Washington: Supreme Court to consider "top two" primary

From Stateline.org: The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether to let Washington state voters use a “top two” primary-election scheme that, if upheld, could be a model for reformers looking to loosen political parties’ grip on the nomination process....

Idaho State Rep. Elaine Smith votes no on HB 185

From Elaine Smith, state representative from Pocatello: Another bill in House State Affairs last week was the print hearing on semi-open primary elections. If this bill would pass, people who vote in the primary would have to declare a political party. The modification to this bill from a previous bill would allow the political parties to notify the Idaho Secretary of State's Office between Nov. 1 and Nov. 30 of the odd-numbered years if they intended to allow independent voters to vote in their political party primary. I did vote no because I believe this bill would disenfranchise around one-third of Idahoans, who state they are independents. I would encourage anyone interested in this issue to read House Bill 185 online at www.legislature.idaho.gov.

You might remember that Idaho independent Mitch Campbell from Twin Falls testified at the hearings last week that 37% of all Idaho voters are independent.

A bold gamble on bipartisan third party

David Broder on Unity '08 (Indianiapolis Star): Thirty-nine states allow a new party to petition onto the presidential ballot, without having a named candidate, but the deadlines and numbers of signers vary widely. The first test will be whether Unity08 attracts enough volunteers and money to carry out that effort. And then comes the challenge of recruiting a candidate or candidates for Unity08 to back....

Florida: Crist a bipartisanish self-styled populist

...Independent voters are more interested in candidates who offer real solutions to real problems than those who want to dwell on divisive social issues to excite and turn out religious conservatives.
Charlie Crist appears to understand this. Unlike his predecessor, he has no ideological or religious agenda. He calls himself "the people's governor" and tends to side with consumers against big corporations. He is just what Florida needed after eight years of Jeb Bush, who exerted strong leadership in the pursuit of some wrong-headed policies, some of which Crist is beginning to tweak or correct.... (St. Petersburg Times)

Frank Luntz: "a large and growing constituency of independent voters"

This just isn’t working -- Lack of ideas, credibility makes Republicans fade from power, By Frank Luntz, Fort Wayne Journal Gazette ...“Don’t be afraid to see what you see,” Ronald Reagan once said.
Today, many of his disciples are choosing not to see the obvious. Republicans in Congress cannot regain their majority merely by relying on a coalition of traditional conservatives and evangelicals. They must reach out to what I call “the fed-ups” – a large and growing constituency of independent voters who have held the balance of power in every election since 1992, and will hold it again in 2008....