TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS 9/7/09

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

According to the polls, independents are abandoning unions, Obama and the progressive agenda. Or did the unions, Pres. Obama and progressives abandon independents to the right?

• Labor Day, support for unions plunges to all-time low (By: BYRON YORK, Chief Political Correspondent, Washington Examiner) Broken down by political party, Gallup found support for unions has fallen the most among critically-important independent voters. Last year, 63 percent of independents said they approved of unions. Now, just 44 percent say the same thing.
• Labor Unions See Sharp Slide in U.S. Public Support-For first time, fewer than half of Americans approve of labor unions (by Lydia Saad, Gallup)
• Obama is fast losing white voters' support (By Peter Wallsten, LA Times) New surveys show steep declines in Obama's approval ratings among whites -- including Democrats and independents -- who were crucial elements of the diverse coalition that helped elect the country's first black president. Pew Research crosstabs
• Bleeding Independents (by Charlie Cook, National Journal) Indies support Obama's foreign policy, not so much domestic...

OPEN PRIMARIES

Good news for Idaho independents (and all voters)! California referendum in June 2010.

• Federal judge wants trial in election suit (By REBECCA BOONE - Associated Press, KBCI-CBS News) Harry Kresky, the New York-based attorney representing the Independent groups who intervened in the case, said he was pleased with Winmill's ruling, because it means that the Idaho Republican Party will be held to a higher standard of proof if they want to win the case.
• Judge sets trial on Idaho primaries (Betsy Z. Russell, Spokesman Review)
• Judge Says Trial Needed in Idaho Republican Party Case Against Open Primary (Ballot Access News)
• California Election Law Bill News (Ballot Access News)
• Open primary could help ease Sacramento gridlock (Martin Wisckol, Columnist: The Buzz, The Orange County Register)

GOVERNORS RACES

Chris Daggett is giving them a run for their money in New Jersey. Redux on toll road in Texas?

• A positive campaign in the race for governor? (Press of Atlantic City/ Carla Linz Callaway's Blog)
• NJ governor's race gets down and dirty (by Politico.com in Star Ledger)
• Texas gov's opponent uses toll road plan as ammo (By KELLEY SHANNON, Dallas Morning News)

BLOOMBERG 09

Colin Powell and Mike Bloomberg marched at the front of the Caribbean West Indian Day Parade today in Brooklyn; Lenora Fulani and the Independence Party are supporting Bloomberg for re-election on the Independence Party line Column C. The Independence Party is the third largest party in New York.

• Colin Powell Endorses Bloomberg at West Indian Day Parade (By KAREN ZRAICK AND JENNIFER 8. LEE, NY Times/City Room)
• Hankster VIDEO from Caribbean West Indian Day Parade with a statement by Lenora Fulani
• The Leonard Lopate Show - Underreported: The Fight for the Independence Party (WNYC radio broadcast)

HEALTH CARE DEBATE

Socialism or capitalism? What about having a developmental conversation?

• Obama’s in the ER but he’ll get his reforms: The right’s healthcare scare tactics are hitting home – but to little purpose (Andrew Sullivan, Times Online - UK)
• David Axelrod on "Meet the Press" (TRANSCRIPT on RealClearPolitics)
• TV SoundOff: Sunday Talking Heads (Jason Linkins, Huffington Post EXCERPT) Obama's approval rating among independent voters is slipping. Gregory's assumption is that independent voters=centrist democrats. I have to imagine that independent voters are souring on Obama's health care maneuvers because he DOES NOT SEEM TO WANT TO FIGHT FOR THE REFORM FOR WHICH THEY VOTED.
• The Obama Slide (By DAVID BROOKS, NY Times)

Talk/Talk: Colin Powell, Bronx Guy

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Below are excerpts from this week's Talk Talk, Colin Powell, Bronx Guy. Every Sunday CUIP's president Jacqueline Salit and strategist and philosopher Fred Newman watch the political talk shows and discuss them. Here are excerpts from their dialogue on Sunday, October 19, 2008 after watching "The Chris Matthews Show", "Meet the Press", "The McLaughlin Group" and "This Week with George Stephanopoulos."

Newman: I thought it was powerful. I like Powell. He's a Bronx guy.

Salit: Yes, he's a Bronx guy.

Newman: It was thoughtful, well considered and well presented. It will have some impact. There are a lot of liberal moderate Republicans who have felt very left out during these last eight years, who share Powell's sentiments. If they weren't already going to go with Obama, this will certainly influence them. I thought it was well put and thoughtful. And I thought that Brokaw's response to it was truly biased.

Salit: Indeed.

Newman: I don't think Brokaw followed even the limited rules that exist for television moderators. All of his questions were based on 'some people are not going to like this.' There was not a positive question on the list. I didn't think very much of that.

Read Talk Talk in its entirety here.

Help! We've been algorithmed again!

For both candidates, the best running mate is Colin Powell, a former U.S. Army general and former secretary of state under President George H.W. Bush, according to the survey, which was powered by an Affinnova algorithm it calls "evolutionary optimization." ....

Talk/Talk: Was He Used?

Every Sunday CUIP’s political director Jacqueline Salit and strategist and philosopher Fred Newman watch the political talk shows and discuss them. Here are excerpts from their dialogue on Sunday, June 10, 2007 after watching "The Chris Matthews Show”, "Meet the Press” and "The McLaughlin Group.” Below is an excerpt from Talk Talk. To read it in its entirety, go to: www.independentvoting.org, or click on the link below.

Salit: Colin Powell was a guest on “Meet the Press.” Powell is a very interesting and enigmatic figure in American public life. I was struck by the quote from Powell’s wife, Alma, that Russert presented to Powell from a book written about him. She said, basically, that her husband had been used by the Administration to sell the war to the American people, because he was the person that people would believe. Then Russert asked Powell if he felt he had been used. Powell said no, that he didn’t feel that he was used, that he was part of an administration and part of formulating the policy and that he had expressed his views along the way. When he went before the United Nations, he made the best and most accurate case that he thought could be made for the war. And he said, repeatedly, that he would have preferred not to go to war. Do you think he was “used”?

Newman: No. He was a member of the team. That’s what the team came up with. His wife has a right to her opinion, and I can see, from her point of view, it might look like he was used. But he was a voluntary member of that team. He could have left that team any time he wanted to. But if you’re on the team and you have input, and the team position is what you come up with, then you’re not used, you’re just a part of the team.

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