TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

CAMPAIGN

• Democrats narrow registration gap in Washoe (Reno Gazette Journal) Giertz said hundreds of campaign volunteers worked to register people to vote at the Obama rally Tuesday at the University of Nevada, Reno, campus. And in the days before the rally, students could get tickets to the Obama event and register to vote at stations set up on campus.
• Palin, Biden debate likely to go down in history (Fairbanks Daily News Miner)
• Wild Cards Create Wild Scenarios in Congressional Races (By Stuart Rothenberg, Roll Call) While third-party and Independent candidates for president remain largely irrelevant to the battle between Democratic Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) and Republican Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), three nontraditional candidates in other races are proving to be more important.
• Poll finds growing skepticism of Palin experience (Reuters) A third of independent voters now indicate they are less likely to support McCain because of Palin, compared with 20 percent who said so in an ABC poll a month ago, the Post said.
• Obama gains in national polls (Dallas Fort Worth Star Telegram) Obama has gained significant support among independent voters. In Pennsylvania, McCain was leading Obama 45 percent to 44 percent among independent voters as of Sept. 11. Obama now has a 30 percent lead among independent voters in the state.
• 3 polls show Obama leading McCain in Fla. (Palm Beach Post) independent voters prefer Obama by a 52 percent to 40 percent margin in Florida.
• October 1, 2008 - Obama Over 50 Percent In Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania Quinnipiac University Swing State Poll Finds; Debate, Palin's Fade, Economy Put Democrat On Top (Quinnipiac)
• N.C. voter registration smashes records with 600,000 new voters (The Times News) Of North Carolina's 603,000 new voters this year, 48 percent are Democrats and 21 percent Republicans. Nearly a third are independents. African Americans, who make up about 22 percent of the state's population, account for more than 30 percent of new voters.

NEW YORK POLITICS/INDEPENDENCE PARTY
3rd Term Bloomberg: Qualified Yes from Rudy, No from Independence Party Boss (Village Voice/Runnin Scared)

A PIECE OF HISTORY
Atlanta punk! A reunion for 688 and Metroplex (Creative Loafing/Atlanta) In the end, it wasn't loud music, violence or drugs that brought down the Metroplex; it was politics. In the summer of 1988, longtime activist Cornwell hosted a weeklong "Alternative Convention" to coincide with the Democratic National Convention taking place a few blocks away at the Omni.