By every standard we know of from past elections, this year is unusual. First of all, the current sitting VP is not running. To many Americans, the pitched battle between Democrats Barack Obama, the first African-American candidate with a chance to win, and Hillary Clinton, the first serious female candidate, is a big story. On the Republican side, Senator John McCain, a Viet Nam vet and POW, resurrected his campaign after nearly going broke last year. For many others though, the two parties, with their corruption and partisanship, have become an unbearable nightmare, and the independent movement is in their sights.

So then, what is the state of affairs in this movement? For one thing, the independent movement is larger and stronger than at almost any other time, including the Ross Perot year of 1992. Mr. Perot was a self financing candidate with a huge enough bank account to fund his own campaign. Had he not entered the race, there wouldn't have been an alternative to Bush/Clinton.

This year, there are about two dozen serious Presidential candidates, and at least one of them is affiliated with a new party. This new party, the New American Independent Party is very active on the internet. Their candidate is Frank McEnulty, a businessman from California. His campaign announcement is available on this site. In addition to Mr. McEnulty, a significant campaign is being run by an African-American woman, Ruth Bryant White. There are also ten* candidates participating in a series of debates dubbed Independent's Day.

The first of these debates was held at the University of Cincinnati on April 5 & 6. The next one, called Independent's Day II will be in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., at the 9th Annual State of the World Conference. This conference is hosted by political activist Mario Fiorucci, and this year is dedicated to independent candidates. I/D III is being scheduled for Mount Rushmore in June.

Following these three intial debates is an independent candidates' rally on July 4 in Washington, D.C. By that time, there may be other debate venues scheduled and more candidates involved. These are the true independents, and besides them, there are a number of other individuals seeking out the nomination for the Libertarian Party and the Constitution Party. The two candidates most known are Bob Barr, a former Republican congressman, and Alan Keyes, a former U.N. Ambassador under Ronald Reagan.

The spread of the internet has made what was previously unattainable to the independent candidate a reality, a way to get out his or her message with minimal expense. Indeed, nearly every independent has depended upon the internet in order to compete with the big parties. The Main Stream Media of course, have stood by the DEM/GOP parties as they have always done so as to keep their hands in the pie, and they have given scant coverage to independents. It is becoming apparent however, that they missed the internet connection.

There are a number of internet sites where the bloggers and posters are actively involved in these independent efforts. One of the leading sites is our very own FireSociety.com, along with QubeTV.tv, ControlCongress.com, TownHall.com, and Politibyte.com. There is a high degree of vibrant discussion and quality blogging concerning the independent movement on these sites. The huge amount of voter dissatisfaction with the usual lesser of two evils choices is fueling this activity.

This sentiment is increasing daily as the American people watch the infighting, backbiting, and downright lies of the so-called main stream candidates from the two major parties. With serious challenges facing America, the Democrat and Republican parties can only manage to offer more of the same old politics as usual, even though they are trying to market their candidates as new and fresh, with labels like "change", "experience", and "leadership", as if these were some new ideas never thought of before.

Where the independents will be on election day is not yet clear. What is clear however, is that the independent movement is growing stronger by the day and will soon be in a position to challenge the two party system. Books published in the last 6 months or so include 'Independents Day' by TV newscaster Lou Dobbs, 'Declaring Independence' by Democrat activist Douglas Schoen, and 'America, Our Next Chapter' by Senator Chuck Hagel. Each of these books takes a look at the independent movement in America and predicts a massive change in our political structure That restructuring of the power held by the two major parties is sorely needed in our nation, and the independent movement is rising up to meet that challenge.

The task for all of us is to spread the word that there are other choices, there are alternatives, that we do not have to accept the lesser of two evils. We should alert our friends and neighbors and we should look for a candidate to support, and then get out and support him or her. We will never reclaim our inheritance if we only sit around the keyboard typing away. We must choose and then act. Otherwise, what is the point of being concerned?

Your favorite independent candidate needs your help, and eventually, if we get out sufficient information about them, we can come to a consensus choice who we can unify around to win in November. Think about it.