Relying on political parties is "sort of a crutch" to avoid dealing with the issues

OPEN PRIMARIES

• Partisanship Is Dead. Long Live Partisanship (by: Yana Kunichoff, t r u t h o u t | Report) Esteli Pacio-Manzano, a community organizer with the New York City Independence Party and independentvoting.org said that critics who attempt to argue for piecemeal reform do not realize the importance of a fully representative, nonpartisan democracy to the democratic process.
  "I think that you need political reform to be able to target everything," said Pacio-Manzano. "No one thing is going to be the solution."

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Fla. voter registration down 30,250 from 2008 (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Miami Herald)

MIDTERMS

• Poll: Only 2/3 of 2008 Obama Backers Plan to Vote Democrat (Posted by Bill Plante, CBS News) The biggest erosion of support is among independents; just 42 percent of Obama's 2008 independent voters say they'll support a Democrat this year. Twelve percent say they'll vote for a Republican, and 38 percent were still undecided.
• Newspapers back independent candidate for governor in Minnesota (By Sean J. Miller, The Hill)
• Need to get voters excited? Call Bill Clinton, not Obama. A Gallup poll suggests that both Democrats and independents are more likely to be enthusiastic about a campaign visit from former President Bill Clinton than from President Obama. (By Dave Cook, Christian Science Monitor)
• Race and Beyond: Blacks Could Preserve a Progressive Majority (By Sam Fulwood III, Center for American Progress)

TEA PARTIES

• Tea Parties, Independents and Conservative Reform (Ross Douthat, NY Times/Opinion)

MINOR PARTIES

• 82% of Voters Will See at least One Libertarian on their Ballots (Ballot Access News)

NEW YORK

• Stimulus OK with Schumer (By Keith Goldberg, Times Herald-Record) Schumer said he'd favor open primaries for independent voters in New York state.
• DECISION 2010: Debate for Governor (YNN Buffalo) VIDEO of entire debate
• Cuomo the Second Tea Party Candidate (Billy Wharton, Bronx County Independent Examiner) Overall, Barron’s agenda seemed a bit narrower than Hawkins’ did.  When asked about the plight of a small business owner Barron called for more funding for black-owned businesses instead of examining the larger issues of access credit.
• Espada, Farley’s corruption, dysfunction junction courtesy of Savage (by Rick Karlin, Albany Times Union/Capitol Confidential) This anti-Pedro Espada ad has, I’m told, created a bit of agita if not anger among some Senate Democratic leaders.

Barron: Don't Let Cuomo Hide Behind Paladino's Big Mouth

There's a debate coming up on Monday night  at Hofstra University that includes all the New York governor candidates.  See Celeste Katz's article below for info on the debate.

Please read Frank Lombardi's interview with Barron in the NY Daily News  "I'm In It To Win, Not To Spoil, Not To Entertain". The Brooklyn Councilman had this to say about the Dem/Repub (although, Cuomo is also running on the NY Independence Party line) dynamic duo: "I’m saying Paladino is not going to win. He’s not going to win. He doesn’t have a chance of winning really. But Cuomo is hiding behind this loose cannon to neglect dealing substantively with our community. He’s hiding behind that..."

Monday's Gubernatorial Debate: The Lowdown »

BY CELESTE KATZ

Here's the latest on Monday's big gubernatorial debate at Hofstra University, which is co-sponsored by Newsday and News12.

Your candidates, in alphabetical order, are:

• Charles Barron (Freedom Party)
• Andrew Cuomo (Democratic/Independence/and Working Families Parties)
• Kristin Davis (Anti-Prohibition Party)
• Howie Hawkins (Green Party)
• Jimmy McMillan (Rent is 2 Damn High Party)
• Carl Paladino (Republican/Conservative/Taxpayers Parties)
• Warren Redlich (Libertarian Party)

The 90-minute debate starts at 7 p.m. and will be telecast live and commercial-free on News 12 Long Island, News 12 Westchester, News 12 Hudson Valley, News 12 The Bronx, News 12 Brooklyn, Time Warner Cable’s NY1, NY1 Noticias (with Spanish interpretation) and YNN. The debate is also being made available to National Public Radio stations throughout New York State.

If you want to be there in person, 100 tickets are being made available to the general public through a random drawing at www.hofstra.edu/2010debate, so go there to register before Friday, October 15, at 9:00 a.m. (Ie., step on it!)

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Wooing Hearts and Minds in Land of Independents (By DEVLIN BARRETT, Wall Street Journal) In the state's heated U.S. Senate race, Democrat Richard Blumenthal and Republican Linda McMahon are locked in a bruising battle to win over Connecticut's more than 900,000 unaffiliated voters, who outnumber about 800,000 registered Democrats and some 400,000 registered Republicans.
• Independent Voters Could Decide Congress "American Voices": Katie Couric Talks With Voters Seeking Political Compromise at Philadelphia's Independence Hall (CBS News)
• The Rise of Middle-of-the-Road Radicals (By GERALD F. SEIB, Wall Street Journal)

IDAHO

• Independent candidate given rare opportunity to join Idaho gubernatorial debate (By Ben Botkin - Magic Valley Times-News) In round three, the Democratic challenger and Republican incumbent were joined by Jana Kemp, an independent candidate who had a rare opportunity to get the same level of public exposure that Republican and Democratic candidates routinely receive.

CALIFORNIA

• Maldonado for lieutenant governor (Long Beach Press Telegram) He's smart, moderate and is one of the few legislators who's single-handedly changed the broken political system in California by giving Prop. 14 a shot with voters.
• PROP 14, CALIFORNIA'S OPEN PRIMARY MEASURE, IS ALREADY BEGINNING TO EXERT ITS INFLUENCE (by Greg Lucas, CAIVN)
• June's Prop 14 – A Threat to the Democratic Majority (By Paul Mitchell, California Progress Report)

NEW YORK

• Charles Barron On Monday's Big Debate: "I'm In It To Win, Not To Spoil, Not To Entertain" (BY FRANK LOMBARDI, The Daily Politics by Celeste Katz, NY Daily News/Daily Politics) ”No, not that if things were equal. I’m saying Paladino is not going to win. He’s not going to win. He doesn’t have a chance of winning really. But Cuomo is hiding behind this loose cannon to neglect dealing substantively with our community. He’s hiding behind that. And that’s more dangerous because if Cuomo wins and we don’t make him held accountable, just by what he’s saying is dangerous.
• Green Party vs. Tea Party at Hofstra Gubernatorial Debate (Huffington Post, Alan Singer - Social studies educator at Hofstra University)
• Activist groups trying to reform dysfunctional Albany (Jill Terreri, Democrat and Chronicle) New players in the mix are a good thing, said Dick Dadey, executive director of Citizens Union, a group that has pushed for fair redistricting since 2005. "I think it reflects a growing feeling of New Yorkers that reform is necessary in Albany," he said. "The more organizations and resources devoted to the fight for reform, the better. ... People really want to see change."
• Struggle For Power: Independents Could Tip Outcome Of Upstate Senate Race (By: Erin Billups, NY 1)