TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS 8/21/10

Please check out Hankster Blogger of the Week (noted below at NEXT TO LAST WORD

• 10 Political Practices That Should Hit the Road (by New Hankster blogger friend The Indy Express) Partisans want to eliminate anyone who does not vote the party line, which is a recipe for gridlock and hardship for the country. Nothing will be accomplished except more videos and sound bites for the media and bloggers. The Indy Express

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• PRIORITY READING: Wedge issues divide politicians from independents (By Ed Hornick, CNN) "This is party politics as usual with respect to all of these wedge issues," said Jacqueline Salit, president of independentvoting.org, a national strategy and organizing center for independents. "I think there's more and more of a steady recognition that these kind of wedge issues and political manipulation, sensationalism and opportunism is exactly what is degrading the American political process and our democracy." NOTE: This article also ran on WTSP Channel 10 - Tampa Bay

OPEN PRIMARIES

• Nonpartisan Elections in CA, NYC, and the Nation (By William J. Kelleher, Ph.D., opednews.com
• Maldonado asks to join defense in Proposition 14 lawsuit (Sac Bee/Capitol Alert) "I could not stand by and watch the transparent effort to undermine the voters' right to an open primary system," Maldonado said in a statement. "Voters were crystal clear that they wanted to change business as usual in Sacramento and the effort to derail Proposition 14 is not only without merit, it's more of the same political game-playing that has gridlocked the Capitol for years.
• Independent testing (Arizona Star) Working in conjunction with the League of Women Voters and relying on funding from groups such as the Southern Arizona Leadership Council and Greater Phoenix Leadership, the project contacted about 33,000 independents in Legislative Districts 26 and 30, which are Tucson districts with a Republican voter edge.

MIDTERMS

• The 2010 Elections: What's at Stake? (Bob Burnett, Huffington Post) The GOP has claimed the coveted political mantle of "outsider" and, at least for the moment, convinced Independent voters the US is best served by dividing power between Democrats and Republicans. Imagine that in November's mid-term elections, Republicans win control of the House or Senate. What difference will that make?
• Quinnipiac Poll: Crist Still Ahead In FL-SEN Race (Eric Kleefeld, TPMDC)
• August 19, 2010 - Sink Inching Up In Close Florida Gov Race, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Crist Leads Three-Way Senate Race (Quinnipiac)

COLORADO

• Riddle sues state over campaign finance (by Joe Hanel, Herald Denver Bureau)
• BLAKE: Lawmaker without a party takes political career to court (By Peter Blake, Colorado Springs Gazette)

GEORGIA

• Independent voters being courted in race for governor (Rome News Tribune)

OREGON

• Progressive Party skips Oregon governor's race, aiding Kitzhaber (Jeff Mapes, The Oregonian ) The season for nominating minor-party candidates is drawing to a close and it looks like the winner is...Democrat John Kitzhaber (who also happens to be the candidate of the Independent Party of Oregon)... But a write-in candidacy won't have nearly the power to draw votes. And the way it shapes up, Kitzhaber won't have any candidates running to the left of him....

NEW YORK

• WHAT’S AT STAKE IN THE MOSQUE CONTROVERSY? (Harry Kresky, Legal Briefs blog)
• Feds drop probe in how Working Families Party spent money in 2009 city elections (BY CELESTE KATZ AND ADAM LISBERG, DAILY NEWS) Still, the controversy has deterred Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Cuomo, a strong favorite to be the next governor, from running on the WFP line.... If Cuomo doesn't accept the line, the WFP will be stuck with its placeholder candidate, Legal Aid lawyer Kenneth Schaeffer - and may not meet the threshold to stay a major party.
• 'Families' Party: We dodged fed charges (By BRUCE GOLDING and CATHY BURKE, NY Post)
• Cuomo Pressed On Issues Throughout Western N.Y. Campaign Tour (By: Josh Robin, NY1) Asked what his priority is ethics-wise, such as campaign finance reform or outside disclosure, Cuomo said it is "all the above."
• Probe of Working Families Party Ends (By JACOB GERSHMAN, Wall Street Journal) Working Families Party leaders have feared that without Mr. Cuomo's support, the party could lose its automatic spot on the state ballot, a key source of its potency. Parties in New York must get at least 50,000 votes for governor to preserve their official ballot status.
• Working Families Party to Face No U.S. Charges (By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE, NY Times)
• Now that WFP Won’t Face Federal Charges… (By Azi Paybarah, WNYC)
• Working Families Party claims it's no longer subject of federal probe (By BRUCE GOLDING and CATHY BURKE, NY Post)
• Working Families says inquiry ends without charge - The U.S. attorney's office, which was reportedly probing Data and Field Services, a for-profit arm of the Working Families Party, is said to be closing the case. (By Jeremy Smerd, Crain's New York)
• Working Families Party: U.S. Attorney Won't File Charges (BY CELESTE KATZ, NY daily News/Daily Politics)
• Addabbo Booted from WFP Ballot Line [UPDATED] (By Chris Bragg, City Hall News)
• Group Targets Working Families Party (Politics on the Hudson)
• Tea Party Activists Pulling Together For New York -- And Then National -- Ballot Line Push (BY CELESTE KATZ, Daily News/Daily Politics) Tea's gubernatorial candidate is a Long Island commercial and personal injury lawyer named Steve Cohn. Their organizer is one Sam Zherka of Westchester, a real-estate owner and club operator. And maybe, just maybe, the possible state chairman of the new party -- should it be constituted -- could be Bobby Kumar, the current chairman of the Nassau County Independence Party.

BLOOMBERG ENDORSEMENTS

• Bloomberg Busy Backing Candidates Of Both Parties (by BRIAN NAYLOR, NPR) "Since I've been one of everything in my career at one time or another, I don't think that party matters," he said. "What you want are people who are independent in their views. That they don't listen to the party bosses. That they listen to the issues. They're smart enough to analyze it. [That] they have the experiences that we need in the legislature to know how to address the problems."
• INDEPENDENT FOR PRESIDENT IN 2012: A VIEW FROM 2010 (by Damon Eris, CAIVN)

NYC CHARTER REVISION

• De Blasio Takes Aim at Bloomberg (By MICHAEL HOWARD SAUL, Wall Street Journal) On Thursday night, Mr. de Blasio urged the Charter Revision Commission to reject the mayor's suggestion that the panel reconsider awarding incumbents with a special exception that would allow them to serve three consecutive four-year terms, even if the electorate votes in November for a two-term cap.
• Charter Commission Weighs Extra Term For Incumbents, Ignoring Public Referenda (By HENRY STERN, Special to the NY Sun)
• One standard for all: Two terms is two terms, incumbents included (EDITORIAL NY Daily News) Claiming that fairness demands three terms for incumbents and two for newcomers is simply preposterous. Not least because everyone on the Council won election based on a campaign that was financed by taxpayer dollars. Not least because most of these same Council members changed the rules abruptly on the public by self-servingly voting to shift from a limit of two terms to three.
• Nonpartisan elections are a no-no for Black, Latino and Asian leader -- and for Bloomberg (By Stephon Johnson, Amsterdam News, Voices That Must Be Heard - NY Community Media Alliance) Under pressure from Democrats and leaders in communities of color, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has decided to end his push for nonpartisan elections in New York City.
• Changing the City’s Charter. Again? (By Mark Green, NY Observer) Admittedly, there may be hotter subjects this month than the City Charter Commission's ballot proposals. But an absurd state law nevertheless allows our mayor to hand-pick a commission to deliberate city governance in the dog days of August and put profound changes on the ballot for November. So it's worth examining.
• Fair Share Charter Fix Could Reduce Truck Traffic Burden for Some Nabes (by Noah Kazis, Streets Blog)

NEXT TO LAST WORD

• 10 Political Practices That Should Hit the Road (by New Hankster blogger friend The Indy Express) Partisans want to eliminate anyone who does not vote the party line, which is a recipe for gridlock and hardship for the country. Nothing will be accomplished except more videos and sound bites for the media and bloggers.

LAST WORD

• Obama, Islam And The "Other" (By Reid Wilson, National Journal/Hotline) A higher proportion of self-identified GOPers, 31%, say he is Muslim, while just 10% of Dems and 18% of independents believe it to be so.... Obama won election thanks to a diverse coalition, part of which includes a segment of Dems and independent voters who typically vote GOP in federal races. But, according to the Pew survey, the very voters who put Obama in office are the ones whose opinions seem the most malleable.