TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS 7/21/10

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• A Year After Honeymoon Ends, Whites, Men and Independents Desert Obama (By Peter Brown, Wall Street Journal/Capital Journal) But today, the numbers for those three groups show just how far he has fallen. He gets a positive job approval from just 37% of whites, 38% of independents and 39% of men – a roughly 30% drop in all three groups in his support.
• Letter: Partisans put party before country (The Advocate) The most damaging aspect of conservatives and liberals is that they believe that, in order for this country to survive, everyone should conform to their beliefs. These people are more loyal to their party than they are to our country.... The voters in this country at one time were Americans who joined political parties; now they are Republicans and Democrats who live in America.

OPEN PRIMARIES

• ARIZONA: Important information for ALL voters (by three-sonorans, Tucson Citizen) “Since Arizona is an open primary state, even independent voters or those who are not affiliated with a political party may vote,” continued Ms. Rodriguez. “Just designate which political party’s ballot you want at the time you make your request.”
• TENNESSEE: Crossville, Tenn., woman denied GOP primary vote (By: Associated Press, Times Free Press)

SOUTH DAKOTA

• Independent vies for U.S. House seat - Custer resident: Democrats, GOP are out of touch (JONATHAN ELLIS, Argus Leader)

SOUTH CAROLINA

• Fourth Circuit Upholds South Carolina Restriction on Fusion (Ballot Access News)
• Appeals court rules against SC Green Party (The Associated Press, The Sun News-Myrtle Beach)

NEW YORK

• The WFP & Pedro the piker (NY Post) What's really bleeding New York dry is the transactional nature of all Albany politics -- especially when it comes to the public- and quasi-public-sector unions that effectively created the WFP in the first place.
• Indy Party chief in jam over wife loan (By DAVID SEIFMAN, City Hall Bureau Chief, EXCLUSIVE, NY Post) Word of the possible pay-to-play conduct by the Independence Party comes amid an ongoing probe by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., who is looking at the party's role in funneling money from Mayor Bloomberg's campaign to a former aide, John Haggerty, who has since been indicted on grand-larceny charges.
• Independence Party reverses endorsements, favors incumbents (By Robert J. McCarthy, Buffalo News) The unusual moves by State Chairman Frank MacKay and his Executive Committee means the Independence line now goes to incumbent Democrat William T. Stachowski instead of Democratic challenger Timothy M. Kennedy in the 58th Senate District; to incumbent Assemblyman Sam Hoyt instead of Democratic challenger Joseph Golombek Jr. in the 144th Assembly District, and to Republican James P. Domagalski instead of primary challenger Patrick Gallivan in the 59th Senate District.
• Padavan Scores Independence Line, But Como Is Blocked (By Chris Bragg, City Hall News) “They never make us look good here in Queens,” Niebauer said. “We’ll see what happens. I don’t know what we’re going to do.”
• For 2nd consecutive day, a Staten Islander deals blow to Independence Party (Tom Wrobleski, SI Advance) "It was a non-partisan election," said Tabacco, who is looking to run for Congress this year. "I didn't need the endorsement."

NYC CHARTER REVISION

• Moonlighting Council Members (by Courtney Gross, Gotham Gazette)
• Nonpartisan Elections, Continued (Gotham Gazette) In their comments Citizens Union officials cited declining voter turnout and the fact that many elections were decided in the Democratic primary — not open to some 1.5 million registered New York voters who are not Democrats. While other ideas — changing the voting calendar, for example, or allowing Election Day registration — might increase turnout — Dadey said, “Top two is the best way the charter commission can open up the process.”