Orange County California Decline-to-State Voter Numbers Skyrocket

The Independent Movement and Political Paralysis

It seems like there's a ton of new and noteworthy commentary and analysis coming over the third party and independent news wires today. At Technorati, Benjamin Kerensa declares his political independence from the Democratic Party... h/t to Poli-Tea for the following posts on independent voters:

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• ANATOMY OF AN ANTI-INDEPENDENT HIT PIECE (by Damon Eris, CAIVN) In The New Republic, Kazin concludes that Independents are wholly responsible for the apparent inconsistency in the study and the swing in the results… It is extremely revealing that, for Kazin, being persuaded by a specific line of argumentation in a lengthy survey is an indication of thoughtlessness, while reactively lining up behind whatever statements are put forward by one’s own “side” is a sign of deliberative political engagement.
• Kicking the Two-Party Politics Addiction (Author: Benjamin Kerensa, Technorati) I actually feel quite relieved that I no longer have to subscribe to an almost molded political party that has no interest in representing the voters but instead only serves the special interest groups that donate the most money to their candidates election campaigns.
• RED ALERT: DECLINE-TO-STATE VOTER REGISTRATION ON THE RISE IN REPUBLICAN-DOMINATED ORANGE COUNTY (by Christopher A. Guzman, CAIVN)  "Third party registration in Orange County has remained under four percent throughout the decade, but the number of decline to state voters has skyrocketed. In total, the number of decline to state and third party voters has gone from 18.6 percent to 24.5 percent of those registered. It is notable that all those losses are coming from the Republican share, while Democrats are able to hold their proportion constant," said the report.

RON PAUL

• Tim Pawlenty, Rep. Ron Paul headed to Tea Party debate (The State Column) Both Mr. Pawlenty and Mr. Paul will appear at the South Carolina Greenville Tea Party’s “Presidential Debate Freedom Rally” on May 5.
• Guest Column: The Case for Ron Paul (by Debra Medina, The Texas Tribune) His un-Republican positions on foreign policy, drug legalization and returning the U.S. dollar to the gold standard have been anathema to the GOP rank and file, but the Tea Party has proven that Americans are as fed up with the Republicans as they are with Democrats; both parties were complicit in getting us where we are today. Many have noted that the Republican base has moved markedly to the right since the last presidential election and have seen the rise of activists far more receptive to Paul's gospel of limited government, individual freedom and an uninhibited free market.
• Rep. Ron Paul: Bernanke, Federal Reserve didn’t impress me (The State Column) “Today’s staged press conference will not be enough to stop the growing demand for real Fed transparency, and I hope to build on that grassroots demand by passing legislation that will result in a true audit of the Fed’s activities,” Mr. Paul said in a statement.

NEW YORK
Tribeca Film Fest street fair plans to rock the vote (BY John Bayles, Downtown Express) Menin stressed the bi-partisan aspect of the campaign. Groups such as the Working Families Party, the Metropolitan Republican Club, the Log Cabin Republicans of NYC, Manhattan Young Democrats, the Downtown Republican Club and the Downtown Independent Democrats are all co-sponsoring the event.