Hankster Sunday Morning Chronicle November 6, 2011

Hey hey Hanksteristas!

Most recently I have tried to "segment" my posts so that they are more specific to the particular topics of the day for followers of the independent movement. Hope you have found this helpful.

However, today I present some of the most pertinent news and opinion articles for independents.

Enjoy!

-NH

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Books: Tom Brokaw writes about changes in America (By ROBMERRILL, AP, Fayetteville Observer NC) Each chapter of "The Time of Our Lives" begins with a box divided into two sections, FACT and QUESTION. Some sample facts: Independent voters make up about 30 percent of the electorate...
• New Louisiana Voter Registration Figures for Each Qualified Party (Ballot Access News) Independent voters, plus those registered in unqualified parties, equal 23.41%.
• Ind. candidates ditch party labels on campaign material as voters claim their independence (TOM LoBIANCO  Associated Press, Daily Reporter - Greenfield IN) Indiana politics expert Andrew Downs says ditching the party ties may be as much about appealing to the state's growing pool of independent voters as about the simple logistics of keeping campaign signs easy to read.
• Unaffiliated voters remain key part of South Jersey electorate (By STEVEN LEMONGELLO, Press of Atlantic City) Political parties go to great lengths to get their message across to an important segment of the electorate — the unaffiliated voters, or those not registered with a particular party.
• Ohio voters can strike a better balance (BY DAVID KUSHMA, THE BLADE EDITOR, Toledo Blade) More recently, we've seen nakedly partisan efforts by Columbus Republicans to cement their political dominance by working to disfranchise voters who aren't likely to support them, and by drawing new maps for Ohio's U.S. House delegation and General Assembly that mock the idea of fair representation. And much of this has occurred without any pretense of allowing political opponents -- or citizens -- a piece of an open, inclusive policy-making process.
• People’s Veto is move in wrong direction (By Doug Rooks, Sun Journal - Maine) Hearings on LD 1376 yielded no evidence that the 38-year practice of Election Day registration, or EDR, caused any problems… Is there evidence, at least, that banning EDR would benefit Republicans? Sadly, yes. In 2008, Democratic EDR registrations (13,910) surpassed Republican (5,452) by better than 2-1. But both parties were dwarfed by independent voters (22,210). Independents are those, by and large, the GOP would shut out.

2012

• A year from election, Obama faces tough road ahead (By Dan Balz, Jon Cohen and Chris Cillizza, The Washington Post in the Denver Post) Independents, whose allegiances have shifted rapidly, hold the key. But Obama's hopes also depend on rebuilding the coalition of African- Americans, Latinos, younger voters and suburbanites that elected him. NOTE ASSUMPTION:  AAs, Ls, YVs and "suburbanites" are not independent, they are Democrats, because all liberals are Democrats. NEXT!
• SUNDAY ISSUE: Obama not winning over Pa., but beating GOP foes (By Marc Levy, Associated Press, Meadville Tribune) When Obama is not lined up against a named opponent, 52 percent of those surveyed by Franklin & Marshall said Obama doesn’t deserve re-election next year, versus 42 percent who say he does. Independent voters, an important swing group, broke along similar lines: 51 percent to 42 percent.
• Romney, Perry target independent voters with bipartisan, cooperative tone amid political risksIn GOP campaign cooperative tone arises amid risks (By STEVE PEOPLES, Associated Press, Newser, Washington Post) "This is not the Democrats' country or the Republicans' country. This is our country," Perry said during a recent campaign stop in Iowa, arguing that the country's troubles are ideologically blind and not Democratic vs. Republican.
• Legislators trying to get down to most basic issues (Kevin Landrigan, Nashua Telegraph) Still, there’s little doubt today that [McCain's] crushing victory over Bush in New Hampshire’s primary was in no small part linked to that anti-deficit, anti-party partisan message resonating especially with independent voters.

OCCUPY WALL STREET
'Move Your Money' march winds through downtown Saturday with support of Occupy Portland (Mike Francis, The Oregonian) Roughly 200 people marched through the drizzle Saturday morning in a noisy but peaceful demonstration supporting "Move Your Money" day. Chanting "Banks got bailed out, we got sold out," the marchers left citizens' arrest warrants at downtown branches of Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank and J.P. Morgan Chase banks, all of which were closed.




LOOK FOR a Hankster Special Report on OWS, coming soon!