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 June 5

Today is Top Two Open Primary Day in California!

• Poll: Political independents outweigh partisans (JENNIFER AGIESTA, AP, Huffington Post) More Americans now call themselves politically independent than at any point in the last 75 years, according to a new poll. The survey also shows that those who do align themselves with a party are more ideological and have become more polarized than at any point in the last 25 years, particularly on issues important in this year's presidential and congressional campaigns.
• Partisan Polarization Surges in Bush, Obama Years/ Trends in American Values: 1987-2012 (Pew Research Center) But the growing partisan divide over political values is not simply the result of the declining number who identify with the party labels. While many Americans have given up their party identification over the past 25 years and now call themselves independents, the polarization extends also to independents, most of whom lean toward a political party. Even when the definition of the party bases is extended to include these leaning independents, the values gap has about doubled between 1987 and 2012.
• Forecaster Forum: An independent voter's plea to the parties (By Elizabeth Miller, The Forecaster Portland ME) At a panel discussion sponsored this spring by the Maine Festival of the Book, I found out that I am among the 40 percent of registered voters in our country not enrolled in a political party. Why am I “unaffiliated,” even when it restricts me to only general elections? Because neither side is charting a course that makes sense to me.
• Will California's nonpartisan primary result in more moderate candidates? - Under the new format, the two candidates for California office receiving the most votes will advance regardless of their party affiliation. Proponents say it will result in less partisanship. (By Daniel B. Wood, Christian Science Monitor) “Right now there’s just confusion,” says Barbara O’Connor, director emeritus of the Institute for Study of Politics and Media at California State University, Sacramento. She notes that 26 candidates are running against veteran Sen. Dianne Feinstein. “I talked to several who filled out absentee ballots who were dumbfounded at the configuration of the ballot. Those who habitually vote for a full party slate now have to actually read them to see who is in it.”
• Nonpartisan Primaries Face Test in California (By JENNIFER MEDINA, New York Times) This year, voters and candidates for the first time can choose to register with “no party preference,” a category that was once referred to as “decline to state.” Voters in the primaries can pick candidates from any party. 
• California’s Everybody-Into-the-Pool Primary Faces Test (By Michael B. Marois, Bloomberg Businessweek) “The rules of the game have changed,” said Kim Alexander, president of the California Voter Foundation, a Sacramento-based nonpartisan group that has advocated for open democracy. “Democrats and Republicans no longer have a lock on the process.” 
• Walker's lead in Wisconsin recall election tightens in new poll (By Rachel Rose Hartman, ABC News) According to PPP, Walker--who was targeted for a recall after waging war on state public employee unions in 2011--is winning among men, whites, seniors and residents of the Milwaukee suburbs. Barrett leads among women, minorities, young voters, and residents of Milwaukee county and greater Madison. Barrett is also winning independent voters 48 to 46 percent, a lead that is within the margin of error.
• Former Rep. Curry to run again for legislature (By Lynn Bartels, The Denver Post/ THE SPOT) Former state Rep. Kathleen Curry plans to petition to run as an unaffiliated candidate from House District 61, a move that could take votes from the Democrat who currently holds that seat.
• Bloomberg involved in San Diego mayoral race (Becky Yeh - OneNewsNow California correspondent) New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has officially announced his endorsement of California Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher for San Diego mayor. Bloomberg says Fletcher is a great choice because he is an independent. Fletcher left the Republican Party in March. Bloomberg left the Democratic Party in 2001, then abandoned the GOP in 2007 and became an independent.
• Independence Party's endorsement of breakaway Dems is a 'game changer' (By Amanda Verrette, Legislative Gazette) From a political point of view, said Klein, the Independence Party proves to be the "margin of victory." "Many candidates, if they had the Independence Party line two years ago, would be senators right now," said Klein.
• Barron's Big Boost - Will Towns's endorsement of Barron influence your voting decision in the primary? (By C. Zawadi Morris, Bed-Stuy Patch)

Kathleen Curry's Colorado Supreme Court Case on Campaign Finance Laws

COLORADO
Campaign-finance law argued before Colorado Supreme Court (By Sara Burnett, The Denver Post) Kathleen Curry filed a federal lawsuit: A state campaign-finance law that allows candidates who have a primary election to receive more money in donations than other candidates is unconstitutional and "totally skewed in favor of major-party candidates," an attorney told the Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Colorado Considers Chaning Election Rules for Write-In Votes

BALLOT CHANGES
Colorado officials considering ballot changes (CBS5 - Cheyenne - Scottsbluff) Secretary of State Scott Gessler is proposing changes to election rules that would bar clerks from counting ballots with write-in candidates if voters fail to mark the box next to that choice. The issue arose last year after former Rep. Kathleen Curry ran as a write-in candidate...

Independent voters say 54 - 40 percent the United States should not be in Afghanistan.

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• November 18, 2010 - American Voters Say Ban Cell Phones While Driving, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Support For War In Afghanistan Collapses --  Independent voters say 54 - 40 percent the United States should not be in Afghanistan.

OPEN PRIMARIES

• Open primaries in case of democracy (By Rosa Scarcelli, Bangor Daily News) There’s a clear choice missing among those wishing to advocate change to Maine’s election system. Missing is discussion of a reform that would be easy and inexpensive to implement as well as effective in increasing voter participation and reducing the negative campaign tactics associated with the political fringes. The change I’m talking about is open primaries.
• Guest opinion: First, look in the mirror (GREG CUSACK, Des Moines Register) Abolish the caucus system, moving either to open primaries or to a ranking primary election in which the two or three candidates garnering the most votes proceed to the general election. Only in this way will we eliminate the steady march to the ideological extremes that characterize our times.
• Quinn lobbies for "open" primary legislation (by Sean Crawford, WBEZ 91.5)

ELECTION REFORM

• Drawing will choose Calif. redistricting finalists (By JULIET WILLIAMS Associated Press, Mercury News) The General Assembly will likely shelve Quinn's changes as party leaders use primaries as a way to keep tabs on who is voting and  target them  for campaign donations.

BLOOMBERG 2012

• Michael Bloomberg: An Independent Presidential Candidate Can't Win in 2012 (Posted by Stephanie Condon, CBS News)

COLORADO

• Wilson declared victor in HD 61 race - 'Undervotes' up Curry's tally, but not by enough (Gunnison Country Times)

NEW YORK

• Independence Expenditures - Echoes of Bloomberg's own CFB rebuttal and Nora Anderson in the Haggerty case (By Chris Bragg, City Hall News)

EDUCATION REFORM

• Sharpton: Obama, Congress must act on failing education to stop a national crisis of black and white (BY REV. AL SHARPTON, SPECIAL TO THE DAILY NEWS)
• We Know How to Teach Black Kids (By: John McWhorter, The Root)

Education Reform, Open Primaries, Nonpartisan Redistricting -- What Independent Voters Want

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Voices & Viewpoints Fridays at 1 p.m. & 6 p.m. (Denise Franklin, NPR WFDD 88.5) Dr. Omar Ali describes the internal and cultural struggles of Muslim Americans post 911 through observation and personal experiences. In addition, CNN, Telemundo, C-Span 2 and other news outlets frequently seek Dr. Omar Ali as a national expert about the growing movement of people choosing to be Independent voters.
• 
  

  host Denise Franklin
  
  Voices & Viewpoints
  Fridays at 1 p.m. & 6 p.m.
  
  
  Join 88.5 WFDD and host Denise Franklin for conversations with local residents who are making or have made an impact nationally - or internationally.
  
  The Health & Medicine Report keeps you up-to-date on cutting-edge research.
  
  And you'll hear the viewpoints of our commentators on movies, books, life, and more.
  
  Voices & Viewpoints is a half hour of radio
  you won't hear anywhere else!

• Obama Makes Beeline For Independent Voters (FRANK JAMES, NPR) The White House push is on for the hearts and minds of independent voters.
• You've Got Them All Wrong, Mr. President - Obama's misguided view of the independent voter. (John B. Judis, The New Republic)

OPEN PRIMARIES

• Idaho Open Primary: The People v. The Parties (The Moderate Voice) Yesterday attorney Harry Kresky reported on his recent trip to Idaho to help defend independents there facing attack from a faction of the Idaho Republican Party hoping to close the primaries in order to control the electorate.
• Phil Power: Open primary would offer advantages (Livingston Daily)

ELECTION REFORM

• Drawing the lines (Salt Lake City Tribune) The best way to avoid political gerrymandering would be for Utah to create an independent redistricting commission, but Utah legislators have rejected repeated attempts to do that. An initiative petition by a group called the Fair Boundaries Coalition failed this year to get enough signatures to put its proposal for an independent commission before the voters.

BLOOMBERG 2012

• Michael Bloomberg: Independent can't win White House (By DAN HIRSCHHORN, Politico) On Monday, The Huffington Post's Howard Fineman floated the possibility that Bloomberg and MSNBC commentator Joe Scarborough, who is also a POLITICO contributor, could form an independent ticket for the White House.
• Bloomberg Denies Presidential Rumors. Again. (By Sumathi Reddy, Wall Street Journal/Metropolis)

COLORADO

• Curry concedes to Wilson in HD-61 race (by Curtis Wackerle, Aspen Daily News)

NEW YORK

• WE ARE ALL MUMIA! (By Betsey Piette, Workers World) Abu-Jamal’s supporters included a delegation from the Transport Workers Union Local 100; Charles Barron, the New York Freedom Party gubernatorial candidate; Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition, NYC; International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal; and the International Action Center.
• The Godfather - With the UWS-WFP-NYT axis dominating local politics, this is Jerry Nadler’s New York (By Edward-Isaac Dovere, City Hall News)

EDUCATION REFORM

• A to-do list for N.Y.C. Schools Chancellor Cathie Black: Eva Moskowitz lays out her priorities (BY EVA MOSKOWITZ, Daily News)

LAST WORD

• Soros: Obama shouldn't compromise (By KENNETH P. VOGEL, Politico)

2010: The voters voted against politics as usual.

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Two Regional Parties - Democrats, Republicans both retreating to geographic corners. (National Journal) The number of voters who consider themselves members of either party is dropping significantly, according to surveys. Independent voters fed up with the ways of Washington and politics as usual are inventing a new landscape in which neither party is safe.
• The Morning After: What Independents Want (POSTED BY NANCY HANKS, The Moderate Voice) Structural political reform like open primaries, nonpartisan elections, initiative and referendum, nonpartisan redistricting...
• Neither political party seems to get it (LETTER Des Moines Register) The voters voted against politics as usual.
• The Post-Midterms Game Plan for Progressives (Katrina vanden Heuvel and Robert L. Borosage, The Nation) Independents are not a stable group of voters with fixed opinions equidistant between two parties. Rather, independents tend to be voters who are paying less attention to politics, and with less information, than partisans. Most tend to favor one party over another. A fired-up base brings out the independents that lean to that party and may also help persuade true independents.
• What a 'write-in' avalanche tells us about election (By the Peninsula Clarion, Alaska Journal of Commerce) In short: No matter what the "rules" are, Alaskans are going to find ways to vote the person, not the political party.

REFORM

• Is winning an election enough? (By Tom Bell, Portland ME Press Herald)

BLOOMBERG 2012

• Bloomberg is a good pick for 2012 (by ROBBIE OTTLEY, The Red and Black - University of Georgia) Maybe it’s time for the nation to look outside the two-party system toward an independent candidate for president. And maybe that candidate is New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

COLORADO

• New vote tally in HD 61 expected next week -State won't appeal ruling, Curry still trails Wilson by 495 votes (John Stroud, Glenwood Springs Post Independent)

CONNECTICUT

• Malloy Lauds Foley for Conceding in Governor's Race (By SUSAN HAIGH, Litchfield County Times)

NEW YORK

• Charles Barron Supports Mumia, discusses plans of Freedom Party (By Dee Knight, Workers World)
• Barron Denounces Mayor, Choice of Black as Chancellor (By Meghan Keneally, NY Observer)
• A new head of the class - An innovative chancellor steps down (The Economist)
• After the Shellacking: What D.C., Albany Power Shifts Could Mean for Commercial Real Estate Market (By Robert Knakal, NY Observer) I am a registered independent who has equal dissatisfaction for politicians from both parties when bad policy is endorsed and, conversely, I have financially supported, and voted for, independents as well as Democrats and Republicans.

LAST WORD

• Stewart to Maddow: ‘I like you’ (Politico) At one point, Maddow said she was not simply looking to lift up the left, and was looking for bad arguments wherever she found them. Stewart argued that the same could be said of Fox, which he said was “ideological but not partisan.”

California and Florida Voters: We Will Have Nonpartisan Redistricting!

California continues to lead the way in political reform. Back in June, passage of Prop 14, the Top Two Open Primary referendum, enfranchised 3.4 million independent decline-to-state voters in the state in the first round of voting.

And now, as Committee for a Unified Independent Party (IndependentVoting.org) Chief of Staff John Opdycke reported last week, voters in Florida are speaking out on the need for political reform:

Proposition 20-which expanded the California Redistricting Commission's mandate to include Congressional districts-passed by 20 points.  In addition, Proposition 27, a bi-partisan ploy to dismantle the Commission, was defeated by a similar margin.

And in Florida, the voters passed Amendment 5 by a 25 point margin. Its passage establishes clear, non-partisan guidelines for the drawing of legislative districts.

Opdycke goes on to point out the significance of these votes:

While the big story yesterday was the new Republican Congressional majority, the victory for redistricting reform in California and Florida was an important subtext.  The Democratic and Republican Parties have mastered the non-developmental game of capturing and recapturing the approximately 60 competitive Congressional districts.  But this back and forth blood sport-while making for good copy-does not provide the American people the opportunity to fully express their desire for change.  When voters have the opportunity to speak directly, as they did in Florida and California, without being filtered by the political parties, reform passes overwhelmingly.

REFORM

• Voters make right call on redistricting (LA Daily Breeze) itizen redistricting will be a huge improvement over Legislature-drawn districts, which were so gerrymandered in 2001 that it's almost impossible for any seat to change hands from one party to the other.

MIDTERMS

• What really happened in the 2010 election (By E.J. Dionne, Washington Post) Incumbent Democrats suffered a genuine backlash of voter discontent due to a weak economy with considerable concerns about job creation, deep skepticism among independents, poor turnout among key base groups, and strong enthusiasm among energized conservatives.
• Can the Tea Party endure? (CNN International) The midterm elections dealt a powerful blow to President Obama and the Democratic Party as the country appeared to shift decisively to the right, moved by mass anger, "due to a combination of two kinds of fear," historian Michael Kazin told CNN.

COLORADO

• Curry's write-in campaign creates confusion in HD 61 vote tally - Democratic officials call for recount (By Jessica Fender, The Denver Post)

BLOOMBERG

• Bloomberg to America: Lay Off The Chinese (By Peter Stein, Wall Street Journal/Metropolis)

NEW YORK

• Working Families Party To Row D? We'll See... (By Celeste Katz, Daily News/Daily Politics)
• Working Families Party Looks To Better Ballot Placement (By David Freedlander, NY Observers)
  Howie Hawkins Saves Green Party, loads trucks (By Nick Rizzo, Capital)
• New York Working Families Party Likely to Have Received More Votes for Governor than Independence Party (Ballot Access News)
• Schumer Passes On Leadership Speculation, Warns Against Independent Redistricting For Congress (By Edward-Isaac Dovere, City Hall)
• Charter Commissioner Launching Effort To Take Third Term Away From Electeds Grandfathered In (By Chris Bragg, City Hall)

Strong Showings by Independents and Third Parties on November 2

SELECTED INDEPENDENT ELECTION RESULTS

• Independent Lincoln Chafee Declared Winner for Governor (ABC Providence/New Bedford)

• It’s Leahy in Vt.; Maine up for grabs (By Glenn Adams, Boston Globe) Independent Eliot Cutler was leading Republican Paul LePage as results were being tallied in Maine’s race for an open governor’s seat late last night.

• GOP claims control of House, but Democrats still hopeful (By Lynn Bartels, The Denver Post) Democrats appeared to have picked up one seat after Rep. Kathleen Curry, an unaffiliated from Gunnison, lost her attempt to win through a write-in campaign, but she is likely to challenge the results in court.

• Wilson the apparent winner in District 61 race - Curry awaits Friday ruling on questionable ballots (John Stroud, Glenwood Springs Post Independent) Reports from Garfield, Pitkin, Eagle, Gunnison and Hinsdale counties gave Wilson 9,495 votes to incumbent write-in candidate Kathleen Curry's approximately 9,000 votes.

NEW YORK

• John Sampson and Dean Skelos must move state Senate forward to bipartisan cooperation (Editorials, Daily News)
• Mixed Bag For The Working Families Party (By David Freedlander, NY Observer)
• Incomplete Data from New York Gubernatorial Race Seems to Suggest that Independence Party Fell to Fifth Row on Ballots (Ballot Access News)
• Third Party ballot shuffle ahead (by Rick Karlin, Albany Times Union/Capitol Confidential) the Working Families Party is hoping to move up a notch from Line E to Line D, supplanting the Independence Party which didn’t do so well this year.
• "David Cuomo" Wins Despite Low Turnout; Senate Undecided (Gothamist)
• That "David Cuomo" Guy Is No Barack Obama, Young Voters Say » (By Celeste Katz, Daily News/Daily Politics)
• 2010 Election results (NY Post)
• The Rent May Be Too DAMN High, But Vote Totals Were Too DAMN Low -- UPDATED » (By Celeste Katz, Daily News/Daily Politics)
• Low Voter Turnout in New York (By Beth Fertig, WNYC)
• Jimmy McMillan “Rent Is Too Damn High” Candidate Gets 40,000 Votes For N.Y. Gov (Post by Associated Press, NewsOne)
• Big Margin for Cuomo, but Short of Historic (By SAM ROBERTS, NY Times)
• Green, Working Families survive (By Casey Seiler State Editor, Albany Times Union)

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS 10/13/10

OPEN PRIMARIES

• Trial About to Begin in Idaho Republican Party Lawsuit to Create a Closed Republican Primary (Ballot Access News)

THIRD PARTY

• Cokie and Steve Roberts: Voter discontent could result in a third party (Muskegon Chronicle - MI) Will a third party emerge and play a major role in the elections of 2012? History says the answer is no, and that’s probably a good thing. 

BLOOMBERG

• NYC mayor to campaign for redistricting in Fla. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Miami Herald)

TEA PARTY

• Poll examines Tea Party faith values - Nearly Half of Tea Party Movement also identify with Christian Conservative Movement (By Public Religion Research Institute) They are largely Republican partisans. More than three-quarters say they identify with (48%) or lean towards (28%) the Republican Party. More than 8-in-10 (83%) say they are voting for or leaning towards Republican candidates in their districts, and nearly three-quarters (74%) of this group report usually supporting Republican candidates.
• Tea party convention hears congressional hopefuls (By TYLER WHITLEY, Richmond TIMES-DISPATCH) Asked at the Virginia Tea Party Patriots Convention whom he would support for Speaker of the House, Golden answered "Ron Paul."

FLORIDA

• Q Poll Shows a Dead Heat in Governor's Race; Independents Shift? (Sunshine State News/KENRIC WARD'S BLOG) Independent voters appear to be shifting the race. Independents, who backed Scott 46-40 at the start of the month, now support Sink 51-34.
•  QUINNIPIAC POLL
• Wild swings in Florida gov. race (By: CNN's Jeff Simon)

CALIFORNIA

• Maldonado, Bowen should keep jobs (BY San Diego UNION-TRIBUNE EDITORIAL BOARD) Maldonado is highly unconventional by California political standards, a Republican willing to buck the GOP establishment and work with moderates and across party lines.

COLORADO

• 527 equals sleaze (LETTER The Aspen Times) One canvasser came to my door and told me — incorrectly — that I might as well vote for Wilson because there is no way independent candidate Kathleen Curry, who is running for re-election as our House District 61 state representative, can win as a write-in candidate.
• In fact, as a widely respected legislator and the only candidate in the race with actual elected experience, Kathleen is clearly the leading contender.
• Curry sees tough fight for the election (by Curtis Wackerle, Aspen Daily News) Curry was a democrat until dis-affiliating in December, citing frustration with the increasing bitterness of the two-party system. She is attempting to do what many political observers say is impossible: Win as a write-in candidate.
• Curry's dedication should earn votes (LETTER Glenwood Springs CO Post Independent) I encourage other citizens of the Roaring Fork Valley in joining me in demonstrating our support for rational centrist policies by writing-in Kathleen Curry for State Representative. Let's lead Colorado in making this election day Independent's Day as a rejection of political extremism and partisan gridlock!
• Korkowski sticks to conservative principles (by Curtis Wackerle, Aspen Daily News) “It didn’t look like there was a solid conservative candidate in the race ... so I decided to do it,” said Korkowski, who is in a three-way race to represent House District 61 with democrat Roger Wilson of Missouri Heights and unaffiliated candidate Kathleen Curry of Gunnison.

FLORIDA

• Meet Charlie Crist's unconventional U.S. Senate campaign team (By Adam C. Smith, Times Political Editor, St. Petersburg Times)

MAINE

• Race for Maine Governor 2010: Who the candidates are, and what they stand for (By Steve Mistler, Lewiston Sun Journal) Maine voters this November will have five distinct options for governor, along with five declared write-in candidates.

SOUTH DAKOTA

• Other View: Shutting out independent voters sends bad message - Every vote counts. That phrase is tossed about whenever an election is so close, a single vote can determine the outcome. It rarely happens, but that doesn’t diminish the value of each vote cast in every election. (Mitchell Daily Republic)

NEW YORK

• New York’s Debate Gap (NY Times) Mr. Paladino’s insistence that any debates include the minor candidates, and that excluding the African-American and female candidates would be unfair, has given the front-running Mr. Cuomo cover to avoid a two-candidate debate.
• Poll: 58 % of Voters Say a 3rd Political Party is Needed (Reported by: Jane Flasch, WHAM Channel 13 ABC Rochester) Barron is a New York City Councilman.  He broke with the Democratic Party over Andrew Cuomo’s choice of Rochester Mayor Bob Duffy for a running mate. “The Democratic Party has taken us for granted,” he said in announcing his run.  “The Republican Party has ignored us.”  Barron is seeking 50 thousand votes to make his “all Black” Freedom Party a recognized party on the state ballot.
• Avella lands teachers union nod (BY LISA L. COLANGELO, NY Daily News) RECENT POLLS may show former Councilman and Democratic state Senate candidate Tony Avella lagging behind Republican incumbent Frank Padavan. But last week, Avella unveiled an endorsement he thinks is key to winning in the Democratic-leaning 10th Senate District.
• AG candidate Dan Donovan believes opponent Eric Schiderman is part of the problem in Albany (Tom Wrobleski, SI Advance)
• New Yorkers’ Anger at Politicians Doesn’t Fuel a Surge in Voter Registration (By SAM ROBERTS, NY Times) Despite professed outrage over dysfunctional politicians, few unregistered New Yorkers have been motivated enough to register to vote in November, according to election officials.
• Dan Donovan Clears Independence Party Chief In Loan Probe (BY CELESTE KATZ
• Daily News/Daily Politics)
• Real Estate Flexes Muscle - Industry Backing Both Democrats and Republicans in Aggressive Campaign Push (By ELIOT BROWN, Wall Street Journal)
• Freedom Party event launches election campaign (By Dee Knight, Bronx, N.Y., Workers World) An exciting event launched the Freedom Party campaign on Oct. 3 at the Church of the Resurrection, which also serves as home to the South Bronx Community Congress. Charles Barron and Ramon Jimenez, candidates for governor and attorney general, respectively, both spoke eloquently about the emerging Black and Latino/a alliance that sees well beyond the Nov. 2 elections to a new “people’s power bloc” that can genuinely fight for and protect the interests of working people in the city and state of New York.
• 'General' mayhem - AG debate bares 'party' animals (By BRENDAN SCOTT NY Post Correspondent) The Rev. Al Sharpton, Pedro Espada Jr. and Carl Paladino unexpectedly took center stage in yesterday's testy attorney-general debate, as both candidates sought to force the other to carry his party's baggage.

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS 9/27/10

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Independents Abandon Democrats Ahead Of Midterms (by JOEL ROSE, NPR) Still, Bullock says she supports President Obama. So do Mark Balsam and Yvone Vazquez of rural Bucks County, Pa. They both voted for Obama two years ago, but neither seems excited about the candidates in this election. I will vote for somebody, probably," Balsam says. "I don't feel highly motivated, I guess." "I might not vote at all, period," Vazquez says.
• Tired of 'tea party' sniping, moderates organize (By James Oliphant, LA Times) The No Labels effort, expected to launch later this year, is backed by Republicans such as McKinnon, the former Bush advisor, and Nancy Jacobson, a powerful Democratic fundraiser married to pollster Mark Penn. Another Washington group, think tank Third Way, advocates "a moderate ideology" built around such issues as free trade and clean energy.
• Obama looks to youth vote for a late midterm surge (By Philip Ruckerand Anne E. Kornblut, Washington Post) NOTE: Independents voted in 2008 for Barack Obama, not the Democratic Party. And there's really nothing the Dems can do about that. When you're a Dem, you're a Dem all the way. That's what partisanship IS! And that's what independents don't like. Looks like a nice little political trap for the parties. Good luck fellas! - NH  PS -- About 45% of youth under the age of 25 consider themselves independent. But knock yourselves out!

OPEN PRIMARIES

• Power plays: Propositions 25 and 26 - they're both bad policy dressed up as reform (EDITORIAL LA Daily News) There is a solution to this abuse of government and partisan political fights, and that is to elect a better class of leaders. That's why we support structural reforms such as independent redistricting and open primaries that we think will help elect politicians who put the public's interest before their own. But these two propositions, while dressed up as reforms, will do nothing but make our political problem worse. Vote no on Propositions 25 and 26.
• Perspectives: Bipartisan - or nonpartisan?; What if we rid Congress of petty party politics? (By William J. Kelleher, San Gabriel Valley Tribune) In 2003, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg strongly supported a referendum that would change city election practices from highly partisan to almost completely nonpartisan. If passed by the voters, the law would have opened primary elections to all voters by eliminating the partisan ballot.

MIDTERMS

• Brown: Who wants to be endorsed by a billionaire? (By Fred Brown, The Denver Post) We've reached such a state in this country that hardly anyone is in the middle of the road about anything, even being in the middle of the road.

2012

• Bloomberg's centrist presidential test (By Douglas Cohn and Eleanor Clift, Pocono Record)

COLORADO

• Analysis: Curry’s Long-Shot Election Bid Grows Longer (By Brad Jones, FACE THE STATE, State Bill Colorado) Curry said she’ll press on with her legal fight, but after U.S. District Judge Philip Brimmer turned down her motion last Thursday to block the state campaign-finance law in time for the November election, even an eventual favorable outcome will do her little good in raising contributions toward her re-election bid. It’s also little solace to voters who might want to support her or other candidates outside the GOP-Democrat loop.
• One legal hurdle down, about a dozen more to go (By Marianne Goodland, THE COLORADO STATESMAN) In June, Judge Marcia Krieger ruled in favor of Buescher and co-defendant Linda Daley, clerk of La Plata County on the ballot access issue. Under state law, a person who wants to run as an unaffiliated candidate must disaffiliate from a political party within a specific time before the next general election. Curry and Riddle sought an injunction against that law, stating that it violated their 1st Amendment and 14th Amendment rights. That case is now on appeal with the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.

NEW YORK

• Where Have All the Political Parties Gone? - Working Families swoops into the void. (By Chris Smith, NY Mag) That the WFP, the biggest institutional local political success story of the past decade, finds itself wobbling between enormous influence and extinction is emblematic of a larger drama: the highly fluid state of the New York political Establishment not named Michael Bloomberg.
• Cuomo Facing Criticism From Blacks (By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE, NY Times) Mr. Cuomo is also being challenged from the left by Charles Barron, a black city councilman in New York who is running on the Freedom Party line.

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES FOR INDEPENDENT VOTERS 9/24/10

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Harry Kresky: Political Reform and Human Development (By Harry Kresky, The Moderate Voice) What we are facing is a crisis of development. Human beings do not appear to have the capacity to address and organize themselves to do what needs to be done. The development gap must be addressed and overcome. And that is not the same thing as finding the right answer. In fact the search for the right answer takes you in the wrong direction. Can we develop so that we act to do what is best for our species, to work with others to create that collective performance? Can this be done?
• Could US elections see the rise of the powerful centre? (The Daily Maverick - South Africa) Taken together, these broad trends have increasingly meant that in the general elections (as opposed to primary elections where party loyalists or voters with strong feelings about a particular issue are crucial) are won by the votes of Americans with weak (or even no) party identification and loyalty. Pre-eminently, such voters often live in the country’s sprawling suburbs and the exurbs beyond, rather than in the country’s urban cores or its increasingly depopulated rural landscape.
• State sees increase in Independent Party voters (Anthony Pura, KHAS TV - NE) It's a slight increase of independent voters, but when you get down to it it's about 12,000 people more than the 2008 general election that don't have a party identity, and both Republican and Democratic candidates want their vote this November. Red or Blue, Republican or Democrat – less Nebraskans want to wear the label.
• Pew: Independents now for GOP (By: Jeanne Cummings, Politico) “For the third national election in a row, independent voters may be poised to vote out the party in power,” Pew concludes after its study of 2,816 registered voters, including 1,069 independent registered voters.
• Independents Oppose Party in Power ... Again  - More Conservative, More Critical of National Conditions (Pew Research) For the third national election in a row, independent voters may be poised to vote out the party in power. The Republican Party holds a significant edge in preferences for the upcoming congressional election among likely voters, in large part because political independents now favor Republican candidates by about as large a margin as they backed Barack Obama in 2008 and congressional Democratic candidates four years ago.
• Kansas voters leaving the Republican Party (Dome on the Range blog)

OPEN PRIMARIES

• Primary change would increase interest (Tiffin Advertiser Tribune - OH) More recently, some members of the city council and review commission discussed switching to nonpartisan primaries. This could boost voter turnout in the primaries, because independent voters could cast ballots on candidates as well as issues.
• Open debate on closed primaries (My Maryland | Blair Lee, Montgomery County Gazette - MD
• Voters shortchanged by system  (by Keith Nathan, UNLV Rebel Yell) The closed primary is more exclusionary, as only citizens registered with the primary-associated party can choose a nominee — one who must be from that party. Nevada politics remain tarnished by the closed-primary system, which severely limits the candidate spectrum for the general election.

THE PARTIES

• EDITORIAL: The age-old battle of “Us vs. Them” wages on. (The Lufkin Daily News - TX) Let’s face it, if either party had answers, this nation would be in a lot better shape right now. NOTE: Well put!!! -NH

COLORADO

• U.S. District Court Judge Won’t Enjoin Colorado Discriminatory Campaign Contribution Limits (Ballot Access News) The judge ruled from the bench, and his opinion is not in writing yet.  He is likely to ask the state courts to construe Colorado law, to clarify whether someone may give $400 to a Republican or a Democratic candidate even after the primary is over.

NEW YORK

• What about those NY Gov poll numbers? (By Azi Paybarah, WNYC/The Empire)
• Paladino Campaign Claims Cuomo Lying On Debate Outreach (By Edward-Isaac Dovere, City Hall) Brooklyn City Council Member Charles Barron, who successfully won a spot on the ballot as the Freedom Party gubernatorial candidate, also joined the fray, claiming the 43,000 petition signatures he collected, compared to the 25,000 Paladino collected, gives him more of a right to debate Cuomo than the Republican nominee has. Paladino’s past statements only strengthen that argument, Barron said.
• The Truth About Ethics and the State We’re In (By MICHAEL SCHENKLER, Queens Tribune) But the history of the Legislature shows apparent crooks are supported by their caucus until convicted of a felony. The list of unethical crooks that should have been abandoned by their colleagues is long, starts with former Senate Leader Joe Bruno and runs straight on til morning. Without prejudging any member of the Legislature, it is clear to me that the ethics oversight of the members by the Assembly and Senate is a political self-serving process to protect those in office.
• Press Focuses on Vito Lopez, Brooklyn County Leader - ‘It’s Yet To Be Demonstrated That Any of His Acts Are Crimes’ (By Henry Stern, Brooklyn Eagle)

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS 9/15/10

CALIFORNIA PROP 14

• Capitol: Judge's ruling keeps Prop. 14's top-two primary system alive (Sac Bee) Judge Catherine Woolard wrote that while plaintiffs can proceed to a full trial, their arguments "fail to show a likelihood of success on the merits" to grant their motion for an injunction blocking the state from proceeding with implementing the new measure.
• California's gubernatorial candidates should read these books (BOOK REVIEWS California Watch) It's not a simple question of "can't we all get along," says Bagley. Real structural reforms will be required – modifying term limits, open primaries – to bring moderation and bipartisanship back to Sacramento.
• Prop. 14 open primary survives first challenge (Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer)

OPEN PRIMARIES

• Voters need real choice in state primary elections (Superior Telegram) Primary voting rules incorrectly assume all voters cast ballots along party lines. Many Wisconsin voters are not Republicans or Democrats, or some other party, and cast their ballot irrespective of party lines. They vote for candidates and their ideals, rather than old-horse political parties. Yet, Wisconsin primaries still align themselves with a party system.
• Hannemann: Rival should identify program funding (By HERBERT A. SAMPLE, Bloomberg Businessweek) Hannemann's criticism of the cost of Abercrombie's proposals in the days leading to Saturday's primary election could help him attract votes of conservatives and Republicans. In Hawaii's open primary, registered voters can request any party's ballot.

TUESDAY PRIMARIES

• The Morning After: Whose Party Is It? (By MICHAEL D. SHEAR, NY Times/The Caucus) Tea Party-backed insurgents in the primaries of 2010 have toppled two of the party’s incumbents and six candidates who were supported by GOP insiders in Washington – ending with the surprise ouster of Rep. Mike Castle, who had won 12 statewide campaigns in Delaware over four decades in public life.
• Voters Deliver a Reminder to Republicans (and Pundits) (By NATE SILVER, NY Times/fivethirtyeight)
• 'This Changes Everything' (By Robert Stacy McCain, American Spectator (right-wing) Of course, not all of the people have yet spoken. Turnout was unusually high in this year's primary, but O'Donnell's Tuesday total of more than 30,000 votes will have to be increased if she is to win in November. However, as one staffer said, their own polls indicate that independent voters -- who couldn't vote in the closed GOP primary -- favor O'Donnell over the Democrats' little-known nominee, Chris Coons.
• Christine O'Donnell, Tea Party Favorite, Stuns Mike Castle in Delaware (PATRICIA MURPHY, Politics Daily Capitol Hill Bureau Chief) With so much noise surrounding her candidacy, GOP guru Karl Rove predicted Tuesday night what Democrats are hoping for: that O'Donnell will lose the general election in November when Democratic and independent voters get into the voting booths. "There's just a lot of nutty things she's been saying," Rove said in an appearance on Fox News. "This is not a race we're going to be able to win."
• Tea Party favorite wins in Delaware; race close in N.H. (By Matt Viser, Boston Globe) But the GOP hopes hinge on whether conservative insurgents are able to translate their grass-roots momentum into independent votes, whether Democrats are able to motivate their base, and whether President Obama can once again be an effective campaigner.
• Senate: Ayotte, Lamontagne in tight race (By JOHN DISTASO, Senior Political Reporter, Union Leader)
• Avedisian beats back challenge from Langseth (By BARBARA POLICHETTI, Providence Journal Staff Writer)
• G.O.P. Insurgents Win in Del. and N.Y. (By JEFF ZELENY, NY Times)
• The Morning After - What's next for Fenty? (By P.J. ORVETTI, NBC Washington) Fenty did not deserve Tuesday’s result. Though Gray is an accomplished man who could be a consensus-builder as mayor, and though Fenty merited a stiff warning from voters, his rejection by a margin of about 8 points was a sad result for a mayor who has moved the city forward. The District fired Fenty after one term. It re-elected Marion Barry three times.
• Fenty vs. Gray: How I voted (Joel Achenbach, Washington Post/Achenblog) Could he still run as an independent in the general election? Wouldn't make much difference. People tend to be loyal to political parties, and there just aren't very many independents in the District of Columbia from which Fenty could rally support. This is a one-party town in which the Democratic primary is the decisive election.
• Primary Voter Turnout Stays Low, but More So for Democrats (By BRIAN J. MCCABE, NY Times/FiveThirtyEight)
• Democratic voters casting Republican ballots (WFRV News) Madison WI (an open primary state)

MIDTERMS

• NYC’s Mayor Bloomberg to campaign for Chafee Thursday (By Katherine Gregg, Providence Journal State House Bureau) “Since I’ve been one of everything in my career at one time or another, I don’t think that party matters,” he said in that interview. “What you want are people who are independent in their views. That they don’t listen to the party bosses. That they listen to the issues. They’re smart enough to analyze it.”

COLORADO

• Female energy permeates Girl's Night Out (Durango Herald) The finalists for the leader award were Cindy Cortese, Paulette Church, Stephanie Moran and Joelle Riddle. Riddle, who is finishing up her term as a La Plata County commissioner, was honored for her education work with Planned Parenthood, the various constituencies she has represented as a commissioner and founding the independent Voters for Colorado.
• Curry's against all odds write-in campaign (LETTER Glenwood Post Independent) Kathleen Curry, our state representative for District 61 (five counties), has recognized the deficiencies of political party influence and has had the courage to say she wants to represent us directly — to listen, look at the real problems and develop and support practical legislation based on logic, respect and doing what is best for our children and for all of us vs. what the parties dictate.

NEW YORK PRIMARIES

• Scene From Outside the Polls at Amalgamated Houses (Bronx News Network) Several yards away stood two Espada volunteers: Harry Kresky (pictured, left) of Manhattan and Kirsten Fulda (pictured, right) of New Jersey, both members of the Independence Party who said they admired Espada for his, well, independence. "He doesn't do what the parties tell him to do," said Kresky, a lawyer who, interestingly, once represented Dr. Lenora Fulani, a radical former presidential candidate, who endorsed Espada last week.
• Primary Night: Pedro Espada Keeps the Faith (By Ricardo Bilton, NY Observer)
• As the Smoke Clears After Primary Day … (By THE NEW YORK TIMES/City Room)
• The Man Who Beat Espada (by David King, Gotham Gazette) Less than an hour later Espada has conceded. The crowd at the Monte Carlo on Jerome Avenue explodes. Rivera takes the stage thanking unions left and right. "Union power," men on stage shout. Rivera gives his victory speech. The campaign confirms that Espada did not place a congratulatory call to Rivera -- they roll their eyes. Sen. Liz Krueger dances to Jay-z's "New York." She says she expects Rivera’s victory will give Democrats a boost. "Did you expect this to be over so quickly?" I ask her. She looks at her watch, "Yes!" she exclaims.
• Paladino Wins GOP Primary, Rangel, Schneiderman Also Win As Monserrate, Espada Concede (By: NY1 News)
• Bronx voters send state Sen. Pedro Espada packing; Hiram Monserrate loses Assembly bid (BY BOB KAPPSTATTER AND GLENN BLAIN, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS)
• Paladino Sends Lazio to Sidelines (By JACOB GERSHMAN, Wall Street Journal)
• Paladino, Schneiderman Win, Espada Doesn't (by Gotham Gazette Staff)
• Newcomer Ousts Espada; Monserrate Loses Political Return (By SAM DOLNICK, NY Times)
• The Andrew Effect (By Reid Pillifant, NY Observer) It's not clear this year that voters will be inclined to vote straight party lines, but it will be up to Mr. Cuomo to draw Democrats and Democratically inclined independents to the polls, particularly in parts of the state that don't have any particularly competitive down-ballot elections happening.

WORKING FAMILIES PARTY

• WFP & Cuomo, sittin' in a tree: But there's no real love in this odd marriage (Bill Hammond, Daily News)

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)

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS 8/21/10

Please check out Hankster Blogger of the Week (noted below at NEXT TO LAST WORD

• 10 Political Practices That Should Hit the Road (by New Hankster blogger friend The Indy Express) Partisans want to eliminate anyone who does not vote the party line, which is a recipe for gridlock and hardship for the country. Nothing will be accomplished except more videos and sound bites for the media and bloggers. The Indy Express

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• PRIORITY READING: Wedge issues divide politicians from independents (By Ed Hornick, CNN) "This is party politics as usual with respect to all of these wedge issues," said Jacqueline Salit, president of independentvoting.org, a national strategy and organizing center for independents. "I think there's more and more of a steady recognition that these kind of wedge issues and political manipulation, sensationalism and opportunism is exactly what is degrading the American political process and our democracy." NOTE: This article also ran on WTSP Channel 10 - Tampa Bay

OPEN PRIMARIES

• Nonpartisan Elections in CA, NYC, and the Nation (By William J. Kelleher, Ph.D., opednews.com
• Maldonado asks to join defense in Proposition 14 lawsuit (Sac Bee/Capitol Alert) "I could not stand by and watch the transparent effort to undermine the voters' right to an open primary system," Maldonado said in a statement. "Voters were crystal clear that they wanted to change business as usual in Sacramento and the effort to derail Proposition 14 is not only without merit, it's more of the same political game-playing that has gridlocked the Capitol for years.
• Independent testing (Arizona Star) Working in conjunction with the League of Women Voters and relying on funding from groups such as the Southern Arizona Leadership Council and Greater Phoenix Leadership, the project contacted about 33,000 independents in Legislative Districts 26 and 30, which are Tucson districts with a Republican voter edge.

MIDTERMS

• The 2010 Elections: What's at Stake? (Bob Burnett, Huffington Post) The GOP has claimed the coveted political mantle of "outsider" and, at least for the moment, convinced Independent voters the US is best served by dividing power between Democrats and Republicans. Imagine that in November's mid-term elections, Republicans win control of the House or Senate. What difference will that make?
• Quinnipiac Poll: Crist Still Ahead In FL-SEN Race (Eric Kleefeld, TPMDC)
• August 19, 2010 - Sink Inching Up In Close Florida Gov Race, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Crist Leads Three-Way Senate Race (Quinnipiac)

COLORADO

• Riddle sues state over campaign finance (by Joe Hanel, Herald Denver Bureau)
• BLAKE: Lawmaker without a party takes political career to court (By Peter Blake, Colorado Springs Gazette)

GEORGIA

• Independent voters being courted in race for governor (Rome News Tribune)

OREGON

• Progressive Party skips Oregon governor's race, aiding Kitzhaber (Jeff Mapes, The Oregonian ) The season for nominating minor-party candidates is drawing to a close and it looks like the winner is...Democrat John Kitzhaber (who also happens to be the candidate of the Independent Party of Oregon)... But a write-in candidacy won't have nearly the power to draw votes. And the way it shapes up, Kitzhaber won't have any candidates running to the left of him....

NEW YORK

• WHAT’S AT STAKE IN THE MOSQUE CONTROVERSY? (Harry Kresky, Legal Briefs blog)
• Feds drop probe in how Working Families Party spent money in 2009 city elections (BY CELESTE KATZ AND ADAM LISBERG, DAILY NEWS) Still, the controversy has deterred Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Cuomo, a strong favorite to be the next governor, from running on the WFP line.... If Cuomo doesn't accept the line, the WFP will be stuck with its placeholder candidate, Legal Aid lawyer Kenneth Schaeffer - and may not meet the threshold to stay a major party.
• 'Families' Party: We dodged fed charges (By BRUCE GOLDING and CATHY BURKE, NY Post)
• Cuomo Pressed On Issues Throughout Western N.Y. Campaign Tour (By: Josh Robin, NY1) Asked what his priority is ethics-wise, such as campaign finance reform or outside disclosure, Cuomo said it is "all the above."
• Probe of Working Families Party Ends (By JACOB GERSHMAN, Wall Street Journal) Working Families Party leaders have feared that without Mr. Cuomo's support, the party could lose its automatic spot on the state ballot, a key source of its potency. Parties in New York must get at least 50,000 votes for governor to preserve their official ballot status.
• Working Families Party to Face No U.S. Charges (By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE, NY Times)
• Now that WFP Won’t Face Federal Charges… (By Azi Paybarah, WNYC)
• Working Families Party claims it's no longer subject of federal probe (By BRUCE GOLDING and CATHY BURKE, NY Post)
• Working Families says inquiry ends without charge - The U.S. attorney's office, which was reportedly probing Data and Field Services, a for-profit arm of the Working Families Party, is said to be closing the case. (By Jeremy Smerd, Crain's New York)
• Working Families Party: U.S. Attorney Won't File Charges (BY CELESTE KATZ, NY daily News/Daily Politics)
• Addabbo Booted from WFP Ballot Line [UPDATED] (By Chris Bragg, City Hall News)
• Group Targets Working Families Party (Politics on the Hudson)
• Tea Party Activists Pulling Together For New York -- And Then National -- Ballot Line Push (BY CELESTE KATZ, Daily News/Daily Politics) Tea's gubernatorial candidate is a Long Island commercial and personal injury lawyer named Steve Cohn. Their organizer is one Sam Zherka of Westchester, a real-estate owner and club operator. And maybe, just maybe, the possible state chairman of the new party -- should it be constituted -- could be Bobby Kumar, the current chairman of the Nassau County Independence Party.

BLOOMBERG ENDORSEMENTS

• Bloomberg Busy Backing Candidates Of Both Parties (by BRIAN NAYLOR, NPR) "Since I've been one of everything in my career at one time or another, I don't think that party matters," he said. "What you want are people who are independent in their views. That they don't listen to the party bosses. That they listen to the issues. They're smart enough to analyze it. [That] they have the experiences that we need in the legislature to know how to address the problems."
• INDEPENDENT FOR PRESIDENT IN 2012: A VIEW FROM 2010 (by Damon Eris, CAIVN)

NYC CHARTER REVISION

• De Blasio Takes Aim at Bloomberg (By MICHAEL HOWARD SAUL, Wall Street Journal) On Thursday night, Mr. de Blasio urged the Charter Revision Commission to reject the mayor's suggestion that the panel reconsider awarding incumbents with a special exception that would allow them to serve three consecutive four-year terms, even if the electorate votes in November for a two-term cap.
• Charter Commission Weighs Extra Term For Incumbents, Ignoring Public Referenda (By HENRY STERN, Special to the NY Sun)
• One standard for all: Two terms is two terms, incumbents included (EDITORIAL NY Daily News) Claiming that fairness demands three terms for incumbents and two for newcomers is simply preposterous. Not least because everyone on the Council won election based on a campaign that was financed by taxpayer dollars. Not least because most of these same Council members changed the rules abruptly on the public by self-servingly voting to shift from a limit of two terms to three.
• Nonpartisan elections are a no-no for Black, Latino and Asian leader -- and for Bloomberg (By Stephon Johnson, Amsterdam News, Voices That Must Be Heard - NY Community Media Alliance) Under pressure from Democrats and leaders in communities of color, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has decided to end his push for nonpartisan elections in New York City.
• Changing the City’s Charter. Again? (By Mark Green, NY Observer) Admittedly, there may be hotter subjects this month than the City Charter Commission's ballot proposals. But an absurd state law nevertheless allows our mayor to hand-pick a commission to deliberate city governance in the dog days of August and put profound changes on the ballot for November. So it's worth examining.
• Fair Share Charter Fix Could Reduce Truck Traffic Burden for Some Nabes (by Noah Kazis, Streets Blog)

NEXT TO LAST WORD

• 10 Political Practices That Should Hit the Road (by New Hankster blogger friend The Indy Express) Partisans want to eliminate anyone who does not vote the party line, which is a recipe for gridlock and hardship for the country. Nothing will be accomplished except more videos and sound bites for the media and bloggers.

LAST WORD

• Obama, Islam And The "Other" (By Reid Wilson, National Journal/Hotline) A higher proportion of self-identified GOPers, 31%, say he is Muslim, while just 10% of Dems and 18% of independents believe it to be so.... Obama won election thanks to a diverse coalition, part of which includes a segment of Dems and independent voters who typically vote GOP in federal races. But, according to the Pew survey, the very voters who put Obama in office are the ones whose opinions seem the most malleable.

Congratulations to Independent Voters for Colorado!

Check out Independent Voters for Colorado at their new website



IVC was formed in July 2009 by independent County Commissioner Joelle Riddle after she became increasingly frustrated with the narrow scope and vision upheld by parties and their ownership of elected officials. In an effort to better represent her constituents and the complex issues facing her community, she changed her affiliation from Democrat to unaffiliated or independent. Shortly thereafter, she discovered the inequitable ballot access law that led to the federal lawsuitchallenging the statue that is currently being appealed by State Representative Kathleen Curry.

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS 8/9/10

OPEN PRIMARIES

• State primary system needs to change (BY ROCHELLE RILEY, DETROIT FREE PRESS) For frustrated independent voters, Tuesday's primary forced them to temporarily join parties they didn't want to belong to in the first place... It's time to put people's rights above parties' rights. 

COLORADO

• Colorado Independents Can Still Vote in Primary Election (Brian Larson, NPR - KUNC) This voting bloc helped Democrats elect Barack Obama in 2008....  Dumm says the law allows unaffiliated voters to sign up with a party, even on primary election day, cast a ballot - and then switch back to their independent status. Nearly a third of Colorado voters are unaffiliated with either of the major political parties.
• Lawsuit challenges contribution limits for third-party and unaffiliated candidates in Colorado (By Jessica Fender, The Denver Post)
• Curry embodies the real spirit of democracy (LETTER Glenwood Springs Post Independent)
• Curry Files Lawsuit Over Campaign Finance Rules (CBS4 Denver)

ILLINOIS

• Our Opinion: Time is not right for citizen initiative (THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER) His amendment would allow voters to propose bills related to ethics and campaign finance.

NEW YORK

• Dem leader John Sampson gets a nasty earful from disgruntled LGBT activists (ELIZABETH BENJAMIN, NY Daily News) Former Bronx Borough President Freddy Ferrer is reigniting an old fight against his former nemesis, Mayor Bloomberg, saying the mayor is again pushing nonpartisan elections so he can handpick his successor.
• Ex-Independence Party Officer Frank Morano Files Scathing Elections Complaint (BY CELESTE KATZ, NY Daily News/Daily Politics)

NYC CHARTER REVISION

• No Easy Answers In Charter Review (By DOMENICK RAFTER, Queens Tribune) On non-partisan elections, most commissioners agreed that the current process is unfair to most voters. Commissioner Fiala said that there were more than three quarters of a million voters in New York City not registered in a party, thus meaning they could not vote in partisan primaries, which is where most elections in the city are decided.
• Kresky: Race Relations, Nonpartisan Elections, and … (Written by jamiemoffett, LINK at You May Not Spit On Black People in 2010)

LAST WORD

• America Goes Dark (By PAUL KRUGMAN, NY Times) In effect, a large part of our political class is showing its priorities: given the choice between asking the richest 2 percent or so of Americans to go back to paying the tax rates they paid during the Clinton-era boom, or allowing the nation’s foundations to crumble — literally in the case of roads, figuratively in the case of education — they’re choosing the latter.