The Hankster

PARTISAN OPPOSITION TO OREGON "TOP TWO" PRIMARY
Oregon’s Measure 65: Pacific Greens reply (Green Party Watch) Third parties are just as partisan as major parties. Hmmmm..... Does this serve voters?

REFORM

• SC: Aiken to vote on nonpartisan elections (Aiken Standard)
• SC: Politicians prefer partisan process (Aiken Standard)
• CA: Vote yes on Prop 11 to break partisan gridlock (Daily Bulletin-Ontario CA)

CAMPAIGN

• Gallup Poll: McCain Three Points Ahead Of Obama With Convention Bounce (By JOE GANDELMAN, The Moderate Voice) Once again: it’s a sharply-divided nation with independent voters (and some displeased Democrats) who’ll be aggressively wooed by both campaigns.
• McCain VS Obama In Colorado Springs (KKTV-Colorado Springs) there are more registered Republicans than Democrats, but at one point earlier this year the number of unaffiliated voters surpassed both.
• Democrats post big gains in voter registration (AP/Rockford Register Star) Both Obama and his Republican rival, John McCain, are fighting for independent swing voters, and many of the new Democrats had been unaffiliated voters. The number of unaffiliated voters dropped by nearly 900,000 since 2006. Many joined the Democratic Party to take part in the primaries and caucuses, and now they will now be targeted by an aggressive get-out-the-vote campaign.
• Obama in trouble (by Susan Nielsen, The Oregonian) McCain convention speech was a post-partisan ode to better governance. However, Palin pushed every partisan button and shored up conservative support for McCain -- and she did it while playing the winsome folk hero, a glossy-haired Everywoman in a sea of dull men.
• McCain's paradoxical approach: analyst (Chicago Tribune/The Swamp)
• Obama vs. McCain as change agents-The conventions still left questions about the candidates' ability to change Washington. (By the Christian Science Monitor's Editorial Board)

LOCAL INDEPENDENT NEWS
Rhode Island’s primary election (Providence Journal) Independents, majority of voters, choose their ballot, request disaffiliation after voting

NEW YORK POLITICS/INDEPENDENCE PARTY
Who Will Be New York Independence Party Nominee for President? (Ballot Access News)

Labels: Barack Obama, independent voters, John McCain, New York City Independence Party, nonpartisan elections, open primary, Oregon Measure 65, Sarah Palin