On Mac Spainhour and the independents.

On the same day as a meaningless, hegemonic two-party partisan primary financed by the 87% skipping it, Mac Spainhour declared for Clark County sheriff as an independent.

Mac's a stand-up guy, and if I lived in Clark County, he'd get my support. His candidacy points yet again to the stifling inadequacies of America's two-party duopoly, and raises questions of independent campaign viability along the lines of those discussed in On the Avenues two weeks ago.

Hmm; 600-odd signatures. That's not hard at all. Here are two excerpts. First, the lead:

Spainhour enters Clark County sheriff’s race; Independent candidate gets community support, by Gary Popp (The Eclectic Observer)

JEFFERSONVILLE — Mac Spainhour is officially in the race for Clark County sheriff.

He filed a petition Tuesday with more than 650 signatures collected from area residents that allows him to enter the race as an independent candidate.

To become eligible to file as an independent, Spainhour said he was required to get 636 signatures, or 10 percent of the votes cast in the most recent Indiana Secretary of State election.

Spainhour, 53, Clarksville, retired from the Department of Natural Resources in 2011, after serving more than 27 years as a conservation officer in Clark County. He said he’s running as an independent because he believes that strict partisan ideologies can result in inefficient governing.

Now, try imagining a candidate in Floyd County conceding publicly that diversity is stimulating.

Spainhour said he has even been inspired by his own campaign committee, which is as diversified as it is dedicated.

“They are from different political parties, races and genders and it is really, really cool,” he said. “It makes you believe that the system can work. That people can get things accomplished. It is a great feeling to see Democrats and Republicans coming together.”

Good luck to Mac. I met him at IU Southeast, and he always had a clear idea of who he is and what he wants to be. He'd make a fine sheriff, assuming Clark Countians can get past that ridiculous "Democratic vs. Republican" impediment.