain at Poli-Tea and the current version of that list, which becomes outdated on a weekly basis and is itself not entirely comprehensive. But what if there were a comprehensive Wikipedia-style public database of current third party and independent candidates for office in 2010? If this were among the top hits for web searches such as the one above, it could prove to be an invaluable resource for third party and independent activists as well as the public at large.

To work, such a project would require 1) significant input from third party and independent activists from across the country and across the political spectrum, and 2) a coordinated linking campaign by third party and independent bloggers to ensure that searches for “third party and independent candidates 2010" and related terms return the page in question.

I have attempted to get the ball rolling by creating Indypedia at Wiki-Site. If there is general interest, initial brainstorming is welcome in the comments as always.

[Cross-posted from Independent Political Report.]