TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS
Apparently this percentage is up since January, including among independents. But the poll was taken before Obama's latest push for health care reform...

• 53% Say Obama ‘Partisan Democrat’ (Michael van der Galien, Poli-Gazette)
• Partisan Politics-53% Say Obama is ‘Partisan Democrat’ (Rasmussen Reports)
• In drive for health reform, Obama must win over independents (By Linda Feldmann, Christian Science Monitor)

LOCAL INDEPENDENT VOTERS
Step right up, see how the gov candidates scramble for the independent vote!

• Dodd Remains Weak Among Independents- Poll Indicates He Has Base Back; Gaining Among Unaffiliated Voters Is Tougher Task (By DANIELA ALTIMARI, The Hartford Courant)
• Poll: Independents give Simmons edge over Dodd in Conn. (USA Today)
• Daggett: Only an independent can fix the mess in Trenton (New Jersey News Room)
• N.Y. GOP nominates new kind of Republican (By Aaron Blake, The Hill)
• Independents gaining a significant voice in Arizona's political arena (Mesa Independent Examiner, Christina Wijfjes-Smit)
• Poll: Sen. Specter's lead has vanished (UPI) "Independent voters have shifted narrowly to Toomey 46 - 42 percent and say 53 - 35 percent that Specter does not deserve reelection."

THIRD PARTIES
Personally I think the American public has pretty much "moved on" to nonpartisan politics for the moment, but I still think Mark West makes some mighty good points here about the value of third parties.

• Response to John Hawkins' "3 reasons why a successful third party wouldn't solve anything" (By Mark West, Renew America blog)

LAST WORD
This is a short article by the guy who blogs about American politics for The Economist, no doubt named after the Lexington of the American Revolution where the first "shot heard round the world" rang out... After reading the piece I'd say we made the right decision. Both times!
The Obama cult (Lexington blog, from The Economist print edition)