TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS - Local Activists Turn Up the Heat

INDEPENDENTS & HEALTH CARE VOTE

• Could Threats to Democrats Start Scaring Independent Voters Away from the GOP? (UPDATED) (POSTED BY JOE GANDELMAN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, The Moderate Voice)
• Will health care fight sway independent vote? (By Ed Hornick, CNN) Republicans, Avlon noted, must separate themselves from fringe groups in order to appeal to the crucial independent voters as the 2010 midterm elections approach.
• A measure of history (By Kenneth W. Mack, Boston Globe) If members of Congress are more independent, voters are too. Just a short time ago, the conventional wisdom among historians was that blocks of voters remained loyal to one party for long periods of time, with periodic realignments that could make possible such policy innovations as the New Deal. Today, however, many voters now affiliate themselves with neither party and seem up for grabs.

PROP 14

• Open primary campaign in the red (LA Times/PolitiCal)
• A Historical Comparison of Voter Turnout in California Primaries and California General Elections (Ballot Access News)

CALIFORNIA

• Meg Whitman widens lead over Jerry Brown (Stanislaus County Political Buzz Examiner, Michael McGuire) Whitman's gain is particularly pronounced among independent voters, PPIC reported. In January, Brown had an 8 point lead over Whitman among independents. She now has a 6-point lead among independents.

IDAHO

• Incumbents fill Davis races (By María Villaseñor, The Salt Lake Tribune) In the other contested county race, incumbent Max Elliott, a Republican, seeks his sixth term as surveyor and faces opposition from Independent Randy Miller, founder of Utah League of Independent Voters.

COLORADO

• Riddle accuses activist of bribery-Commissioner says Greif offered money for resignation (by Katie Burford, Durango Herald)

NORTH CAROLINA

• Empower the middle (Doug Clark, Greensboro News Record) It's time to make in easier for independents to get on the ballot. It's time to form an independent commission to draw districts that aren't designed to favor Democrats here and Republicans there.

ARIZONA

• Despite hot issues, voter-signup numbers are down (Rhonda Bodfield, Arizona Daily Star) Still, both major parties saw decreases. Republicans fell by 5,900 voters - to 1.1 million. Democrats fell 9,600 - to just over 1 million. Those losses are offset somewhat by the ranks of independents, which grew by 10,300 voters, to just shy of 940,000.
• City will appeal ruling on nonpartisan voting (Rob O'Dell, Arizona Daily Star) Tucson a hold-out

KANSAS

• Column: Are Kansans more open-minded than politicians? (BY GWYN MELLINGER, Topeka Capital Journal)