- Upcoming Events in The Legal Community (Brooklyn Eagle) Dec. 4, Public Forum: Open Primaries, the Problem or the Solution? 6 p.m. NYC Independence Party attorney Harry Kresky and CUIP President Jackie Salit will speak in favor of open primaries
- Will the RNC Push for 'Closed' Presidential Primaries? (Human Events)
- Governor Schwarzenegger: Please Don’t Declare 2009 the Year of Anything (Frank Russo, California Progress Report) There is now talk of an “open primary” as if that is a panacea for our problems. If this is the kind of ethereal pursuits our Governor focuses on and he is unwilling to tackle the real problems our state faces that are difficult to solve, we will have precisely what Professor Murray Edelman wrote about in, "The Symbolic Uses of Politics"--a symbolic gesture that is a lot easier to achieve and will make people feel good.
LOCAL INDEPENDENT NEWS
- Working Families Party boosts vote count (New Britain Herald News - CT) After a change in the state’s election laws last year made it easier for parties to cross-endorse candidates, a Working Families line appeared on every ballot this year.
- Marion County election demographics (Salem Monthly - OR) While the registered Democrats outnumber the Republicans, the unaffiliated voters easily could have been the deciding votes in some of the closer races.
- Change is essential (Lower Hudson Journal News) Those who refuse to register with any party are now the fastest growing group of voters in many districts. These voters represent a huge opportunity for a new Republican Party willing and able to meet their needs and tap into their frustration.
- How to have minor parties that are more than spoilers (Minneapolis Star Tribune) A little more than a hundred years ago, Minnesota and the rest of the nation allowed third parties to grow without simply being spoilers. The process is called fusion politics.
CENTER-LEFT PRAGMATICS
- America transformed (Eugene Robinson, The Detroit News) It's meaningless to argue whether ours is a center-left or center-right polity; the midpoint of the nation's political spectrum is, by definition, center-center. Ronald Reagan took office as the whole spectrum was moving to the right, and he pushed it further in that direction. Obama was elected as the spectrum was shifting back to the left, and he will try to give it a helping shove.
- Obama's historic moment (Philadelphia Daily News) Thus far, Obama refuses to be a prisoner of party ideology, admitting that he' be "happy to adopt ideas that work, whether they come from FDR or Reagan."
- Obama's change: minor or major? Our policies will change: Will our values, too? (Christian Science Monitor) Clearly then, Obama's values have American roots. The question, however, is whether these values are necessarily American. If people view pragmatism, pluralism, and positive human rights – which include the right to healthcare – as American values, they will see Obama as an inspiring agent for Change 2. But if they think these values are inimical to true American values, say, of personal responsibility, strict property rights, and limited government, they will fear Obama as an agent for Change 1.
LAST WORD(S)
Busty Bimbettes, Bombs and Brand Obama (CounterPunch)
Enough of 'Barbituate' Left Cynicism, Obama Is a Victory over White Supremacy (By Tim Wise, Red Room/AlterNet)
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