Independent Kentucky Michael Lewis' Fight for Open Primaries

KENTUCKY INDEPENDENT MOVEMENT
Kentucky Republican Candidates for Secretary of State Disagree on Whether Independent Voters Should be Allowed to Vote in Republican Primary (Ballot Access News) Here is a four-minute you tube, in which Michael Lewis, calling in, asked each candidate whether independent voters should be allowed to vote in major party primaries. Johnson said “yes”; Legg said “no.”



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INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• About That Speech - Mr. Obama's budget speech makes more sense when one realizes that his sinking poll numbers indicate an erosion in support with his liberal base. (By JOHN FUND, Wall Street Journal/John Fund On the Trail) The more that Mr. Obama feels he has to haul out class-warfare rhetoric and avoid offering serious proposals to stave off a fiscal crisis, the more he is endangering his standing with independent voters who remain unsettled by a sluggish recovery. The latest Gallup Poll pegs Mr. Obama's support among independents at just 35%. Right now, Mr. Obama is more concerned with shoring up his liberal base than with wooing independents. That's a sign of weakness.
• Iowa called vital component of Obama re-election strategy (Written by JENNIFER JACOBS, Indianapolis Star) Des Moines lawyer Jerry Crawford, a longtime Democratic Party fundraiser and adviser, said it's crucial that Obama wins Iowa, a state with 696,061 active independent voters.

BLOOMBERG CAMPAIGN

• NYC mayor forms campaign group for self-paid ads (Associated Press, WCAX)
• NYC mayor Bloomberg not running but registers campaign committee to declare self-paid ads (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS as posted in The Republic) They attempt to brand him as an independent-minded politician and sell his position on the city's budget. Bloomberg has said he has no plans to run for office again… Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson said last month that the first week of the mayor's ads was costing the billionaire in the "upper six figures." Since then, Bloomberg has also sent mailers to many residents' homes.

INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING
Redistricting commission to hold Southern California hearings (LA Times) The meetings will allow residents to provide input about their communities, information that will be used along with new census data as the commission draws political boundaries for the state's 53 members of Congress, 40 state senators and 80 Assembly members.

DONALD THE DUMPSTER

• Here's why The Donald is not The Answer for The GOP (By: Cal Thomas, The Washington Examiner) In bridge, a trump card is held in reserve for winning a trick. In politics, Donald Trump is anything but reserved and appears to think he might trick enough voters to win the next presidential election.
• Trump Candidacy for White House Gaining Ground (By NEIL KING JR., Wall Street Journal) Mr. Trump's near-daily barrage of TV interviews in recent weeks—he did at least three on Tuesday—has diverted attention from the rest of the potential GOP field and propelled him higher in national polls.

LAST WORD
ANTIWAR MOVEMENT REVITALIZED BY INDEPENDENTS AND THIRD PARTY GROUPS (by Damon Eris, CAIVN) Numerous third party leaders spoke at the events in New York City.  Among them were Howie Hawkins, a former Green Party nominee for governor, Charles Barron, a local elected official and leader of the Freedom Party, and prominent antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan, who waged an unsuccessful bid for Congress as an Independent against Nancy Pelosi in 2008, coming in second in the race with just over 16% of the vote.  Sheehan pulled no punches in her remarks.

What's irritating about the moveon.org baby Alex ad

Well, I don't know for you, but for me, I see this ad and I think Yes, that's right, I don't like war, that's CORRECT. I don't want Baby Alex to go to war in Nixon's/McCain's army. I'm a child of the 50s and 60s. I graduated college in 1974. I'm officially a Baby Boomer. I slept with draft-dodgers just because I wanted to...

I am anti-war in my core, which has become somewhat fat, however, I've never flip-flopped on this issue... but then what's that about...?

And then for some reason it begins to grate on my nerves.

So in grand Left tradition, what's wrong with this ad?

What's wrong is that it's anti-McCain, and by extension, anti-Republican.

Our country has been taken over by partisan politics. Are you a Republican or are you a Democrat? Well, shouldn't there be a wider playing field of discussion for this election in particular?

Here we are at the brink of destruction/creation, and we still have to abide by the rules of the Democratic and Republican Parties?.... Hmmmm... Somehow, I think the American people are a little more creative than that... Call me crazy....

-NH

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.

Where will the independents cross over to?

See this week's Talk/Talk "Crossing Over" with Fred Newman and Jacqueline Salit:

Salit: Chris Matthews, I believe, showed a clip of Obama making a statement after the Thursday night debate. Obama said 'If I'm the nominee, Hillary's supporters will vote for me, but if Hillary's the nominee, I don't know that she'll get all of mine.'

Newman: That's accurate.

Salit: Yes. This has to do with the war with independents and with the nature of the Obama coalition.

McCain losing critical independent support in New Hampshire

McCain loses some of his rebel edge; Because he's aligned himself more closely with Bush, past primary supporters may defect. By Janet Hook and Michael Finnegan ...In New Hampshire, he is laboring to convince the state's famously independent voters that he is still the plain speaker they embraced in 2000. But he is weighted down by vast burdens, above all his outspoken support for President Bush's Iraq war strategy. The war is highly unpopular among the state's independents.... (LA Times)

Pew Research poll shows independents swinging out of Iraq

..Independent Swing
In recent Pew surveys on this topic, voters who identified themselves as independent split evenly over whether to bring the troops home. In January, 47 percent of independents favored a troop withdrawal, while 49 percent said the troops should remain in Iraq until the situation there stabilized.
In the current survey, 55 percent of independents said they favored bringing the troops home as soon as possible, compared with 40 percent who said the troops should remain. ... (Dallas Morning News)