In this edition of #ListenFirstFriday, the 17-year-old founder of YAP Politics discusses efforts to bridge the polarizations between political affiliations.
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Independent Movement Unites at INC ’26 to Build National Power
Former U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin addressed the convention by video, recognizing the importance of competitive independent candidates and the opportunity to shift political power beyond the two-party structure.
Other current and former officeholders shared perspectives on independent movement-building and governance, including Utah County Commissioner Amelia Powers Gardner; former Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey; and former U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who closed the convention with reflections on what independent candidates and political organizations need to win.
Among other speakers were John Opdycke of Open Primaries; Greg Orman, former independent U.S. Senate candidate and author of A Declaration of Independents; Lindsey Williams Drath, CEO of the Forward Party; Amanda Griffiths, vice chair of the Libertarian National Committee; Manu Meel of Bridge USA; Adam Brandon of the Independent Center; Ryan Rabah of Independents Win; Jennifer Esteban of United Independents and many more.
Ben Droz
Independence, Civic Integrity and Better Governance
A central theme of the convention was defining political independence as more than simply not being affiliated with a major party.
Presentations explored independence as a standard of representation: the ability of public officials to exercise independent judgment and serve constituents without undue influence from party leadership, major donors or special interests.
One framework introduced a second dimension to the conventional left-right political spectrum. While the horizontal X-axis represents ideological differences, a vertical Y-axis measures civic integrity, including transparency, accountability, ethical conduct, and resistance to corruption.
The framework offers a practical basis for cooperation among political leaders who may disagree substantially on policy but share an interest in improving the integrity of public institutions. In this sense, the independent movement can also be understood as a movement for corruption-free government and more accountable representation.
Author and former presidential candidate Marianne Williamson reinforced these themes in her keynote, emphasizing government's responsibility to prevent harm, reduce suffering, improve quality of life and steward the natural world.
A National Slate of Competitive Independent Candidates
One of the convention's central programs showcased the 2026 Independent Slate, which Independents Win PAC assembled after an extensive review of independent federal candidates to identify those that demonstrate both alignment with independent representation and electoral viability.
The seven-candidate slate includes Senate candidates Dan Osborn of Nebraska, Seth Bodnar of Montana, Todd Achilles of Idaho and Brian Bengs of South Dakota, alongside House candidates Kevin Kiley of California, Bill Hill of Alaska and Sarah Zabel of Idaho.
The presentation gave the national independent community a chance to hear from serious congressional campaigns as part of a coordinated slate, not as isolated candidacies. Polling in several of these races indicates meaningful competitiveness.
The candidates also illustrated a larger strategy discussed throughout the convention: developing an Independent Fulcrum Caucus in Congress.
In a closely divided House or Senate, a small group of independent legislators could hold consequential votes, negotiate across party lines and help form issue-specific governing coalitions without being institutionally bound to either major party. The strategy seeks to translate independent electoral victories into meaningful legislative influence.
Supporting the slate through November became an immediate priority emerging from the gathering. Readers can review the candidates and examine available polling at Independents Win.
Building Institutions Beyond Election Cycles
INC ’26 also introduced initiatives intended to address longer-term weaknesses in independent political infrastructure.
The Better Governance Institute presented its developing Independent & Corruption-Free Certification Program, intended to establish measurable standards for ethical public leadership. The framework addresses conflicts of interest, financial transparency, bribery, personal enrichment, misuse of public resources and other forms of political corruption.
A second initiative, Independent America, is developing a national organizing platform to recruit, equip, and coordinate independent organizers and local chapters. The objective is to create durable organizing capacity that persists between election cycles, rather than requiring campaigns and civic organizations to continually rebuild local infrastructure.
Independent America is preparing a national pilot for individuals interested in establishing local chapters and developing independent organizing capacity in their communities.
Both initiatives reflect an understanding that lasting political competition requires more than successful individual candidacies. It requires standards, leadership development, professional infrastructure and ongoing civic participation.
Relationships, Culture and Movement Coordination
Beyond the formal presentations, INC ’26 placed considerable emphasis on relationship building among stakeholders. Shared meals, breakout discussions, networking sessions, receptions, and a closing gala gave organizers, funders, candidates, and organizational leaders opportunities to build connections and explore collaboration.
The program also incorporated original artistic performances, including DPAK's movement anthem “Together We Rise,” Naia Kete's “Proud,” Isabella Braveheart's spoken-word performance “Patriot” and Sophia Life's “Power With.” These contributions explored civic identity, patriotism and the cultural dimensions of cooperation across a growing independent movement.
The gathering concluded with commitments to continue supporting independent candidates through November, strengthen cooperation through a United Independent Coalition and advance organizing and institutional development throughout 2027.
After November, the next major electoral milestone will be 2028, when the movement aims to field a stronger generation of competitive candidates, supported by more developed national infrastructure. The fifth Independent National Convention is planned for Washington, D.C., in September 2028.
The significance of INC ’26 will ultimately be measured by the outcomes that follow: electoral results, functioning partnerships, stronger institutions and sustained organizing capacity.
For now, the convention provided a substantive view of an independent political sector increasingly recognizing opportunities to coordinate its otherwise separate efforts. Whether those efforts develop into lasting political influence remains an open question, but the work underway across the movement is becoming more organized and interconnected.
Main-stage presentations and performances from INC ’26 will begin publishing free for public viewing within the next week. Visit IndependentNationalConvention.com to access the recordings as they become available on the INC ‘26 Content page.
Ben Droz
Christopher Life is the founder and CEO of United Independents and founder and executive producer of the Independent National Convention.
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U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Pinnacle Bank Expo Center on the Nebraska State Fairgrounds on October 05, 2026 in Grand Island, Nebraska.
The President Invited Iran to Bomb My Home
I was driving home to San Diego from Los Angeles on Monday night when I heard that the President of the United States had offered both cities up to Iran as bomb targets. At a rally in Nebraska, defending his war, Trump told the crowd, “let [Iran] take out Los Angeles, let ‘em take out San Diego.” It was, he said, “a very small price to pay.”
I was coming from a Bernie Sanders rally for Proposition 40, the one-time tax on California billionaires that would send 90% of its revenue to healthcare. We desperately need it to pass because, in order to give tax breaks to billionaires, Trump signed a law that will strip health coverage from 10 million Americans; this tax will make sure we can still cover Californians. Call me crazy, but I think taxing billionaires one time so we can make sure kids in California get to see a doctor is a very small price to pay. I also think that even if Trump were joking, it is indefensible to make jokes about the potential destruction of so many lives. Human life is never a small price to pay. Human life is priceless.
Plus, the reality is: here in San Diego, we’re already paying the price for Trump’s actions, and it’s not small at all. He has gutted FEMA, tried to kill climate resiliency programs, and destroyed public health standards, while his signature law is set to cut off health insurance and food support for hundreds of thousands of San Diegans. Like plenty of American cities, San Diego is already busy finding local solutions to respond to the problems this president has recklessly created.
Not to mention, at least 19 American service members have been killed in this war already. Human rights monitors have documented more than 3,600 dead in Iran by April alone. Here at home, gas is sitting just pennies below its all-time record. Taxpayers have already spent more than $45 billion on the war, while Trump’s oil and gas portfolio has grown by roughly $15.5 million this year alone. Of course anything is a “small price” to someone paying free.99 for this war, and profiting from it. Meanwhile, We the People are paying twice: first for the war, and then for the consequences of that war. But now he wants San Diego to pay a third time, flippantly offering us up to Iran.
It is worth noticing which cities he thought to name. Were San Diego and Los Angeles strategically chosen to signify something to his audience, or were they simply the first cities that came to mind as expendable places? Either way, the effect is to normalize—-and to gauge a crowd’s reaction to–the idea of massive violence in major California cities, suitable targets because of their perceived liberal lean. So what if Iran needs to bomb a little bit of America before the war can be over? Who cares, says Trump, if they target Los Angeles and San Diego?
By the way, why didn’t he offer up San Francisco, the free-love hippie-town MAGA loves to hate (and also my birthplace)? Could it be because that’s where the tech titans live? The same ones who joined Trump for Xi Jinping’s state dinner, a guest list worth a combined $2.4 trillion?
San Diego may have fewer billionaires, but it is home to more than 115,000 active-duty service members and 230,000 veterans. One in six active-duty sailors–in the entire Navy–is stationed here. So is one in four Marines. You cannot throw a rock in this county without hitting a military family: brats and spouses and veterans are among us. I got out of the Navy last year after ten years, and eight of those were here in San Diego. When Trump says “let ‘em take out San Diego,” he’s talking about the backbone of the United States military. He’s also talking about the people fighting his war.
San Diego has not been watching this war from the sidelines. Today, the USS Abraham Lincoln returns to North Island after an almost yearlong deployment to the Middle East that featured food shortages, broken toilets, and mold in the showers after 286 days at sea without a single port call. Eight sailors in the Lincoln’s strike group attempted suicide, but in August, when a reporter asked whether the deployment had gone on too long, Trump said “not nearly long enough.” Now he has told a crowd in Nebraska that we should let Iran take out the city those sailors call home. These are sociopathic sentiments.
Last week at Quantico, Pete Hegseth closed his address to the force by telling them, “President Trump has your back and so do I.” To the contrary, President Trump has put one of the biggest military towns in the country forward as a target for our adversaries. With friends like these, the “domestic” in “against all enemies, foreign and domestic” starts to sound a lot less hypothetical.
San Diego is home to Naval Air Station North Island, Naval Base San Diego, Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, the Point Loma submarine base, Camp Pendleton, and Miramar (and I have been permanently stationed at or trained at all of them). If Iran bombed San Diego and Los Angeles, aside from the devastating loss of life, it would cripple an immense share of our national security readiness.
And for what, exactly? Trump says the war is “essentially almost over with.” This is the same man who claimed in June 2025 that Iran’s nuclear program had been “obliterated,” then launched a war over it anyway on February 28. More than seven months later, he wants us to believe two things at once: that we’ve basically won, and that we might need to sacrifice an American city or two to finish winning. If the war is almost over, why does anybody need to take out San Diego?
I wonder if Trump’s endorsed candidate for California’s 48th District here in San Diego County will respond to these remarks. He recently said “no pain, no gain,” when referring to the gas prices San Diegans are paying. Jim Desmond, would you apply that same mindset if we were bombed? Or do you have the moral courage to stand up for the people you’re running to represent?
Last November, six Democratic members of Congress, all veterans, including Senator Mark Kelly, recorded a video reminding troops of their duty to disobey unlawful orders, restating the law that says so. Trump called it “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH,” and then his Justice Department went looking for an indictment, which a grand jury refused. The president treated reading the law out loud to the troops as a capital offense, but then he himself invited a foreign enemy to destroy two American cities, possibly as a punchline. Is anyone calling the latter sedition? Who is demanding accountability?
Calling our lives a small price to pay affirms a moral bankruptcy, as well as an obvious dereliction of duty to the office he holds. While we can’t impeach him or invoke the 25th Amendment ourselves, we must stop being so quiet about what we’re paying already. We can make our voices heard by calling our representatives, writing op-eds, knocking doors, phone banking, and voting in defiance of the man who threatens the safety of our city. Ballots are already arriving in mailboxes. Vote, and vote yes on 40 (and no on 41 and 42).
Trump has been harming our cities for a while, but now he is inviting our military adversaries to join him in the harm. If we have any self-respect as Americans, we must not tolerate our leaders disregarding the dignity of lives in this way. We must fight for our home.
Julie Roland was a Naval Officer for ten years, deploying to both the South China Sea and the Persian Gulf as a helicopter pilot before separating in June 2025 as a Lieutenant Commander. She has a law degree from the University of San Diego, a Master of Laws from Columbia University, and is a member of the Truman National Security Project.