Hankster News of the Day for Independent Voters - July 31

NATIONAL
Political parties turn to independent voters for edge in November (By Jim Angle, FoxNews.com) David Winston, a Republican strategist, said such independents made up 22 percent of voters in 2002. "In 2010, they had grown to make up about 29 percent of the electorate," he said. "So clearly as the exit polls have shown, they've grown quite a bit." And a Gallup poll recently reported that independents account for 35 percent or more of voters in most recent elections.



ARIZONA
Opponents ask court to toss out initiative on Arizona open primaries (Howard Fischer, Arizona Daily Star) A judge will hear arguments next week on whether Arizona voters get to decide if they want to scrap the current system of partisan primaries. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Mark Brain will consider claims by foes of the open-primary initiative that it unconstitutionally asks voters to make too many changes in the law with a single vote.

FLORIDA

• Florida voter registrations: a rising tide of independence (By Christine Stapleton, Palm Beach Post) The number of independent voters has climbed steadily in Florida since 1972 — when Democrats had an overwhelming majority with 68.5 percent of voters, Republicans had 28.2 percent and independents, only 3.4 percent. But since since the infamous November 2000 election, the number of independent voters in the state has swelled more than 75 percent, from 1.5 million in 2000 to 2.7 million today, making up 23.8 percent of the statewide voting electorate.
• All voters should elect leaders (EDITORIAL News Chief) In Miami-Dade County two voters have gone to federal court in an attempt to force the Democratic primary for state attorney to be open to all voters. In their lawsuit, Republican Armando Lacasa and independent Vincent Mazilli claim that close to 700,000 Republicans, independents and third-party voters should have say in the election, not just the county's 525,890 registered Democrats. We hope they win -- and that the ruling comes down before the Aug. 14 primary.
• Judge Rules SAO Race Will Be A Closed Primary (CBS Local) A federal judge has ruled that only Democrats will be able to cast ballots in the Miami-Dade State Attorney race in the August primary. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge William Zloch denied a motion from two voters who sought to open up the election by becoming “write in” candidates, according to CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald.
• Write-ins used to close Florida primary elections (Written by BILL KACZOR, South Florida Times) If the winner of a Democratic or Republican primary in Florida won't face opposition in the general election, then that primary is open to all voters without regard to party registration under a state constitutional amendment passed overwhelmingly in 1998.

COLORADO
Former state Rep. Kathleen Curry makes HD 61 ballot as an unaffiliated candidate (By Tim Hoover, The Denver Post) Former state Rep. Kathleen Curry of Gunnison, who famously bolted from the Democratic party in 2009 to become unaffiliated, has made the ballot for House District 61, a seat that sprawls across several mountain counties, as an unaffiliated candidate.

OHIO
Redistricting overhaul would ensure that each vote counts (BY MARILOU JOHANEK, Toledo Blade) To stop the remapping by Republicans in Ohio, who gamed the system to their advantage, a coalition of nonpartisan organizations, known as Voters First Ohio, came up with a sane solution. It's a constitutional amendment that would put district mapmaking in the hands of a 12-person citizen commission.

Hankster News of the Day for Independents - July 14

"CIVIL POLITICS"
SHERMAN: Film explores civility in politics (By LOLA SHERMAN For the North County Times) Last year, the college staged a public-issues symposium on the subject of "Civility in Our Civic Discourse." It explored what often has become a lack of civility, both in politics and media. A guest speaker was former U.S. Congressman Mickey Edwards, R-Okla., who spoke to a full house at the college's Community Learning Center in Oceanside.

OBAMA AND THE INDEPENDENT VOTE

• Clear And ‘Independent’ Danger (The Note) (By MICHAEL FALCONE and AMY WALTER) Digging into the crosstabs of this week’s ABC News-Washington Post poll it’s clear that Obama has a significant problem with independent voters. On every measure, independents are significantly more disappointed with the President and more open to a Romney message.
• Obama holds ‘significant lead’ over Romney in new national poll (By Paul West, Boston Herald/Tribune) A similar shift was reflected among independent voters, a prized target for both candidates, who are now almost evenly divided on who would best improve the economy. In June, Romney enjoyed a 13-point edge among independents on that question. The latest survey, like most polling at this stage of the campaign, did not attempt to narrow the contest down to likely voters. Obama’s lead, Pew found, stemmed from the fact that more voters currently identify themselves as Democrats than Republicans, and that virtually identical proportions of each say they will back their party’s nominee. Put another way, the results of the survey are yet a further indication that voter mobilization will be crucial in determining the winner of this year’s election.

FLORIDA
Judge holds off on ruling in Miami-Dade State Attorney election write-in issue (By DAVID OVALLE, Miami Herald) A federal judge said he will decide Friday whether to force Miami-Dade County to open up the State Attorney’s Aug. 14 primary election to more than 700,000 Republican and independent voters. U.S. Judge William Zloch heard arguments Thursday, but stopped short of deciding immediately. Two voters are suing Miami-Dade’s election supervisor, saying that a “loophole” in the state’s election law that allows write-in candidates to close primary elections is disenfranchising thousands of voters.

ARIZONA
BREAKING: Independent voters surge while Democratic voters in Arizona drop by 52,000 in 2011. (by Dee Dee Garcia Blase, Tucson Citizen/Hispanic Politico) On the other hand, this is good news for the independent voters — and despite fraudulent misconceptions that are out there, indeed independent Arizona voters are able to vote and participate in the Arizona primary election process. As an independent voter, I left the Republican party for good due to their extremism, however, the Democratic Party leadership is also turning off Latino Democratic voters, too, because they are walking a dangerous line.

OHIO
Attempt to Overturn GOP Redistricting Moves Forward  - Organization submits 450,000 petition signatures to Ohio Secretary of State (City Beat - Cincinnati) On July 3, Voters First, a coalition established after HB-369's inception to combat the bill's Republican-led efforts to deliberately have congressional and legislative districts drawn in their favor, submitted 450,000 petition signatures to the Ohio Secretary of State — significantly more than the 385,000 signatures necessary to obtain a spot on the November ballot. At the end of the month, the Secretary of State will review the signatures and determine which are eligible, after which the coalition will have another set period to obtain more signatures, should the 385,000 not be met.

COLORADO
Unaffiliated candidate running for Colorado House (LETTER Snowmass Sun by Kathleen Curry) The overwhelming positive response and encouragement I received while completing the ballot petition process has energized the campaign and convinced me that voters are ready for the current political system to be reformed and improved.

Hankster News of the Day for Independents - July 10

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Gallop Poll- 50% Of US Hispanics Identify as Independent Voters (Hispanically Speaking News) Sixty percent of Hispanic immigrants identify as political independents, compared with 44% of first-generation Hispanic Americans and 43% of second-generation or higher Hispanics.
• Poll: Most Hispanics Independent Voters (WIBW) Both candidates have released television spots in Spanish, and both spoke in June at a major conference of Latino elected officials in Orlando. The dueling speeches came one week after Obama revealed a new immigration directive that would allow some illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States by their parents to avoid deportation.
• Century Village, long a Democratic stronghold, is changing (By Ana Veciana-Suarez, Miami Herald) Century Village — the largest condo development in Broward County — is now 60 percent Democratic, down from 77 percent in 2002. Meanwhile, registered Republicans have jumped from about 18 percent to 23.6 percent. But it’s the independent and no-party-affiliation voters who can claim the prize: They grew from 5 percent in 2002 to a hefty 16.3 percent today, according to voter registration records from the county’s Supervisor of Elections. Put another way, that’s a 17 percent shift away from the Democrats.
• Independents: Do they still believe in Obama's change? (By Matt Towery, Florida Times Union - Jacksonville) But of independent voters, according to a new ABC News/Washington Post poll, only 38 percent have a favorable view of President Barack Obama's economic plans.
• Anna in the Swing States: Colorado's Swinging Suburbs and Untapped Latino Voters (By Anna Sale, WNYC/It's a Free Country) The Colorado electorate is largely broken up in thirds among Democrats, Republicans, and independents. Since 2008, the ranks of the unaffiliated, independent voters have grown in Colorado, and Democrats and Republicans now make up a slightly smaller percentage of registered voters in Colorado than they did four years ago. Much of the registration gains for Democrats and independents has happened in congressional districts with urban areas, contributing to the Democrats' recent success there… Further north along the Wyoming border, the suburban voters in Larimer County backed Obama in 2008 but narrowly split in the 2010 midterms… Independent, unaffiliated voters have the registration edge over both Republicans and Democrats here.

THIRD PARTY CANDIDATES

• Playing field uneven for third-party hopefuls (by Paul Singer, Source: USA TODAY in Tucson Citizen) According to Richard Winger— editor of Ballot Access News and an expert in the field — there are probably fewer than a half-dozen minor parties that will qualify for the presidential ballot in more than five states: “It will be Democrats; Republicans; Libertarian; Green; Constitution; Party for Socialism and Liberation; Justice; and Socialist Workers Party and no others, probably,” he said in an e-mail. “The Socialist Party has a remote chance.”
• Goode’s third-party run: Bad news for Romney in Virginia? Ex-lawmaker: I’ll take votes from both (By David Sherfinski, The Washington Times) The latest Real Clear Politics average of polls has Mr. Obama with a two-point lead in the state over Mr. Romney — 47 percent to 45 percent. But figures released in May by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling raised the eyebrows of many poll-watchers and pundits. Mr. Obama topped Mr. Romney by eight points in Virginia, 51 percent to 43 percent, in the PPP poll. If Mr. Goode was on the ballot, however, Mr. Obama’s lead over Mr. Romney increased to 12 points, at 50 percent to 38 percent, with Mr. Goode taking 5 percent of the vote.

Florida Independents: Up or Down?

FLORIDA
Weekly Roundup: Who Loves You, Baby?  (By: Michael Peltier News Service of Florida, SUNSHINE STATE NEWS) While Scott's numbers are moving up, Obama's looked more like the New York Stock Exchange this week. The president's approval rating among Florida voters has fallen since May, especially among independents who tip the balance in the key swing state.

Independent Voters on Budget Negotiations

38% of American voters consider themselves to be independent.



John Opdycke of independentvoting.org, Gregory Moohn of Independent Workers of America, and Linda Ricke of Florida Sunshine Independents

Old-Fashioned Gerrymandering Losing Favor in the Nation

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Sarasota sees surge of independent voters (By Jeremy Wallace, Herald Tribune) Seven of 10 new voters in Sarasota County are rejecting both the Republican and Democratic parties and signing up as independents or with minor political parties. And the record surge of independents is not just happening here. Statewide, while the two major parties have lost more than 120,000 voters combined, independents and minor party registrations have grown by almost 120,000 since November 2008.

2012

• Wave Elections Might Be Washed Up for Now (National Journal/Charlie Cook's Off to the Races) We could have a fourth consecutive wave election in 2012, but the odds are against it. But here is another theory building on the premise that the "new norm" is volatility, particularly among independent voters.  After having vented at each of the two parties individually, what if voters decide to take out incumbents in a "pox on both your houses" election?

REDISTRICTING REFORM

• No good reform deed will go unpunished-Old-fashioned gerrymandering had its benefits in the back rooms. Gov. Brown could use the tool in budget bargaining. (By George Skelton, LA Times/Capitol Journal) Under the new open primary system next year, there no longer will be party nominations. There will be only one ballot, open to all candidates and voters. The top two vote-getters, regardless of party, will advance to the general election. "Everything legislators think they know about running for office is getting tossed out the window," says former Republican legislative leader Jim Brulte of Rancho Cucamonga, now a government relations strategist.
• A more transparent future for area politics ( Written by Pacific Coast Business Times) The 14-member Independent California Citizens Redistricting Commission brought its public road show to San Luis Obispo on April 13, drawing a wide range of views about how to reconfigure the political landscape of the Tri-Counties.
• Citizens seek public review of new maps (Tom Kacich, The News Gazette - Central Illinois) But a strong sentiment for public hearings after the maps are developed was voiced from independents, Democrats and Republicans. "The public should be allowed to see and comment on any new map that is drawn by the General Assembly at least two weeks before they are voted on by the House and the Senate in this session of the General Assembly," said Trisha Crowley, president of the League of Women Voters of Champaign County. "Additionally the General Assembly should give as much rationale as possible when describing the decisions that resulted in those maps that were drawn."

Can Florida Get Open Primaries? Idaho Gov Signs Legislation Requiring Partisan Registration

OPEN PRIMARIES

• Retaking state: Floridians need to get active now (Stephen Goldstein, Sun Sentinel FL) 7. The "Open Primaries" Amendment would keep extremist candidates and party loyalists from hijacking primaries by allowing voters to take part in the process, even if they are not registered with a given party. Currently, primaries favor candidates who take radical positions to appeal to a party's base. But then, unless they lie, they can't win the general election when they need a broader, more moderate, appeal. Open primaries favor centrist, more electable, candidates.
• GOP panel nixes call for closed primaries, Sponsor: Proposal prevents Dems from swaying rivals' races (Written by ERIK SCHELZIG, Associated Press, The Leaf Chronicle) The executive committee of the state Republican Party on Saturday voted down a proposal to require party registration to vote in Tennessee primaries.  NOTE: This AP article ran widely in local papers nationally
• Eye on Boise: Otter says closed primary an imperfect compromise (Betsy Z. Russell The Spokesman-Review) Gov. Butch Otter has signed into law historic changes in Idaho’s election system, requiring, for the first time, that all Idahoans declare their party affiliation to vote in the state’s primary election. [NOTE: Independents filed appeal to the court decision in favor of Repubs closing the primary before this legislation went through.]

INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING

• Redraw N.C. districts for voters, not for politicians - Process would be much better with nonpartisan commission. (Charlotte Observer)
• A line can take funny twists in redistricting (By Jeanette Krebs, Patriot News) If history is any indicator, there will be legislative and congressional maps that protect incumbents and make it easier for one party to stay in control, and in some cases, divide up minority voters so they don’t outnumber white voters. Some hopeful signs, however, do exist that things might be done differently this time in Pennsylvania.

2012
Tea Party Reshapes New Hampshire Calculus - Movement Emerges as Wild Card for Republican Hopefuls In Presidential Primary Often Dominated by Independents (By JONATHAN WEISMAN, Wall Street Journal) A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll this month found tea-party support at a low ebb. Some 25% of respondents said they supported the tea party, down from 29% in February and 30% in November. The highest percentage on record, 67%, said they weren't supporters.

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS 9/2/10

NYC NONPARTISAN ELECTIONS

• The case of the missing data (Crain's New York) Fiala: “As sad as it is that the data was not provided to the research analyst, the report wouldn't have made a difference,” he says. “The majority of these commissioners did not want to take this up.”

TEA PARTY

• Is the tea party becoming the new Grand Old Party? (By LIZ SIDOTI (AP) Some Democrats privately worry that the party risks alienating important numbers of independent voters who already are trending toward the GOP, identifying with the tea party's disgust with what it calls out-of-control spending and the growth of government under President Barack Obama.

COLORADO

• 10th Circuit Upholds Colorado Ballot Access Restriction, Even Though the Legislature has Already Repealed That Restriction Effective in 2011 (Ballot Access News)

PENNSYLVANIA

• ACLU appeals ballot ruling on Pa. House candidate - Carl Stevenson, an Independent, was seeking to challenge Doug Reichley in the 134th District. (THE MORNING CALL) "Requiring petition circulators to be residents of the election district is a serious burden on independent and minor party candidates' ability to gather the signatures necessary to get on the ballot, and there is no good reason for the requirement," Walczak, who is representing Stevenson, said in a news release.

FLORIDA

• The Role of Independent Voters (by Andy Corty, Florida Trend) But today, this other group has grown to more than 22% of the electorate, which means that 2.5 million of Florida’s 11 million voters don’t affiliate with either major party. Those 2.5 million voters are disenfranchised from our closed primaries so don’t play a role in selecting major party candidates. With these moderate citizens on the sidelines, the major parties tend to gravitate left or right to appease their hard-core voters. - Quotes John Avlon
• Florida Governor's race shake-up (WINK News - CBS) Indy candidate Chiles drops out of gov race
• Alternative political parties hold some sway in Florida (By Scott Powers, ORLANDO SENTINEL) If they voted as a bloc, Florida's third-party members could have a decisive impact on close races throughout the state, including some in Central Florida.
• Dude, you're not getting my Bud Chiles vote (By John A. Tures, Associate Professor of Political Science, LaGrange College, Southern Political Report) Democrats think the Chiles move will help them.  The governor’s mansion is in Republican hands (Crist) and Chiles will no longer split the vote among those dissatisfied with the politics of Tallahassee.

NEW YORK

• Bloomy: Only 'total incapacitation' or death would end term early (Maggie Haberman, Politico)
• Bloomberg, Shermanesque (Ben Smith, Politico)

NYC CHARTER REVISION

• Speak Out On The NYC Charter! (BY CELESTE KATZ, NY Daily News/Daily politics)

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS 8/27/10

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Time for Obama to Pull a Clinton (By DOUGLAS E. SCHOEN, Wall Street Journal) The independent voters who hold the fate of the Democrats in their hands are looking for candidates who champion, in a bipartisan context, fiscal discipline, limited government, deficit reduction and a free market, pro-growth agenda. If Democrats don't offer this, they will be branded liberal tax-and-spenders.

OPEN PRIMARIES

• VT: Primary process limits choices (LETTER Rutland VT Herald) I am writing this letter to draw your attention to the injustice that is experienced by ‘independent’ voters during primary elections, which are held year after year.
• LA: Election is historic, so go and vote (EDITORIAL St. Tammany News) Last closed primary - this will be the last closed primary election for Congressional candidates. The Legislature passed, and the governor signed into law that after the general election in November, all primaries will be open. Currently under the closed primary system, a Republican voter has to vote for a Republican candidate, Democrats for Democrats and so forth.
• FL: Lawmakers need to write off the write-in loophole - THE ISSUE: Undemocratic fixture remains in elections laws. (EDITORIAL Sun Sentinel FL)
• DC: DC primaries should be scrapped (by Topher Mathews, Greater Washington.org) But nonetheless, DC's primary election system has no legitimate purpose and should be scrapped in favor of an instant run-off voting system for the general election.

THIRD PARTIES

• If traditional politics bore you, consider the Toga Party (by Ry Rivard, Daily Mail Capitol Reporter WV) The Democrat, Republican and Mountain parties all have open primaries, which allow voters who are not affiliated with one of the other three major parties to vote for their primary candidates. Among the 130 parties are established if little-known minor parties, like the Constitution Party, a national conservative party that claims about 70 members in West Virginia. There are 1,300 self-identified Libertarian Party members.... There are also 185,000 voters with no party affiliation and 12,200 declared Independents.
• Delaware politics: Minor parties add candidates to ballot - House, Senate hopefuls slated by Blue Enigma, Independent Party and Working Families groups (By GINGER GIBSON, The News Journal DE)

COLORADO

• Ballot-bound HD-61 hopefuls weigh in (Gunnison Times) Then there is incumbent Kathleen Curry of Gunnison. During her three-term stint in the Colorado House of Representatives, Curry has risen to become one of the state's most well-known and popular political leaders. Yet her chances of winning re-election this November hinge on being successful as a write-in candidate -- which would be a nearly unprecedented feat for a statewide office-holder.

ARIZONA

• Post-primary election analysis (by Three Sonorans, Tucson Citizen) Why would so many Independents have chosen to vote in the Republican primary? I think the answer is very simple. The most popular race in the nation for Tuesday’s primary was taking place in Arizona, and JD Hayworth scared the bejeezus out of the Independents, and they decided to vote in the Republican primary for McCain.
• David Freddoso: McCain's easy win undercuts Democrats' story line (By: DAVID FREDDOSO, Washington Examiner) Here's a tip for gamblers: Most or all of the "unelectable" conservatives will win in November 2010. It will come as a surprise only to liberal pundits, who view most Americans' opinions as outside of the mainstream because they remain stubbornly unlike the opinions of President Obama.

NEW YORK

• Suffolk’s Ethics Probe Enigma Consumes All - Levy, legislature, DA and Newsday all caught in ethics feud (By Timothy Bolger, Long Island Press) As for the man chosen to wade into the firestorm and report his findings within the next three months, the legislature voted 13-5 to hire Joseph Conway, a Mineola-based criminal defense attorney, former federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of New York and member of the Independence Party.
• The Unrepentant Republican Party (By Sam Foster, American Thinker) While the September primaries will likely resolve the Republicans' mistake in NY-1, the damage has already been done in the case of NY-23. Given NY's proclivity for third-party ballot lines, Matt's name will appear on the Independence Party ticket, and Doug Hoffman on the Conservative line, despite the Republican primary outcome. The flagrant hatred exhibited by Republican leaders for Hoffman makes it hard to believe that party bosses could unite under Doug Hoffman's potential candidacy. Thus, another three-way race is brewing in NY-23, and the possibility for the district to shed its sickly shade of blue is quickly slipping out of reach.

NYC CHARTER REVISION

• Do-over on term limits: Charter commission must fix the botch it made of its mandate (EDITORIAL NY Daily News)

Independent Voters: Pass the Open Primaries, Please!

OPEN PRIMARIES
Arizona and Washington DC

• 'Top 2' open primary a moderate solution (EDITORIAL Arizona Daily Sun) What if they gave a primary and everybody came?
• Arizonans like open system of primary voting (EDITORIAL Yuma Sun) Results of a survey released just prior to Tuesday's primary election indicate strong support for a nonpartisan approach to primary voting.
• D.C.'s unaffiliated voters, left out in the cold (EDITORIAL Washington Post) More perplexing is why D.C. Council members such as Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3), who have championed reforms to increase voting participation, would reject such sensible proposals as those of council member David A. Catania (I-At Large) to allow independents to vote in the primary election of a political party if the party permitted or to change party affiliation on the day of an election. Ms. Cheh told us that she's not necessarily opposed but that those issues hadn't been fully studied when the law was changed.
• Fenty Loses Bid to Recruit Extra Voters (by G'town Saucer, Georgetown Dish)
• Fenty's bid for independents: A sign of desperation? (By Bruce DePuyt, TBD Washington DC)
• Fenty maneuver rejected by voting board (By: FREEMAN KLOPOTT, Washington Examiner)
• Independent voters kept out of Democratic primary (By: FREEMAN KLOPOTT, Washington Examiner)
• BOEE Denies Petition To Allow Independent Voters To Change Parties (DCist)
• D.C. ruling to keep 'closed primary' system deals blow to Fenty campaign (By Mike DeBonis, Washington Post)
• DCBOEE blocks last minute rule change (By Tom Bridge, We Love DC) The difficult matter here has to do with the fact that in order to participate in the crucial elections in the District, you have to be registered as a Democrat. I don’t share much in common with the national party (though, truthfully, more in recent years than with Republicans), but here I am having to register as one in order to take part in the city’s biggest decision. This seems to me to be an odd choice that people would have to make in order to participate in a city’s governance.
• Loose Lips Daily: It’s BOEE Time Edition (Posted by Alan Suderman, Washington City Paper/LooseLips) Team Fenty took a big old swing and a miss at this morning’s Board of Elections and Ethics hearing on their petition to open up the Democratic primary to the 70,000+ unaffiliated voters on the city’s voter registration rolls. New Chairman Togo West ran a mostly tight ship during the morning’s testimony, which featured Fenty’s lawyers and two other dudes on one side, and the Gray campaign with down-ballot candidates, the D.C. Democratic Party, the AFL-CIO,  and a whole lot of people on the other side.
• DC Independent Voters Can't Vote On Primary Day (WUSA 9)

THIRD PARTIES

• LA: Libertarians on Aug. 28 ballot (By MELINDA DESLATTE, Tri-Parish Times)

TEA PARTY

• Is the Tea Party Ready For Its November Close-Up? (By Rhodes Cook, Wall Street Journal/Capital Journal) Roughly 20% to 30% of Americans sympathize with the views of the Tea Party, according to polls taken over the course of this year. But a basic question is whether it is an independent political movement truly disgusted with both parties, or a very vocal and conservative subset of the GOP? Data tend to point to the latter.

FLORIDA

• DeFede: Primary Night 2010 Winners And Losers (Jim DeFede, MIAMI (CBS4) In order to win a three way Senate race, Crist needs to not only collect moderate Republican and independent voters, he absolutely has to peel away Democratic voters as well. If Jeff Greene had won, there would have been a stampede of Democratic officials lining up to endorse Crist. 
• Three-way Fla. Senate race begins without a clear favorite (By Dan Balz, Washington Post) Whether Crist has damaged himself by the decision to run as an independent or whether he has cleverly found the route to political survival is the central issue that voters will decide.
• Washington Veterans Take Senate Primaries (By DAMIEN CAVE, Washington Post) Mr. Crist released a statement on Tuesday night calling Washington “a swamp of partisan bickering, finger-pointing and destructive political games” and saying “we need independent leadership.”

GEORGIA

• Roy Barnes' campaign of contrition (By Melissa Maynard, Stateline) “Amazingly, Roy Barnes remains in contention despite the fact that the head of his party nationally, Barack Obama, has reached a phenomenally low level of support in Georgia,” says Matt Towery, the CEO of InsideAdvantage, the firm that conducted the poll. Virtually as many Georgia voters identify as independents as identify with either party, Towery notes, and “the race really boils down to independent voters.”

NEW YORK

• State Sen. Joe Addabbo Loses Bid For Working Families Party Line (BY GLENN BLAIN, Daily News/Daily Politics) With the Democrats holding only a one seat majority in the Senate, the Addabbo-Como contest is likely to be among the most-closely watched races this year and could determine whether the GOP retains control of the chamber.

NYC CHARTER REVISION

• NYC Charter Revision Proposals: A Hobson’s Choice (Citypragmatist) Ballot Access: Generally reduce the number of petition signatures needed by candidates for city elective office to appear on a ballot; This would make it easier for newcomers to challenge party regulars, and for third-party candidates to unseat Democrats and Republicans. Several critics, including Jim Brennan, who heads up the State Assembly committee that oversees municipal charter revisions, have cautioned against it. Yes, he’s a Democrat.

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS 8/25/10

OPEN PRIMARIES

• AZ: Irvin Commentary: 'Open' primary still closed for many - Arizona's open primary still a lock for 2 parties (By: Steve Irvin, ABC15)
• DC: Independent Voter Fracas Heating Up (Posted by Alan Suderman, Washington City Paper) Tomorrow Team Fenty and Team Gray will square off at the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics over whether or not the city’s 72,000 registered independent voters should be able to vote in the Democratic primary next month.
• AZ: Poll: Most Arizonans Want Jungle Primaries (POSTED BY JIM NINTZEL, Tucson Weekly)
• VT: Voters Head To Polls For Primary Election (Melody Bodette, Vermont Public Radio)
• FL: Open primary needed to boost voter turnout (LETTER The Tampa Tribune)

TUESDAY'S PRIMARIES

• Primaries coast to coast test Establishment vs. Outsiders (By Dan Balz, Mercury News/Washington Post ) Five states were holding contests -- Arizona, Florida, Alaska, Vermont and Oklahoma -- on one of the last major primary days before the general election in November.
• Vermont Voters Pick Candidates for State, Federal Offices; Leahy Wins Nomination (Fox News)

CALIFORNIA

• Judge rules that Maldonado can continue fight for open primaries (By Kurtis Alexander - Santa Cruz Sentinel/Mercury News) Dutta, who filed suit July 28 to block the measure, says he's not necessarily opposed to Proposition 14 or open primaries, just how they're being implemented. Dutta's lawsuit challenges the legislation implementing Proposition 14, specifically provisions that discard write-in votes in general elections and deny minor party candidates from listing their party affiliation.
• Bell, Stern to lead task force on updating Political Reform Act (Sac Bee)
• Independent voters haven't yet seen what they're looking for in California governor's race (BySteve Lopez, LA Times)
• California Lawsuit Over “Top-Two” Becomes a 3-Cornered Fight (Ballot Access News)

PENNSYLVANIA

• Cross-Party Endorsements Support Candidates, Not Canons (Newsweek) The For-the-Sake-of-Bipartisanship Endorsement: Hagel is not the only big name endorsement Sestak has in his corner; New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has also publicly backed Sestak’s campaign.

SOUTH CAROLINA

• Scott's destiny challenged by third party candidates (Posted by Greg Hambrick, Charleston City Paper)

NEW YORK

• DSCC Spends On Consultants, WFP, But Not Espada (By Edward-Isaac Dovere, City Hall News) In the last month, Senate Democrats spent $227,000 on consultants, $69,000 on an additional contribution to the Working Families Party and $253,000 on behalf of a wide range of candidates—including nearly every incumbent facing a primary—but not a cent so far for Espada. [i.e. independence comes with a high price tag... -NH]
• Como, Addabbo jockey for position (BY PETE DAVIS, Queens Courier)
• Newest Councilman Gets a Free Pass (By MICHAEL HOWARD SAUL, Wall Street Journal)

NYC CHARTER REVISION

• Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied (Henry J. Stern, Huffington Post)
• Charter Commission Approves Term Limits Question (Gotham Gazette/Wonkster)

LAST WORD

• Public yawns while press freaks out over mosque story (Eric Boehlert, Media Matters) I’d sure like to know the last news story that was “trumping all,” as NBC’s Gregory put it, and nearly half of America’s independent voters didn’t even know what the story was.

Demand for Open Primaries Picks Up Steam

KENTUCKY

• Senate passes bill to allow independents to vote in primaries (By RONNIE ELLIS, McCreary County Record)
• Kentucky Senate Passes Bill to Require Parties to Let Independents Vote in their Primaries (Ballot Access News)
• Bill to open primaries to Independents passes KY Senate (By Elizabeth Donatelli, WAVE 3 Frankfurt)
•  NOTE: VIDEO includes interview of Michael Lewis
• Senate OKs Independent Voters In Primaries (Jessica Noll, KY Post) SB 53
• Ky. Senate Approves Open Primaries-Measure Expected To Die In Democratic House (WLWT Cincinnati)
• Senate Votes to Open KY Primaries to Independents (WBKO)
• Pushing for the Independent Vote (WTVQ ABC News 36 Lexington) Michael Lewis wants to overturn the state’s closed primary system...

ILLINOIS

• Tribal wins blunt democracy in Illinois feudal election (By Burt Constable | Daily Herald Columnist) "I understand the premise of primary elections - to determine a candidate for a party - but for independent voters such as myself, who frequently cross party lines during elections, we are effectively being discriminated against and not able to vote freely and fairly."
• Low voter turnout likely played role in election turmoil-Close races for Illinois governor nominees have yet to be decided (By JOHN SHARP AND KAREN McDONALD, Peoria Journal Star) "In my opinion, it will depend . . . on whether they are taking stances that will appeal to independents and some Democratic leaners," Hall said. "If (the Republican candidates) insist on a hard line, really conservative position, I think they make that prophecy harder to come to a realization."
• Our Opinion: Open primary would boost participation (THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER)
• Quinn declares victory but Hynes won't concede in Democratic governor's race (Chicago Tribune/Clout Street)

COLORADO

• Bill seeks easier path to ballot for independent candidates-Lawmaker who broke with Democratic Party says measure allows parties to set own deadlines (by Katie Burford, Durango Herald Staff Writer)
• Curry's re-election hopes tied to lawsuit in La Plata County (John Colson, Aspen Times)
• Colorado Bill to Legalize Fusion (Ballot Access News)

FLORIDA

• Maurice Ferre pushing poll results-2010 U.S. Senate race, Kendrick Meek, Maurice Ferre (jim stratton, Orlando Sentinel/Central Florida Political Pulse)

MASSACHUSETTS

• Mass. Republicans Eager To Follow In Brown’s Footsteps (By FRED THYS, WBUR NPR )

RHODE ISLAND

• Raptakis Proposes Ban on Closed Primaries (Chris Boardman, ABC 6) Raptakis said that no political party in the state should expect taxpayers to pay the bill for a party primary which shuts out 335,288 unaffiliated voters.

PENNSYLVANIA

• We, not party bosses, deserve the right to choose candidates (LETTER Allentown Morning Call)

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS
Americans Say It's Important To Develop And Use Solar Energy (Chief Engineer) 98 percent of Independents agree that developing solar power is vital to the United States.

REFORM

• OK: More choice, more interest (Muskogee Phoenix) If we really want to increase voter participation, then we need a few things. First, good candidates. Second, open primaries. Oklahoma voters should be able to ask for whichever partisan ballot they would like to vote that election.
• OR: Nevada activist bets on Oregon voters-Ballot measures - More than $870,000 in support for initiatives this year has come from one man (The Oregonian) The top contributor to Keisling's signature-gathering drive was Brett Wilcox, a former aluminum company executive now developing wind power projects in the Columbia River Gorge. He gave $60,000 toward the measure's signature drive.

LOCAL INDEPENDENT NEWS

• OR: Republicans losing ground-GOP grip on local House seats loosens as more voters sign on as Democrats (The Gresham Outlook) “Independent voters always play a very significant role come general election day,” said Rebecca Tweed, campaign manager for John Nelsen, the Republican running in District 49.
• FL: Democrats gain in Lee, independents still difference makers (Naples Daily News) Still, despite their current positions, leaders of both parties acknowledge it will be independents who likely make the difference this fall, as well as in the near future.
• KS: POLLING INFORMATION (The Morning Sun) The Democratic primary is open. An open primary means both unaffiliated voters and voters affiliated with the Democratic Party may vote that party's ballot. If an unaffiliated voter wants to vote in the Democratic primary, they can request a Democrat ballot at the polls. This does not change their party affiliation status from Unaffiliated to Democrat.

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS
Calling All Colorado Independents! (We the Purple/Marcia Ford.blogspot) August caucus planned for Colorado independent voters

CAMPAIGN

• Will evangelicals respond to Obama's overtures? (The Christian Century)
• Young people register, but will they vote? (News Record - Greensboro)

LOCAL INDEPENDENT NEWS

• Aug. 26 primary forces columnist to see red just for the election (Treasure Coast Palm FL)
• Primary voter registration ends today (FLORIDA TODAY)

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• CALIFORNIA: Low turnout as most vote by mail (Contra Costa Times) The growing ranks of independent voters who eschew party registration has also drained interest in primaries, where parties select their nominees, Alexander said. "Almost 20 percent of the state's voters are decline-to-state and they literally didn't have a dog in this fight," Alexander added.
• IDAHO: Demos could storm GOP primary (Deseret News) And 56 percent of all Utah voters are officially unaffiliated

REFORM
R.I. poll: Most favor scrapping Electoral College, electing presidents directly (Providence Journal)

MEDIA
Voters Give Media Failing Grades in Objectivity for Election 2008 (Rasmussen Reports)


OPEN PRIMARIES

WASHINGTON:

• BIAW's paid media attack campaign against Governor Gregoire has begun (NW Progressive Institute Official Blog) One ad even attempted to blame Gregoire for the open (or pick a party) primary system first used by the state in 2004.
• Washington State Primary Has No Function in 3/4ths of Legislative Races (Ballot Access News)

FLORIDA: Kenric Ward: Gaming the system through one-party rule (Treasure Coast Palm) There are ways to get around this disenfranchisement. Many states hold open primaries, allowing voters to decide which contests they want to cast ballots in. An even cleaner alternative would be to make county offices nonpartisan (as they are for cities and school boards).

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• FLORIDA: Obama Seeks Decisive Turnout (The Tampa Tribune) Independent voters, who for years have been the fastest-growing cohort in Florida, are heavily concentrated in the corridor, but could go for either McCain or Obama.
• OREGON: A Shift in Voters, but Oregon Still Embraces the Unconventional (New York Times) Oregon voters’ deepest allegiance may be to independence. The number of unaffiliated voters more than doubled in the last two decades, and many Republicans and Democrats insisted in interviews that, as Mr. Rivers, the commission chairman, put it, “I vote for issues and the person.”

THE PARTIES

• GOP struggles to reinvent without losing itself-The party agrees it must change or face catastrophe in November. (Los Angeles Times)
• Primary trouble for both parties (The Digest, Patriot Post) Republicans chose a middle ground, punishing Michigan and Florida for moving their primary dates by cutting delegates from those two states in half. The Democrats, in a completely undemocratic response, left 100 percent of the votes in those two states uncounted.

OPEN PRIMARIES
ARKANSAS: Primaries Lack Big Attractions (THE MORNING NEWS) This year, however, there is no legal bar to voting in the Republican presidential primary in February and the Democratic primary for state and local officials.

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• NORTH CAROLINA: Allen Johnson: Why, 24 years later, I remain a man without a party — and why I like it that way (Greensboro News Record) NOTE: Read this!!
• WEST VIRGINIA: Clinton, Obama campaigns dissecting state voters (Times West Virginian) The trend of more women than men voters holds up among those registered as belonging to “No Party,” or independents. Women make up 77,089 to 67,290 men in that category. But in the 50 and older group, men outnumber women among independents, 16,098 to 14,847.
• OREGON: Valuing 'independent' participation (The Oregonian-Phil Kiesling) Why have the Oregon Democratic and Republican parties chosen not to allow independents to participate? FLORIDA: Can the GOP police itself? (Middletown Journal - FL) Weber said he would be best suited to hold other Republicans accountable because of his background as an independent. Weber ran for the position in 2002 as an independent and lost; he ran in 2006 as a Republican but dropped out after Reynolds won the party endorsement.
• WEST VIRGINIA: Independents Can Vote in W.Va. Primary (The Intelligencer/Wheeling News Register) While the state’s Independents have been able to vote in Republican primaries for six years, 2008 will mark the first time they will be able to mark a Democratic ballot as that party has opened up its primary to Independents for the first time.
• WEST VIRGINIA: Independents likely to have impact on upcoming primaries (The Herald-Dispatch) In 1984, only 2 percent of West Virginia's voters, or 20,559 people, were registered with no party affiliation. Since then, independent voter registration has increased yearly to an all-time high in the 2006 general election of 11.7 percent, or 133,555, of the voting public.
• Barack Obama, Federalism, and a Winning Coalition (Yossef Ben-Meir, American Chronicle) By presenting community organizing as a federalist process, the campaign will attract those Republicans and Independents who are disaffected by the Iraq war, but who would otherwise still support John McCain.
• FLORIDA: Crist makes pitch for new Rays' stadium (tampabay.com/St. Petersburg Times) State Rep. Rick Kriseman, D-St. Petersburg and State Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, have filed bills (HB 1189 and SB 2726) to open Florida's primaries and let unaffiliated voters weigh in on the presidential choices.
• War-Weary Pa. Voters Wonder About Exit (AP-Google)

POLLS Rasmussen presidential tracking poll gives edge to McCain (Marketwatch) McCain now leads both Democrats among unaffiliated voters

FEATURE Evangelicals' new face (Baltimore Sun) If you think that evangelical Christians vote automatically for the Republican Party and are obsessed with abortion and gay marriage to the exclusion of other issues, you haven't been paying attention.

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• I coulda been a Republican. I coulda been a Democrat. (East Valley Tribune - Phoenix) Grand Canyon Independent Voters -- a "collectively minded group of individual thinkers"...
• FL: Save this, scrap that, so it goes in bad times (FRESH TALK /News Journal FL) They're ready to allow independent voters a voice in presidential primaries, but they want to kill the 20-year-old program that helps less-than-affluent candidates finance expensive statewide campaigns.
• Senator Barack Obama made the right choice (Austin Weekly News - Oak Park IL) Independent voters will cast their votes for a candidate who will not buckle down to opposition.
• Florida Voters (AM 850) A proposed Florida Senate bill could give the two million Florida voters not affiliated with a party a say in the next presidential primaries.
• Pa. GOP to fight thinning ranks (Philadelphia Inquirer) As of Sunday, Democratic registration stood at 4.2 million, up nearly 8 percent since the November election. The state had 3.2 million registered Republicans, a drop of nearly 2 percent from the fall. Voters not affiliated with either party numbered 943,000, a reduction of just more than 4 percent.
• Voter registration soars in N.C. (News Observer) North Carolina has netted at least 110,000 new voters so far this year, with a particularly sharp rise among unaffiliated voters, Democrats and black people, according to the State Board of Elections.
• PA: City voters flock to the Democrats-The jump came at the expense of GOP and independent registration. Obama is likely to be the main beneficiary. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
• PA: Despite sparring by 2 presidential candidates, party optimistic with rising registration numbers (Patriot News)
• PA: State GOP to try to regain voters (Pittsburgh Tribune Review) State Rep. Peter King introduced a bill Wednesday that would allow the state's 943,000 unaffiliated voters to vote in one party's primary.
• NC: Wayne County voter registration closes this week for May 6 primary vote (Goldsboro News Argus - Wayne County NC) unaffiliated voters need to remember to let workers know which ballot style they want -- Democratic, Republican or unaffiliated.
• NC Voter Registrations Surge (AP - Google) More of the new voters registered as Democrats, with the number nearly tripling from 2004 to 74,590. Republican registrations more than doubled to 41,301, while more than 49,558 unaffiliated voters signed up, compared with just 16,858 in the first three months of 2004.
• African American Presidential Candidates (Adunagow Magazine) Lenora Fulani was the first African American female independent to be on ballot in all 50 states.

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Oregon Independents Limited In Primary Choices (KOBI NBC5)
• Can Obama change America's political map? (By Al From, Politico)
• Independent Electoral Movement Sprouts with Former Democrats and Republicans Challenging Their Former Party on Iraq (by Kevin Zeese, Dissident Voice)
• Kesselring files for seat in Fla. House-GOP member is running unaffiliated (Ocala Star-Banner)

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• The fastest-growing political party around is no party at all. (Daytona Beach News Journal)
• North Carolina Repubs want independent voters (LETTER to BlueRidgeNow)
• Say It Ain't So, Joe (Time/Swampland) Lieberman goes Repub
• The Bee’s Weintraub Fronts Latest G.O.P. Redistricting Plan (By Bill Cavala-California Progress Report)
• Let the parties party (LA Times)
• The Body Politic-From finger pointing to fist pumps, how nonverbal cues brand the candidates (AdWeek)