Hankster News of the Day for Independents - July 18

OBAMA AND THE INDEPENDENTS
Is Obama's Problem With Independents Actually a Problem with the General Electorate? (Nate Cohn, The New Republic) So is it useful to say that Obama has an independent problem? A little—it helps clarify the importance of Democratic turnout to Obama’s chances. It also might help explain the behavior of one critical swing state, which I’ll explain in the next post. But Obama’s independent problem isn’t much different than his problem with the electorate as a whole.

THIRD PARTIES

• On Greens and Libertarians (Peter Ubertaccio, Director, Joseph Martin Institute for Law & Society, Stonehill College, Huffington Post) Attempts to offer real third party choices reached their zenith with the independent candidacy of Ross Perot in 1992. Since then they've largely fallen flat, most spectacularly with the collapse of Americans Elect earlier this year. Yet choices remain in the form of the Green Party and Libertarian Party, two hearty entities that continue to go nowhere electorally. Neither has the organization, fundraising, or name recognition for its nominees to do much more than a few percentage points this fall, if that.
• Guest Column: Presidential alternative fizzles: What went wrong with Americans Elect? (By Jacqueline Salit, Rock River Times) In this, Ackerman and company misread independent voters, the self-declared engine for a new direction in American politics. Independents want to root out systemic partisanship. They don’t want to ameliorate it with appeals to centrism, bipartisanship or a better brand of candidate.

ARIZONA
Attention registered independents: independent voter candidate Mike Stauffer for Sheriff signs available August 4 (by Dee Dee Garcia Blase on Jul. 17, 2012, Tucson Citizen) As many of you may already know, the reason why Stauffer doesn’t have his signs out now is because election law does not allow him to put signs out until 90 days before the general election date. I know some of you are seeing other candidate signs out and that is because they still have to vie for their spot on the general election ballot. Mike is already going to be on the general election ballot…even though Penzone people attempted a petty lawsuit against him.

The electoral system has morphed to the point where the vast majority of congressional general elections are no longer relevant

OPEN PRIMARIES

• Linbeck: Holding Congress accountable through primary elections (By Leo Linbeck III, Alliance for Self-Governance, Special to the Star-Telegram) Today, voting in the general election is not enough. The electoral system has morphed to the point where the vast majority of congressional general elections are no longer relevant. Because more than 80 percent of congressional seats are in one-party districts, the decision is not made in the general election -- it is made in the primary of the party that controls that district.
• Libertarians and Greens seek to intervene in top two open primary lawsuit (Posted By Damon Eris, IVN) Two candidates and two voters from the Green and Libertarian parties are seeking to intervene on the side of the plaintiffs in Chamness v. Bowen, one of three lawsuits pending against California’s top two open primary system. In their motion to intervene, filed with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this month, the Greens and Libertarians argue that unless the top two primary system is struck down, they will be deprived of their rights to participate in the June primary election (of their respective parties), as well as the November general election.
• Political reform 'godfather' ignites career in Bakersfield (BY DIANNE HARDISTY, Bakersfield.com) Portrait of Robert Stern, Center for Governmental Studies at Stanford: Primary elections will now see all candidates for an office on a single ballot, regardless of political affiliation. The top two vote-getters (even if from the same party) will advance to the general election. "I started out as a big proponent. But after I studied it, I was undecided. I barely voted for it," said Stern, who believes the "jury is still out" on the affect the top-two primary system will have on reforming the political process. "The affect is likely to be more on Democrats than Republicans."

Jim Foster Takes on The Parties in Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA
Jim Foster files counter challenge to Brian Rudnick's nominating petitions (By Alan Tu, WHYY NEWSNETWORKS) Independent City Council candidate Jim Foster says his rival Brian Rudnick is not who he says he is. Brian Rudnick filed to run as the "Green Party" candidate but Foster, an independent candidate, says Rudnick is not the Greens' nominee. "He used them as his party, during the whole process of filing his petitions, to make people think that the Green Party had endorsed him," Foster said.

Improved Ballot Access for Third Parties in Tennessee

THIRD PARTY BALLOT ACCESS
Green Party, Constitution Party sue over TN ballot access - New law doesn't address judge's concern of stringent rules, they say (Written by Chas Sisk, The Tennessean) That indicates the requirements are too stringent, U.S. District Judge William J. Haynes Jr. said in a decision released last September. He ordered state lawmakers to pass a new ballot-access law. The legislature did so in May, passing a bill with broad support from Democrats and Republicans. The law removed the requirement that signers declare themselves to be party members, and it gave parties about 15 more days to gather signatures.

New York Ballot Shuffle; Money Incoming, Money Outgoing

NEW YORK

• In Recent Elections, WFP and Greens Leave Their Mark (By Azi Paybarah, NY Observer/Politicker) After the 2010 governor's race, which determines permanent ballot positions for political parties in New York, the WFP moved up from Row E to Row D (after they grudgingly endorsed Cuomo). But the Green Party, who went with the surprisingly compelling Howie Hawkins, got more than the 50,000 votes needed to establish a permeant ballot line, landing them on Row F.
• Reshuffling the ballot in NY: WFP and Conservatives moves up, Indys drop (By Azi Paybarah, WNYC/The Empire)
• David Koch and Wife Gave Gov. Andrew Cuomo $87K (Chris Good, The Atlantic)
• David Koch Continues NY GOP Support (Capital Tonight on YNN) Koch has spread his campaign cash around in New York. He and his wife, Julia, contributed $87,000 to Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo as he ramped up his 2010 gubernatorial bid.
• Koch scolds Senate GOP leader on redistricting (Posted by: Cara Matthews, Politics on the Hudson) New York Uprising, a reform group founded by former New York City Mayor Ed Koch, is taking Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Nassau County, to task over comments he made on NY1 last night. Skelos told NY1 that redistricting reform is a dead issue and would not be taken up by the GOP-controlled Senate now that a budget agreement has been reached.
• Dadey: Don’t Fund LAFTOR In State Budget (Posted by: Nick Reisman, Politics on the Hudson) Citizens Union Executive Director Dick Dadey is disappointed that the 2011-12 tentative budget includes funding for the Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment, also known as LAFTOR, which is the traditional mechanism for redrawing legislative districts.

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• New York Independence Party state chair once again at odds with independent voters...
  
• Machine politics in NY is an old old story...
  
• California discusses open primaries....
  
• Rightbloggers tea parties....
  
• New York City Green Party gets religion...
  

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• NC: New Democrats, Unaffiliated Voters Outpace Republicans (Daily Record) Election reform group Democracy North Carolina has compiled and released an in-depth analysis of voter registration during and around this year's primary election.

• “African Americans: And America’s Hypocrisy” (By Fahim A. Knight-EL, Keeping It Real) This writer canvassed many neighborhoods on behalf of Dr. Lenora Fulani taking signatures of registered voters who agreed that we needed a Third Party that differed from the two corporate parties—Republican and Democrat. This writer does encourage the Keeping It Real Think Tank audience to take a look at the Green Party’s planks; if nothing else American Democracy needs a Third Party.

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

• Independents understand hypocrisy--If you consider yourself a political independent, you probably should visit www.independentvoting.org (Columbian)
• Americans feel we are "seriously off on the wrong track" but Repubs prefer to "stay the course" (Los Angeles Times)
• Lively Obama/Clinton contest, Netroots rooting inside the box (Politico)
• Carl Romanelli, county Green Party co-chairman, suspicious of Pennsylvania plan for independent voters in candidate cross-filed elections (Wilkes Barre Times Leader)
• The small divided Green Party (Dissident Voice-by Joshua Frank)
• In Kentucky, pol calls for independent ethics commission (News Enterprise)
• In Washington, elitist party system excludes independent (LETTER to HeraldNet)
• In North Carolina, Sam Smith wants nonpartisan elections (Charlotte Observer)
• Kinky Friedman eyeing gubernatorial bid as Democrat (Houston Chronicle)