Where Are Independents in 2012???

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INDEPENDENTVOTING.ORG NETWORKS

Did Independents Make a Mark in Iowa? (Jacqueline Salit, Executive Editor, The Neo-Independent magazine, Huffington Post) First, a closer look at the numbers. Independent voter participation in the GOP caucuses might have been up as compared with 2008, but the participation by independents as a whole was way down. In 2008, an estimated 66,000 independents came out to vote in both parties' Iowa caucuses, more than twice the number of independents who chose to vote on Tuesday. In 2008, 75% chose Democratic balloting, and 41% of those voted for Obama. In other words, the conspicuous feature of Tuesday's Iowa caucus was the number of independents who stayed home.
Why We Need To Care About The Iowa Caucus (Written by WFMY News 2 CBS-Greenville NC) In recent days, lots of attention has been directed towards the Iowa caucus. At nearly 1,000 miles away, North Carolinians may be wondering why this is important to them. WFMY News 2 spoke with Dr. Omar Ali, Independent Political Analyst and Historian at UNC Greensboro to bring you more information.
Independents, Third Party Candidates Mull Galbraith Legacy (by Phillip M. Bailey, WFPL News 89.3 Louisville) Kentucky independents and third party advocates are reflecting on the death of perennial candidate Gatewood Galbraith, who brought attention to candidates outside the two main political parties… Michael Lewis is chairman of Independent Kentucky, a non-partisan group that supports legislation to allow independents to vote in primary elections. He says Galbraith helped citizens who weren’t interested in either party get involved in the political process.
Mississippi Politics: Can Independents Help Reform? (Monica Betts, Politics365) One Independent Activist and Voter, Marla Nottingham of Brookhaven, MS, felt the election blues and decided she would petition for voters to have the right to vote in “open primaries” as Independents and vote for a politician of their choice whether Independent, Democrat or Republican. In 4 days Marla gathered 1,500 signatures in her home town.

Mississippi Open Primary Drive Goes to the Next Level

OPEN PRIMARIES
Tea party meet hears of open primary effort (Daily Leader - Brookhaven and SW Mississippi) Now, Marla Nottingham is moving from a petition to a full ballot initiative. Her goal is to bring a constitutional amendment opening up Mississippi's primaries to a statewide vote. Nottingham appeared Monday night at the first meeting of the Brookhaven Tea Party. Organizer Kendall Boutwell praised Nottingham's efforts and voiced support for them.

John Avlon: Closed Primaries Too Easily Hijacked by Ideologes and Partisan Hacks

OPEN PRIMARIES

• Christine O'Donnell: Exhibit A for getting rid of closed primaries (By John Avlon, CNN Contributor) The lesson: Closed partisan primaries are fundamentally unrepresentative. They're too easily hijacked by ideological activists and party hacks beholden to special interests. And because these local primaries are the gauntlet that candidates have to run, they lead directly to the culture of hyperpartisanship that now threatens to paralyze our capacity for effective self-government.
• Primaries now 'the elections' (LETTER Clarion Ledger) Whether it's called "open primaries," or just equal right to vote by everyone, we need a system that gives everyone an equal voice, rather than independents being shut out of the "primaries" where most officials are chosen, and then have to pick between two party hacks in the general election.

Will Oatis Runs as Independent for Mississippi Governor

MISSISSIPPI GOV RACE

• Mississippi voters pick Democratic governor nominee (By Jacob Batte, Reuters) DuPree will now face Republican Lieutenant Governor Phil Bryant and independent candidate Will Oatis in the general election.
• DuPree wins Democratic governor nomination (Written by TERRY L. JONES, Hattiesburg American) Independent Will Oatis of Silver Creek is running a low-budget campaign for governor. Two rival factions of the Reform Party also want to put a candidate in the race, but the state Board of Election Commissioners has not yet decided which Reform candidate - if either - can run.

California Independent Redistricting; Mississippi Open Primaries

CALIFORNIA REDISTRICTING
California's voting lines of contention - Critics on the right and the left are finding fault with California's proposed new voting districts. (EDITORIAL LA Times)

OPEN PRIMARIES
Elections should be open to all (LETTER Clarion Ledger) If enough people get upset enough, we might be able to do some of these things in this state with initiative and referendum.

Rankin: Eliminate Party Primaries for County Offices in Mississippi

Steve Rankin (Free Citizen), third party advocate and one of the country's leading experts on state party primary structures, responded to columnist Bill Minor in the Jackson Mississippi Clarion Ledger from last week "Maybe Miss. is ready to install open primary system," June 18) with a letter in which Rankin calls for nonpartisan elections at the county level.

Since the Legislature refuses to make this change, we citizens will have to do it through a ballot initiative. Why do we need party primaries for local offices anyway? [more]

Rankin says more in his post from Feb. on Free Citizen "Greater Choice For Mississippi Voters"

Nonpartisan elections are popularly called "open primaries" in Mississippi. In such an election, there are no party primaries, and all candidates, including independents, run in the same election. If no one gets 50-plus percent in the first round, the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, meet in a runoff.

The Voter Choice Plan would provide greater choice for our state's voters by changing to nonpartisan local (county and municipal) elections.

We need more third party voices like this for open primaries!

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

OPEN PRIMARIES

• MS: Littleton denies harassing voters (By William Browning, Greenwood Commonwealth)
  
• Broken system must be fixed (San Bernardino Sun)
  

NEW YORK POLITICS/INDEPENDENCE PARTY

• Beyond black and white: Obama-Bloomberg alliance signals a less tribal time in city politics (Erroll Lewis, NY Daily News)
  
• Cities Cry Foul on Stimulus Cash - Several Mayors Challenge the Way Governors Are Doling Out Project Funds (By SUZANNE SATALINE, Wall Street Journal Online)
  
• Weiner will decide on mayoral run by month's end (By Jason Fink, amNY)
  
• DOWNSTATE Candidates stepping up for Southampton supervisor race (Rick Brand, Newsday)
  
• Is President Obama Going to Stay Out of the NYC Mayor's Race? (Political Punch, ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper)
  
• Albany Panel Signals It Won’t Give the Mayor Carte Blanche on Schools (By JENNIFER MEDINA, NY Times)
  
• Silver backs mayor’s school control (By Josh Rogers, Downtown Express)
  

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

CAMPAIGN

• Obama, McCain vie for Michigan swing vote (Detroit News) This week, the campaign kicked off "Citizens for McCain," which the aide described as an aggressive effort to court working-class Democrats and independents through e-mail and phone solicitations.
• Bernie Sanders says he'll campaign for Obama among independents (Vermont Public Radio) ``The reason that I think I can play an important role is there are many millions of Americans who frankly are less than enthusiastic about the Democratic Party and are less than enthusiastic about the Republican Party. And I think probably the results of this election will depend upon how those independents will vote."
• Rasmussen Reports: Obama & McCain Tied In Missouri (KTVI - myFOXstl.com) Last month, McCain had a modest advantage among unaffiliated voters. Twenty-six percent (26%) of unaffiliated voters are not supporting either major party candidate at this time.
• DNC will refuse funds from lobbyists and PACs (By Matt Kelley, USA TODAY)

REFORM

• Mississippi: Voter ID a must to maintain public’s trust in electoral process (Leader Call)
• 'Top two' primary -- a state of confusion? (Seattle Post Intelligencer)

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Political Shift To Independent Voters (Keloland TV) In January, South Dakota lawmakers rejected a proposal that would have allowed independent voters to participate in primary elections.
• Decline-to-state voters need to know they have options (Ventura County Star)
• Voter Registration Hits a New High (KPBS)
• Deep thoughts on filing week and the top two primary (Tri City Herald)
• Mississippi: Upheaval averted (Daily Journal) Mississippians clearly want the option to vote in any primary they wish.

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• INDEPENDENT VOTERS: Looming Threat for Dems: People Against the War Prefer McCain as President (Alternet) Among the crucial independent voters, McCain gets 62% confidence, while Obama gets only 54% and Clinton 51%.
• MISSISSIPPI Obama, Clinton Battle in Mississippi (AP Google) Nearly one in five Democratic primary voters called himself an independent.
• FLORIDA: Count 'em, Forget about a do-over primary (Tallahassee Democrat) The cry is "Every person's vote must count." Not exactly.... Independents never get to vote in a primary.
• ARIZONA: Senate backs letting independents vote in presidential primary (Arizona Central)

Mississippi moves Obama

CNN has called Mississippi for Barack Obama.

Blacks, who have supported Obama in overwhelming numbers in earlier primaries, accounted for roughly half the ballots cast in Mississippi, according to interviews with voters leaving polling places. Nearly one in five Democratic primary voters called himself an independent. About one in 10 was Republican. (Associated Press)

Mississippi has no registration by party so voters can choose which primary to vote in. Not surprisingly, the exit poll found turnout was more than twice as high in the competitive Democratic primary between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama than in the Republican primary, where John McCain has clinched the nomination. Nearly one in five Democratic primary voters called themselves independent and about one in 10 were Republican. Democrats and independents combined were about 10 percent of voters in the GOP contest. (Associated Press)


Turnout so-so as Miss. voters pull levers: A close race between Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama will draw more voters to the polls today than the last presidential primary, state officials predict.... "We shouldn't be fooling in (the Democrats') business ... because we've got enough to deal with," said Herring, adding that crossover voting also would hinder a two-party system that political leaders have tried to foster.
A federal judge ruled last year that Mississippians re-register to vote by party affiliation. Or, he said voters could register as unaffiliated with any party. His decision came after Mississippi Democrats filed a lawsuit seeking to bar Republicans from voting in Democratic primaries. The 5th U.S. Circuit of Appeals is reviewing the decision. (Clarion Ledger)

The Republican/Independent/White Vote: There's another reason to doubt that Obama could put Mississippi, which voted for Bush 60-40 over Kerry in 2004, into play this November: racial polarization. "Anything in Mississippi that would so animate black voters would probably have the effect of animating white voters in the opposite direction," Bositis told me back in November. The pre-primary polls suggest that he's right. Obama typically loses white voters to Clinton by five to 20 points; in the latest InsiderAdvantage survey, he loses by 53. Similarly, Obama's traditional edge among Republicans and Independents--often two- or three-to-one--is reduced in the poll to deficits of 68-29 percent and 53-23, respectively. And this is among likely Democratic primary voters. Needless to say, such "Deep South" margins don't bode well for Obama's chances with the general electorate, which was 47 percent Republican and 63 percent white in 2004. It'll be interesting to see if they hold up tonight--and possibly help Clinton finish stronger than expected. (Newsweek)

Mississippi votes

Black vote 91% going for Sen. Obama as of 7:50pm....

White independents 46% for Obama as of 7:50pm....

Obama leads in Mississippi. Stay tuned.

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• NORTH CAROLINA: Superdelegates and the will of voters (News & Observer)
• MISSISSIPPI: Clinton or Obama? Mississippi's time (Clarion Ledger) *** Can Clinton Make Mississippi a Race? (Time)
• PENNSYLVANIA: Clinton, Obama Campaigns Gear Up For Pa.(PITTSBURGH-KDKA)
• TEXAS: Bill Clinton Went On Rush Limbaugh’s Show Day Of Texas Primary (JOE GANDELMAN, The Moderate Voice)
• DELAWARE: Closed primary leaves some voters with no choice (Cape Gazette)
• WYOMING: Obama wins caucus in nation's least populous state (Tufts Daily)
• NEW YORK POLITICS: Calls For Spitzer's Resignation Begin (Elizabeth Benjamin, Daily Politics/Daily News)

Women For President: Media Bias in Eight Campaigns, By Erika Falk, University of Illinois Press (Feminist Review)

CLINTON/OBAMA: Over the Top (Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal)

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• OH: Democrats came out in droves on Tuesday (The Chronicle-Telegram)
• The Two-Party Mass O’ Junk: My Hope! (The Moderate Voice by T-Steel) Independent voter T-Steel wants Obama to run independent -- he's probably not the only voter who does!
• McCain Must Attract Independents to Beat Clinton or Obama (By Liz Halloran, US News & World Report)
  

PENNSYLVANIA:

• Voters rush to switch political sides (Wilkes-Barre News Times Leader)
• Large numbers changing party registration for April 22 primary (Public Radio Capitol News)

MISSISSIPPI:

• Obama Slightly Ahead Of Clinton In Mississippi (All Headline News)
• Mississippi Going Obama, But Clinton Faring Stronger Than Expected (InsiderAdvantage and Southern Political Report)

TEXAS: Footnotes From the Texas Primary - One gay voter's change of heart leads him to a change of party. (Advocate)

WYOMING: STAT OF THE DAY (AP) Unaffiliated voters = 10% of electorate

NORTH CAROLINA: We’re in play (Blue Ridge Now)

OBAMA CAMPAIGN:

• Downside of Obama Strategy - Losses in Big States Spur General-Election Fears (Washington Post) NOTE: Spur General Election fears among WHOM?
• Playing by Clinton Rules (David Brooks, New York Times) "A candidate should never betray the core theory of his campaign, or head down a road that leads to that betrayal. Barack Obama doesn’t have an impressive record of experience or a unique policy profile. New politics is all he’s got. He loses that, and he loses everything. Every day that he looks conventional is a bad day for him."

HANKSTER two cents: David Brooks' point is well made. If you play by Clinton rules, Clinton rules. The ability to set the agenda is critical to any political campaign. If Barack Obama goes back to the issue of the war, he has a better shot at winning the Dem nomination. Forget her experience. Forget national security. Forget the economy (and apparently the establishment has forgotten about the economy in any serious way.... This is a political football now.)

This is a partisan election about the war in Iraq. The American people have turned against the war. Independent voters lead the charge in 2006. We are anti-war. This is the deciding factor of the election.