TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

Every day, The Hankster runs at least one post called "TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS", a comprehensive aggregated source for news articles from around the country for independent voters, about independent voters.

Super Tuesday is upon us and independents are key. Most states with primaries or caucases on Feb. 5 have "open primaries" in which independent voters will be able to choose their ballot. Below is a selection of articles that talk about independents and the weight they carry for the 2008 presidential election:

HANKSTER LEDE

• How to Vote in the CALIFORNIA Democratic Primary for President as an Independent or a Democrat (By Frank D. Russo, California Progress Report) INDEPENDENTS have to ASK for a Dem ballot.
  

CONNECTICUT

• Not to late to register (Stamford Advocate)

OREGON

• Spreading the candidate love (Kate Riley, Seattle Times) -- "In N.H. the independents can immediately fill out a card, the gist of which essentially allows them to claim temporary insanity and return to undeclared status. Now that's my kind of primary."

NEW JERSEY

• Hamilton Twp. embodies spirit of independence (Hamilton Twp. Courier Post)

ARIZONA

• Tuesday’s Arizona voters face lengthy lists (East Valley Tribune) State elections officials and Arizona Republican and Democratic party executives had thought — perhaps “hoped” would be a better word — thousands of independent voters would re-register into one of the major parties to participate in the presidential preference election, but that largely failed to happen. Only 1 percent of the state’s independent voters made the change in time to vote.

CALIFORNIA

• California Offers a Look Into Future of Politics/Increasingly Influenced by Independents, Hispanics (By JONATHAN KAUFMAN and JIM CARLTON, Wall Street Journal) Since the 2000 presidential election, the number of voters registered as Democrats or Republicans in California has fallen by 800,000, while the "decline to state," or independent, rolls have grown by 700,000.
• California Republicans Limit Their Primary To Those Registered in Party (by FOXNews.com)

BLOOMBERG

• McCain may have foiled Bloomberg's aspirations (Denver Post)

POLLS

• CBS Poll: Clinton, Obama Tied (CBS News)
• No Third Term For Bill (Power Line)
• Fewer Want Bill Clinton Back in the White House (The Caucus NY Times)
• Obama surges close to Clinton in Calif., McCain still leads (AP/Southern California News PE.com)

BACKSTAGE

• Sex, Race and Presidential Politics (Huffington Post)

Nancy Hanks, a 30-year independent grassroots activist based in New York City, has been building The Hankster since April 2006. The Hankster is America's leading non-partisan, non-centrist independent blog.