TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Big Primaries, Big Changes: Iowa, New Hampshire And Voter Registration (CBS News/Horserace) Unlike in Iowa, most New Hampshire independents who chose one of the parties in the primary (roughly 138,000 of the 196,000) left it just as quickly as they joined, re-registering themselves as independents again on the way out of the polling place!
• Young voters find their voices this election (Greensboro NC News Record) n North Carolina, at least 110,000 new voters registered before the May primary, with a sharp rise among unaffiliated voters, Democrats and African Americans, according to the state Board of Elections.

CAMPAIGN

• Voter registration report shows Arizona may be 'going blue' (ASU Web Devil) Rise in unaffilitated voter registration
• Minnesota Polls: Obama Leads McCain by 18 Percent (MyFox Twin Cities) Decline among indies for both candidates--25% now undecided

LOCAL INDEPENDENT NEWS
Pa. editorials have sharp words for bonus scandal (York Daily Record)

THIRD PARTY NEWS

• Ventura Won’t Seek Minnesota Senate Seat, Unless ‘God Speaks To Me’ (CQ Politics)
• Green Party Taps McKinney for President (Chicagoist)
• Ohio Libertarian Party Federal Court Hearing (Ballot Access News)
• Green Party Hopes to Expand Ballot Access by Pairing States that are On with States that are Petitioning (Ballot Access News)
• Nader collecting signatures to gain ballot access (Politicker.com)
• Nader has enough signatures to qualify in R.I. (Providence Journal)

NEW YORK POLITICS/INDEPENDENCE PARTY
The Hankster has not given much attention to the New York State Independence Party until now. However, there are some interesting dynamics because of the national political scene and the rise of independents throughout the country that warrent bringing this story in. Here are some of the local reports:

• Bloomberg'$ Indy History (NY Daily News/Daily Politics) Omissions from yesterday's "report"....
• Mayor Bloomberg Gives $150,000 to N.Y. Independence Party (Ballot Access News) [NOTE: That's the anti-democratic State Committee faction of the NY IP, as controlled by the State Chairdictator --NH]
• Nassau Independence Party to back GOP's Donno (Newsday) [IP State Committee plays party politics]

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

REFORM

• Obama's Liberal Shock Troops (Wall Street Journal) A redistricting commission would be set up to reshape political boundaries, but state courts would be barred from reviewing any plans it draws up. (Only federal courts could review the boundaries.) Voters would also be barred from rejecting or amending the commission's work by initiative.
• Confusion hides in constitutional amendment's fine print-Voters should beware; proposal has way too much 'other stuff' (Detroit Free Press)
• Wall Street Journal Op-Ed Attacks National Popular Vote Plan (Ballot Access News)
• Don't Mess With the Electoral College (Wall Street Journal)
• The push for a popular vote (Boston Globe)
• Current system needs an update (LETTER to Boston Globe)
• Same-day voter registration pushed-Revised bill backed by Augustus gets Galvin’s nod (Worcester Telegram & Gazette News)
• Naming rights (Boston Globe) Same Day Voter Registration - long-running battle between Asian activists and the state's top voting official on how to conduct an election.

CAMPAIGN

• The NEWSWEEK Poll: Is the Glow Fading? (Newsweek/Stumper blog) Is Barack Obama losing independents' support???
• North Dakota Poll Released by Rasmussen Reports: Barack Obama 43%, John McCain 43% (TransworldNews.com) McCain earns the vote from 87% of Republicans while Obama attracts 79% of Democrats and holds an eighteen point lead among unaffiliated voters.
• Wisconsin Poll Released by Rasmussen Reports: Barack Obama 50%, John McCain 39% (TransworldNews.com) In Wisconsin, Obama attracts support from 86% of Democrats and has a twelve point advantage among unaffiliated voters.

LOCAL INDEPENDENT NEWS

• OK: Slim pickings affect interest in primary election (The Journal Record) Another reason for fewer votes in primary elections is the increase in the number of registered independent voters. There are more than 200,000 of them who are not eligible to vote in primaries. Some states allow it as well as cross-party voting in primaries. Oklahoma does not.
• OR: Ben Westlund bucks “career politician” label (Politicker-OR)
• MN: Ventura is saving any news for TV (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
• MD: Md. city with edgy racial past elects black mayor (AP-Google) Newcomer ousts incumbent in nonpartisan race, Decades after the demise of segregation, this sleepy city on Maryland's Eastern Shore has elected not only its first black mayor but also its first woman to the post.
• MD: Cambridge makes history-Racial strife in the past, city picks first African-American mayor (Baltimore Sun)

THIRD PARTY NEWS

• Nader setting up write-in campaign in North Carolina (News Observer) Ballot access very difficult
• Green Party: Red ink in Chicago bash-Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.) is leading contender for W.H. nomination (Baltimore Sun/The Swamp)
• RALPH NADER FILES AS CANDIDATE IN WASHINGTON (Seattle dbusinessnews.com)

BOOK REVIEW

Body Politic, Rest & Motion (Texas Observer) Review of The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America Is Tearing Us Apart [The Hankster's 2 cents: it's not clustering that's tearing us apart, it's the two-party partisan system that's got us divided]

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Congressional scandal-Nation nearly unanimous in loathing the legislative branch (Augusta Chronicle) The most startling and telling breakout fact from the Rasmussen poll is that among independent voters, only 3 percent think this Congress is doing a good job.... This is the most serious indictment of Congress in memory. Making it an even more spectacular insult is the fact that no discernible scandal was necessary to bring on this sweeping censure.
• Congressional Approval Falls to 9% (Donklephant) Independent voters lead the pack

REFORM:

Washington "Top Two" open primary;

California redistricting with nonpartisan commission

• WA: Parties should accept primary system that voters clearly prefer (The Daily News)
• CA: Experts Expound (Capitol Weekly Readers) It's back: A ballot initiative to take redistricting away from the Legislature and turn it over to an independent commission.
• WA: Restoring Primary Power to the People (Kitsap Sun Editorial) That's the bottom line in Washington state's historic "top two" primary election, to be held Aug. 19.

CAMPAIGN

• Dems follow Obama down centrist path (The Hill) Democrats have decided to focus on economic and security issues designed to appeal to a wide range of voters, especially independents who are concerned about soaring gas prices and the slumping stock and housing markets.
• What to do about Iraq? Obama's getting a lot of advice (Minneapolis Post)
• The Stand That Obama Can't Fudge (By E. J. Dionne Jr., Washington Post)
• The Three Party System - The New Political Party is Conservative Democrats (American Chronicle)

LOCAL INDEPENDENT POLITICS
KY: Laurel resident running for Congress (Times-Tribune) Independent candidate Jim Holbert files for Congressional run saying, "We've got to stop 'politics as usual' and start bringing common sense to our regional and national problems.

THIRD PARTY POLITICS

• Characters provides 3rd option (The Hill) Dr. Death, Jesse the Body and the Peace Mom. Oh, my.
• Minnesota's Ventura May Bid to Pin Down Senate Seat (CQ Politics)
• Cynthia McKinney Names V-P Running Mate (Ballot Access News) Zentronix blog [SEE BELOW] says that the McKinney-Clemente ticket would be the first in U.S. history of two women of color. However, in 1992, the New Alliance Party ticket was Lenora Fulani and Maria Elizabeth Munoz.
• Green Party Taps Hip-Hop Activist Rosa Clemente For VP (Zentronix) This is an interesting read on current Green Party politics viz Ralph Nader

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS:

• Sen. McCain or Sen. Obama? (Gary Andres, Washington Times) Independents angry with incumbents after failure to deliver on campaign promises
• Not the ticket of dreams (Boston Globe) Obama's appeal to independent voters and disgruntled Republicans rests on the promise of a nonpartisan approach.
• FOX TV Rasmussen Reports: Obama Leads McCain In Colorado (RasmussenReports.com Fox News Springfield IL) Among unaffiliated voters, Obama leads by twenty-one percentage points. A month ago, Obama had a ten-point lead among unaffiliated voters.

MISC.:
Cynthia McKinney goes green (News Review Sacramento) “All political parties should be able to select their own candidates,” McKinney said, decrying her state’s open primary system.

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• IndependentPrimary.Com Releases Internet Poll Results (Ballot Access News)
• Grace Vuoto thinks Obama is the best anti-Hillary candidate (Washington Times)
• Steve Sailer thinks it's 1957 (Washington Times)
• Congressional Black Caucus Split Between Clinton and Obama (by Hazel Trice Edney, Amsterdam News)
• Black vote split in Alabama? (Stevenson Blog-Tuscaloosa News)
• McKinney Seeking Green Party Presidential Nomination (Christian News Network Crosswalk blog)
• Registration deadline nears-Independent Party regisrants can't vote in primaries (Florida Today)
• Minneapolis: Instant runoff voting has its first hurdle - a lawsuit (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
• Santa Fe : City voters to weigh instant runoffs-Charter amendment on March ballot calls for ranking candidates in municipal elections (The New Mexican)

Conversations on Independence

Seven of Six--LEFT is RIGHT (blogging against the Bush-war) posted on The Hankster last weekend--recommended a post by Mary on The Left Coaster "Creating Real Change": "So why is it so hard to make the power of the majority real? Barry's [Barry Kendall, new executive director of The Commonweal Institute] analysis is that what we lack is a real progressive movement that can pressure Washington to address the problems we face...." with supportive comments on moveon.org


David Anderson, an African American blogger at Stop overTaxing Our People, continues to stump for black voters joining the Repubs, but he's not encouraged lately: "A growing number of African Americans, particularly those of us under 40, are independent voters who are not satisfied with the Democrats...."


Indeed more than 40% of the American electorate considers themselves independent. Partisan politics is not the answer to the abandonment of 20% of the New Orleans population, black and poor, or to the Jena 6 outrage, or to any of our continuing racialist policies, put in place and kept there by a deal between the Dems and Repubs. I'm glad Mike Huckabee is reaching out. But I'm putting my faith in the grassroots and increasingly organized independent movement.


And Dave Lindorff writes about Cynthia McKinney's quitting the Dems on Philadelphia Front Page News: Time for Mass Resignation From the Democratic Party; QUIT THE PARTY: "I'm talking about mass resignations from the Democratic Party, with every person who resigns and becomes an independent or who changes their registration to a third party sending a message to the DNC explaining why he or she is quitting. It starts small with a few people here and a few people there, but as Arlo Guthrie once put it, pretty soon we're talking about a movement, and you can join it right here!..." There's a follow-up here on This Can't Be Happening about some complaints from progressive Democrats that it risks handing the 2008 election to the Republicans....They still harbor the illusion that unaffiliated voters are middle-of-the-road or conservative-leaning people who only care about so-called wedge issues, not the big issues of our day. In fact, my travels across this country have taught me that the unaffiliated voter is usually someone who is cynical about politics, believes that there is little difference between the two parties, and that he or she is being screwed, by corporations, by government, and by his or her own political leaders."


The Hankster couldn't agree more with Dave on this! And regardless of calls to disenroll from the Dems, people are doing it...


From The Dr. No! Zone blog (a Ron Paul supporter), in New Hampshire, Ron Paul drew a good-sized, spirited crowd along with accompanying regional media to kick off Saturday's New Hampshire Family walk....

You can read in the Examiner "Independent voters will be barred from casting ballots in the Libertarian Party primary under a ruling issued by a Tucson federal court judge this week, a case that could eventually affect the statewide open primary system...."

By the way, Marcia Ford on Postmodern Misfit announces that her new book We the Purple, about her political and religious crisis of faith, will be published in March. Congrats, Marcia. [Be sure to look for this, The Hankster gets some very nice quotes!]

P.S. -- LEFT is RIGHT (blogging against the Bush-war), Left Coaster, and This Can't Be Happening are now all linked to The Hankster sidebar!