Independents, the establishment and the insurgency

Make no mistake about it ~ the Michigan primary was a deadly setback for the Clintons in their determined effort to return to the White House (Allen L Roland's Radio Weblog - a Salon blog)

California: Independent voters are likely to outnumber those who belong to either of the two major political parties by 2025, according to a new report from the Public Policy Institute of California. (Inside Politics Contra Costa Times)

Unity '08

Bipartisan baloney? (..... "Decline to state" is the epithet concocted by our state Legislature consisting of Republicans and Democrats to covey their disdain for anyone who refuses to be identified with either of those parties.....")

California: Politics is relative and independents are rising

Dan Walters: Politics are all about relativity: ...Relatively speaking, both major parties are losing market share. Two years ago, they claimed 77.5 percent of voter registration (it was around 90 percent not too long ago) but now it's dropped nearly a full point to 76.7 percent. The number of independent voters continues to rise, an important trend, but just as importantly, Democrats (now 42.5 percent) are continuing to decline more rapidly than Republicans (now 34.2 percent), narrowing the margin between the two to the lowest in seven decades and increasing the relative and often decisive clout of independents.... (Sacramento Bee)

California primaries: To open or not to open, that is the question...

Michael R. Blood wrote an article that ran in a lot of local dailies today called "GOP Weighs Value of Calif. Independents" here in the Casper Star Tribune. Read the AP article here in the San Jose Mercury News.

The California Dems allow independents to vote in their primaries. Some Repubs are concerned that if independents aren't brought into the primary process, they will be less likely to vote for the Repub candidate come November. Food for thought, dontchathink? Identity politics is rough, brother! -NH