INDEPENDENT VOTERS
- The Middle Shifted Away From The GOP In 2008: An Outcome Of Neglect (By JOE GANDELMAN, Editor-In-Chief, The Moderate Voice) A good part of Obama's win will be credited to Obama's skills and charisma, to John McCain's fumbles and to the economy's meltdown. But Obama also had another ally: the Republican Party's often-dismissive attitude towards the sentiments of moderates, independent and centrists.
- Tax Millionaires, Not Sodas, Poll Concludes (By SEWELL CHAN, New York Times/City Room) New York State voters oppose the so-called "obesity tax" on nondiet soft drinks by a resounding margin of 60 percent to 37 percent, but support, by an even more overwhelming margin of 84 percent to 13 percent, raising the state income tax on people who make more than $1 million per year, according to results of a Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday. Even those who prefer diet sodas — which would be exempt from the proposed 18 percent sales tax — said they opposed the measure (58 percent to 39 percent), while drinkers of regular sodas opposed the idea by an even stronger margin (64 percent to 31 percent). Majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independents surveyed all opposed the proposed tax, though by varying margins.
- Christmas Present For Obama: Poll Shows Honeymoon Is Strong (By JOE GANDELMAN, The Moderate Voice) Obama is coming into office with what so many centrists, moderates and independent voters had hoped to see in a leader, of any party: with a broad-based initial coalition of well-wishers, versus a large number of people waiting for a chance to re-ignite the 1960s-baby-boomer-spiced polarization wars that have plagued American politics for so long.
- Barack Obama: Yes, He Could (CBS News) While New Hampshire prolonged the Democratic race, it largely settled the Republican one. John McCain, a favorite of the state's large bloc of independent voters, won the state where he had focused much of his retooled campaign. Nearly broke and with staff gone, McCain scrapped his tour bus and relied on supporters to drive him to events, even when the drive from a Rotary meeting was in a vehicle with a flat rear tire. "In the words of Chairman Mao, it's always darkest before it's totally black," McCain liked to joke.
- Perdue's husband unsure of title - Eaves, who could share business savvy, rejects 'first dude' (Myrtle Beach Online) But he's flexible: As a wedding gift, the former registered Republican became a registered Independent voter. Yet he stopped short of becoming a Democrat like his wife.
- Markey makes history in battle against Musgrave (BY ROBERT MOORE, TheCOLORADOAN.COM)
NEW YORK POLITICS/INDEPENDENCE PARTY
- Not so sweet on Caroline (By Sasha Issenberg, Boston Globe) Kennedy is also seen as an ally of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Republican-turned-independent whose dominance of the city's center-left politics has vexed Democrats, but pleased some prominent political operatives who have also worked for Clinton and Kennedy. Cuomo, her most prominent rival for the Senate seat, is the son of a former governor and himself a potent political force.
- Fidler Calls Bloomberg Inconsistent on 'Gutless' Comment (by Azi Paybarah, NY Observer mobile) When Michael Bloomberg called City Council members "gutless" for not supporting a 7 percent property tax hike, it marked a sharp departure from the spirit of cooperation he tried forging after the contentious vote on term limits.
- Inside Mayor Bloomberg's Hiring of Hillary Clinton Aide Howard Wolfson (Posted by Wayne Barrett, Village Voice/Runnin' Scared)
OPEN PRIMARIES
Next: Bring back the open primary in California (Redland Daily Facts) Now there's the distinct possibility that by mid-2010 they will get a crack at another gift, a chance to resume holding open primaries that give moderates in both parties a significant chance at winning high offices.
POLITISOPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS
Rahm Emanuel: First post-election disappointment - In Rahm Emanuel, Barack Obama has found his clone. (Stephanie Block, Energy Publisher)
1 comment:
Now that a constitutional amendment for a "top two"/"open primary" for state offices has been introduced in the California assembly, Tom Elias, a columnist and author there, has again weighed in on this issue. As I noted previously, Tom and I had some contact during the campaign for the "open primary" initiative-- Proposition 62-- in 2004.
"... the distinct possibility that by mid-2010 [California voters] will get a crack at another gift, a chance to resume holding open primaries that give moderates in both parties a significant chance at winning high offices."
I think Tom is engaging in some wishful thinking here. The outcome has often been the opposite in Louisiana, which has used its "open primary" since the 1970s. The 1991 runoff for governor, for example, featured a crook and a former Ku Klux Klansman. And, in 1995, now-U. S. senator Mary Landrieu finished third in the governor's race; the runoff was between a white conservative Republican and a... Read more>>>>
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