No Labels to Consentrate on Open Primary States

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Obama Boosts Image With Indies, GOP Moderates: Gallup (by FRANK JAMES, NPR)
• Obama's Overall Job Approval Steady at 46% - Dip in support from liberal Democrats offset by boost from moderate/liberal Republicans (by Lydia Saad, Gallup) Liberal Democrats' approval of Obama remained subdued, averaging 80% in the past week, similar to the 79% in the previous week and below the 88% found just prior to the midterm elections. This is based on Democrats as well as independents who lean Democratic.

NO LABELS

• No Labels: What happens next? (Ken Bingenheimer, National Common Ground Examiner) n the simplest terms, in the words of Nancy Jacobson, a founding leader and moderator on the call, "We're going to be spending 2011 building this organization." That will consist of setting up local groups in each of the 435 U.S. Congressional districts, as well as building teams in the 17 states that have open primaries.

OBAMA

• Obama’s Second Act? (Michael Tomasky, New York Review of Books) He cannot count on a continuation of this fortnight’s burst of bipartisanship, but the recent victories have probably replenished his capital with his own party, and to some extent with independent voters, putting him in a stronger position as he prepares for battle.

BLOOMBERG

• Mike Bloomberg's opinion section will feature only "ideology-free" opinions - The billionaire independent pays writers to explain that he's right about everything (BY ALEX PAREENE, SALON)
• Bloomberg Voice: Opinions, Yes, But Only Factual Ones (Jeff Bercovici, Forbes/MIXED MEDIA)

NEW YORK

• Bloomberg: No To Cash Back (By MICHAEL HOWARD SAUL, Wall Street Journal) "The Independence Party approached us with a suggestion of returning the money," Mr. Wolfson said. "We contacted the district attorney who said it was their very strong preference that any monies be given over to them. And we conveyed that back to the Independence Party."
• Indicted for embezzlement, Pedro Espada files retirement papers to collect state pension (BY GLENN BLAIN , DAILY NEWS ALBANY BUREAU)

EDUCATION REFORM

• What Newark Schools Need (Dana Goldstein, The Nation) But Furman's methods aren't magic, and they rely only partly on her innate talent for teaching. Her singalongs, read-alouds and writing lessons are all part of a research-backed system developed by the Children's Literacy Initiative, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit that has won a $22 million grant from the Obama administration to bring its teacher training program to fifteen Newark elementary schools.