Today is primary day and 3.5 million Flori

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS
COLUMNIST DORREEN YELLOW BIRD: Do American Indians need their own party? (Grand Forks Herald) I smiled to myself when Giago wrote that we should be independent voters, because I always thought I was.

OPEN PRIMARIES
  • Milkovich bound for court Friday (Shreveport Times) At issue will be the lawsuit he filed Monday alleging independent voters were barred from voting in the Democratic primary held Oct. 4.
  • Kurita's suit to restore win fails-Ruling rejects her as Dems' nominee (The Tennessean) The fight has brought new attention to the state's open primary system, which permits voters to cast a ballot in either party's primaries, and brought criticism on the Democratic Party for removing her nomination.
  • Open Primaries: No Better the Second Time Around (Marc Abrams, Blue Oregon) Open primaries serve to increase the power of the moderate, muddled middle. They allow the GOP in Portland to swarm to the Democratic primary and nominate a bland moderate so that liberals lose clout in the legislature, and allow Democrats in some GOP seats to do the reverse. Now Phil, a card carrying DLC member, may like that. I don’t.
  • Oregon Democratic, Republican parties oppose Measure 65 (The Oregonian) It's no surprise why party leaders are lined up against Measure 65. By definition, parties are partisan organizations, and Measure 65 is an assault on the partisan nature of elections.
  • Third parties oppose state open primary measure (Coos Bay World Link) Nearly every political party in Oregon — the Independent and Working Families parties have taken no official stance — has panned Measure 65, which they worry could threaten their existence.

CAMPAIGN
  • Poll: Obama now leads McCain 50% to 41% (Los Angeles Times) Obama improved sharply over the last month among independent voters, a much-desired bloc. McCain carried them by a 15-point margin in September; in this poll, Obama led by 5 points.
  • LA Times/Bloomberg Poll (pdf) LA Times release with cross tabs
  • Poll: Obama gaining among independents (Rocky Mountain News) "The key to winning elections in Colorado is independent voters and Senator Obama has blown open the race there with his 11-point lead among them," Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said Tuesday.
  • More polls show Obama building lead (Boston Globe/Political Intelligence) Obama now leads 51 percent to 33 percent, when McCain had led 49 percent to 39 percent a week ago.
  • Gallup Rasmussen Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby Polls: Obama Maintains Steady Lead Over McCain (Joe Gandelman, The Moderate Voice)
  • Obama's Leads in 4 Key States Show Tough Road for McCain (Wall Street Journal)
  • Independent voters breaking to Obama (Sun Sentinel/Juice) ``Do we want more of George Bush or a change? That’s what I’m voting for: change.’’

BLOOMBERG/TERM LIMITS
  • WWTGD? (Or: What will Tom Golisano do?) (NY Daily News/Daily Politics) Former Independence Party Gov candidate may oppose eliminating term limits by council declaration...
  • Term-limit foes seek aid - Wanted: law firm to back possible suit to force a voter referendum (metro new york)
  • Testy Bloomberg denies twisting arms on term limits (DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU)

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