Solving the Education Crisis in America: A Special Report LET'S PRETEND

Drs. Fred Newman and Lenora Fulani say pretending can solve the education crisis in America. It is an intriguing idea: children, who have developed the "capacity to pretend to be who they are not", which in this case is a good learner, will also develop the "capacity to become the thing they are pretending to be."

Dialogue on Top Two continues to gain ground, Ricardo Pimentel says that the result of having a TTVG primary forces candidates to have a broader appeal to the voters, which in turn makes elected candidates more bipartisan. More party politics are going on in Rochester, where Democrats attempted to pass a proposal for an independent redistricting commitee...notice how the party "out" of power at the state level is calling for "independent redistricting".... hmmmm....

OPEN PRIMARIES

• Beyond bipartisan imagery (O. Ricardo Pimentel, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) The top two. Or, we could switch to a top-two-vote-getter (TTVG) primary. In these open primaries, you don't have to vote a straight party ticket, and the two candidates with the most votes - even if they are of the same party - go on to the general election. The result: Candidates have to appeal broadly and moderately throughout campaigns and are, therefore, more bipartisan once elected.

REDISTRICTING

• Independent redistricting proposal for Monroe County voted down in committee (By Erinn Cain, Irondequoit Post) A proposal to have an independent redistricting commission in Monroe County has been voted down in committee, but Democrats said they will continue to fight for what they said will be a nonpartisan process of redrawing the county’s districts.
• New Panel Holds Key to Minority Political Power in California (By Nina Martin, New America Media in California Progress Report) Members include a retired high school principal, an architect, a chiropractor, and an insurance broker—but also a former director of the U.S. Census and a number of people with experience in nonprofits and local government. By law, five are Democrats, five are Republican, and four are either independents or members of smaller parties.

SOTU

• Obama Woos Center to Embrace His Vision of Future (By GERALD F. SEIB, Wall Street Journal) To those independent voters who abandoned him in November, and to those disillusioned admirers who had begun to doubt that he actually represented the post-partisan leader advertised in 2008, Mr. Obama sketched out a kind of grand political bargain to move the government and the nation in the direction he wants.
• Analysis: Obama, GOP, Frame Debate For 2012 (CBS News) Obama's speech was relatively subdued. "He avoided competing with his audience," said Wayne Fields, a professor at Washington University in St. Louis who studies presidential rhetoric. "They seemed as much a part of the show as he was. The message from both sides was that we're going to work together in a civil society."

EDUCATION REFORM

• Solving the Education Crisis in America: A Special Report LET'S PRETEND (by Fred Newman, PhD and Lenora Fulani, PhD, All Stars Project, Inc.) Inside the school system, as Harlem Children’s Zone founder Geoffrey Canada will tell you, the pressure on everyone for the kids to do well on tests and to satisfy endless metrics used to evaluate progress leaves very little room for development, which is fundamentally a qualitative process, difficult to measure but obvious when it is present.
• The State of the Union: No Time to Slow Down on Education (Kati Haycock - President, The Education Trust, Huffington Post) Better evaluations can help to raise performance in two ways: by giving teachers the clear expectations they deserve -- with evaluations based on well-defined public standards -- and by using those assessments to identify the supports teachers need in order to improve when they don't measure up. President Obama needs to stay strong on this issue, along with the members of Congress from both parties who insist that we can't afford to continue employing teachers who aren't effective, and we can't afford to continue assigning our least effective teachers to the students who desperately need our best.
• Obama addresses future of education (By DAVID LOWENSTEIN, Daily Trojan, University of Southern California) “We need to teach our kids that it’s not just the winner of the Super Bowl who deserves to be celebrated, but the winner of the science fair; that success is not a function of fame or PR, but of hard work and discipline,” Obama said.

Independent Redistricting and Open Primaries May Help California's Woes

Californians continue to look forward to the first election under the new Top Two open primary system voted in by referendum last June. And in the meantime, Repubs in Utah ponder ways to get around the state's open primary system...

OPEN PRIMARIES

• Opinion: Gov. Brown's budget and a path forward (By Bob Hertzberg, Tom McKernan, Capitol Weekly) From our beginnings, California Forward has encouraged ways to improve governance and bring about changes that restore the public’s trust. Redistricting reform and open primaries hold the promise of restoring the Legislature’s ability to solve problems.
• Hatch Places Third in New GOP Poll (By Kyle Trygstad, Roll Call) Utah has open primaries, However, it’s possible the Republican nominee will be decided in the state party convention, where only locally elected delegates are eligible to vote — something Chaffetz noted to the Deseret News. “The only poll that will matter is of Utah state delegates in May of 2012,” he said.

OBAMA

• Is Obama Another Reagan? (ABC's Amy Walter reports, ABC/The Note) Forty-six percent of independent voters approve of the job Obama is doing, while 42 percent approved of Reagan.
• The new Clintonian Obama is playing offense, and building momentum (By Sam Youngman, The Hill/Ballot Box) The White House wants to let Republicans beat their chests and take their shots at Obama’s healthcare legislation while the president can look presidential and, the White House hopes, attract independent voters.
• CNN Poll: Palin unfavorable rating at all-time high (By the CNN Political Unit) among independent voters, her unfavorable rating has grown a whopping 14 points.
• Obama Orders Review of Business Regulations - The order of President Obama, shown last month, reflects an effort to regain support from centrist and independent voters. (By JACKIE CALMES, NY Times)

DEMOCRATS

• Goodbye Enthusiasm Gap (Public Policy Polling) If I had to name the two biggest factors that cost Democrats the 2010 election cycle it would be 2 e's- economy and enthusiasm. A huge part of the party's problem was the bad economy, which drove independent voters strongly toward GOP candidates. But just as important was the enthusiasm gap and the fact that Republicans turned out at a much higher rate than Democrats in almost every state in the country.
• Lieberman, Conrad Retiring: Who's Next? - Former Democrat Is One of the Few Remaining Moderates in the U.S. Senate (By JONATHAN KARL, ABC)

NORTH CAROLINA

• State GOP lawmakers face uphill chore with redistricting (Written by Jeff Hamlin/David Horn, North Carolina News Network) Coble said Independent voters now factor into elections more than ever before.

NEW YORK

• Mayor Bloomberg Suddenly Stumbling (Ron Hart, Yahoo News) While he has repeatedly denied any plans to run for president, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, 68, may be the perfect candidate for many 'purple' parts of the electorate. He has been a Democrat. He has been a Republican. He is now an independent.
• Medicaid pulls plug on Pedro's Bronx clinics (By CARL CAMPANILE, NY Post) State Medicaid Inspector James Sheehan's Office notified both Espada and his son, Pedro Gautier Espada, that they've been "excluded" from receiving or handling Medicaid dollars from the Soundview Healthcare Network.

INDEPENDENT VOTER EXTRA: Revolution Breaks Out in Colorado!

Not since the Western Federation of Miners has there been such an outbreak of spirited independence as what we are witnessing now in Colorado. Today's backdrop is an increasingly anti-partisan and independent electorate, a stupidly partisan Congress and a beloved President who can't seem to win for losing (his Party loyalty straining credibility on all fronts....); today's battle cries are "Open Primaries!" "Non-Partisan Elections!" "An Independent on the Federal Elections Commission!"

I hope you enjoy this lively round-up.

Wishing all of you the best (independent of course) New Year ever!

--Nancy

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Give Independents a Voice (LETTER NY Times) from Jackie Salit and Harry Kresky
• Five steps to recovery for Dems (By: Steve Rosenthal, Politico) Now, take a few moments and listen to candidate Obama's stump speeches from 2008 to remind you what attracted millions of new voters, including Independents, to the Democratic Party.
• The end of the Democratic Party (Joseph Farrah, World Net Daily/Between the Lines)
• Democrats Do Not Need to Become More "Moderate" to Win in 2010 - Four Rules for Victory in November (Robert Creamer, Huffington Post)
• With new priorities, Obama and Democrats can recover in 2010 (By Dan Balz, Washington Post)
• The Obama Way (By ROSS DOUTHAT, NY Times) He’s a bipartisan bridge-builder — unless he’s a polarizing ideologue. He’s a crypto-Marxist radical — except when he’s a pawn of corporate interests. He’s a post-American utopian — or else he’s a willing tool of the national security state.
• Poll: More Americans prefer Democratic policies (CNN) "But independents will be the key to the midterms, and the numbers among independents spell bad news for both parties among that important group."

OPEN PRIMARIES

• GOP’s closed-primary plan may violate R.I, not US law (By Eric Tucker, Associated Press, Boston Globe)
• Mollis, GOP at odds over closed primaries (By JIM BARON, Woonsocket Call)
• Closed Rhode Island Republican primary could run afoul of state law (By Associated Press, Boston Herald)
• RI Republicans may try to close primary (By MICHELLE R. SMITH, Associated Press Writer, Nashua Telegraph) The party’s executive committee will consider the plan Jan. 5.
• RI Republican Party May Open Primary to GOPers Only (Chris Boardman, ABC 6 RI)
• LETTER: The Politics of Research--Are open primaries and less gerrymandering the route to evidence-based government? (Miller McCune)
• California Ballot from June 1998 Illustrates a Difficulty with the “Top-Two Open Primary” Measure (Ballot Access News)
• Where’s the Center? More on Polarization and the Parties (by Ed Kilgore, Progressive Fix) Though I favor open (or at least more open) primaries as a general proposition, the idea that this would have an immediate impact on polarization isn’t terribly compelling. It’s a subject that is complicated by definitions: some states with “closed” primaries allow very late changes in party registration, even on Election Day, which certainly gives independents every opportunity to participate.... And remember, too, that registered “independents” are not always “centrists.” [Amen, brother! -NH] NOTE: ProgressiveFix.com is the new face of the Progressive Policy Institute, the main purveyor of policy innovations to Bill Clinton’s New Democrats... 
• Richard Winger: Open primary won't live up to hype (The Record Searchlight/Redding.com)
• California Author of “Top-Two Open Primary” Sets Up Organization to Campaign for His Measure (Ballot Access News)

COLORADO

• Unaffiliated candidate's lengthy waiting period "not fair" (By Lynn Bartels, The Denver Post)
• Curry shifts from Dems, moves to unaffiliated--Plans to focus on constituents, not party politics (Gunnison Country Times Staff Writer)
• Colorado Rep. Kathleen Curry changes from Democrat to unaffiliated (By Lynn Bartels, The Denver Post) Also on HUFFINGTON POST
• Legislator: 'I don't fit' with Dems--Pressure over votes led to her switch in affiliation (By CHARLES ASHBY/The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel)
• An independent mind (By The Daily Sentinel)
• State Rep. Kathleen Curry switches party affiliation (By KATIE REDDING, Colorado Independent)
• Curry’s Affiliation Switch Gets GOP’s Attention In Garfield County (By Don Knox, STATE BILL COLORADO)
• Pre-Session Surprise: Curry’s Party Switch Costs Her Leadership Positions (STATE BILL COLORADO)
• Curry is an independent thinker-District 61 representative switches from Democrat to unaffiliated, saying ‘I just don't fit into either party' (John Colson, Post Independent, Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado)
• Colorado House #2 leader quits Democratic party (Colorado Statehouse Examiner, Hank Lacey)
• La Plata Clerk Wants Federal-Court Ballot Lawsuit Thrown Out (Law Week Colorado)
• Durango, Colorado Newspaper Story on Lawsuit Over Independent Candidate Ballot Restriction (Ballot Access News)
• Clerk wants ballot lawsuit thrown out--County Commissioner Joelle Riddle: Rule unfair to unaffiliated candidates (by Dale Rodebaugh, Durango Herald Staff Writer)

NON-PARTISAN MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS

• NYS Needs Nonpartisan Municipal Elections--Bloomberg Speechwriter in Exclusive Empire Page Interview (by PoliticalNewsToday.com)
• Interview with author Francis S. Barry (The Empire Page) I wrote the book in hopes that it would lead people to step back and re-consider election reforms generally, and one reform in particular: nonpartisan elections. 
• Currie eyes nonpartisan election bill (By: ADAM NORTHAM, DAILY LEADER, Brookhaven MS)

KENTUCKY

• Deadline for voters to switch parties is this week (By MELINDA CHARLES, Maysville Ledger Independent) Voters who are already registered in Kentucky have until Dec. 31 to change their political affiliation, according to a release from office of Secretary of State Trey Grayson. The deadline also affects candidates who wish to switch political party affiliation and run in their new party's primary election, or those seeking ballot access as an independent, the release said.
• Independent Kentucky Chairman Michael P.W. Lewis was a special guest on "My View Matters" Radio show on December 17th. If you happened to miss it, you can listen to it on Ed Springston's Blog.

REDISTRICTING

• Independent Commissions: Why don't all states use a non-partisan panel to decide on re-districting. (The Live Fix, Chris Cillizza, Washington Post)

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION

• Ethics watchdogs give Obama high marks (UPI.com)
• CREW Unveils Its List of Top Ten Ethics Scandals of 2009 (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) - press release in Earth Times.org) Violations of federal campaign finance law are going unpunished as a result of a gridlocked and toothless Federal Election Commission
• Top 10 ethics scandals of 2009 (Part I) (Seattle Business Ethics Examiner, Jean-Pierre Ruiz)  What, the FEC Is Supposed to Enforce (Not Gut) Campaign Finance Laws?

CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM

• Decade Brought Change To Campaign Finance (by PETER OVERBY, NPR) Former Federal Election Commission Chairman Bradley Smith says that's it for public funding. "Participating in the public financing system is now considered the mark of an unserious candidate," he says.

INDEPENDENT VOTERS, OBAMA AND HEALTH CARE

• Like Mushrooms, Health Care 'Reform' Flourishes in the Dark - NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg criticizes the bill's lack of transparency. (By JOHN FUND, Wall Street Journal)
• In federal politics, a sharp move leftward (By: GARY WECKSELBLATT, Bucks County Courier Times)
• December 22, 2009 - U.S. Voters Oppose Health Care Plan By Wide Margin, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Voters Say 3-1, Plan Should Not Pay For Abortions (Quinnipiac) Looking at the health care plan, independent voters "mostly disapprove" 58 - 30 percent, as do Republicans 83 - 10 percent. Democrats "mostly approve" 64 - 22 percent. 
• Obama gets lowest approval rating since taking office (NY Post)
• Daily Presidential Tracking Poll (Rasmussen Reports) Seventy-seven percent (77%) of Democrats approve while 88% of Republicans and 62% of unaffiliated voters disapprove.

STATE RACES

• Lincoln Chafee Enters Rhode Island Gov's Race (CBS News/Political Hotsheet) as an independent 
• Senate hopefuls pull no punches in TV clash (By Matt Viser and Eric Moskowitz, Boston Globe) Kennedy, who is an active Libertarian running as an independent, demonstrated last night why Brown has sought to minimize him and Coakley has wanted him involved in the debates: He used nearly every speaking opportunity to challenge Brown from the right, saying the state senator has not done enough to cut spending, limit taxes, and make his voting record accessible.
• Gov. Deval Patrick reflects on his ‘mistake’--Says he ‘underutilized’ grassroots network once in office (By Hillary Chabot, Boston Herald)
• Independent Jana Kemp says she has signatures to make the 2010 gubernatorial ballot (By Dan Popkey, Idaho Statesman)

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Swing voters give Obama flexibility to solve US economic crisis (Christian Science Monitor) The focus group results also give some insight into Obama’s wins in other red states such as Indiana, Colorado, Nevada, and North Carolina. Keeping the support of those swing voters will be crucial if Obama wants to govern effectively.
• Malcolm X, Obama, Powell, Rice and ‘House Negroes’ (Tri-State Defender) Malcolm X: “The organization of Afro-American Unity will organize the Afro-American community block by block to make the community aware of its power and potential; we will start immediately a voter-registration drive to make every unregistered voter in the Afro-American community an independent voter; we propose to support and/or organize political clubs, to run independent candidates for office, and to support any Afro-American already in office who answers to and is responsible to the Afro-American community…"
• State's independents gain a foothold (The Durham News) unaffiliated voters surpassed both parties in their rate of growth, increasing by about 220,000 -- or 18 percent. These gains were made primarily among voters ages 18-24, meaning an increasing number of voters -- especially young voters -- refuse to identify with any party at all.
• Time to target gerrymandering (LETTER Lebanon Daily News) Redistricting reform is not a partisan matter. Redistricting reform in Pennsylvania should be attractive to voters in both political parties as well as independent voters.
• Old Issue, New Twist (NY Daily News/Daily Politics) The New York County Lawyers' Association's Election Law Committee will hold a public forum next week on the question of open primaries, and the line-up - from Independence Party attorney Harry Kresky to Post City Hall Bureau Chief David Seifman (acting as the moderator - is sure to make for a lively discussion.
• Chris Matthews Senate Run? Report Says He's Staffing Up... UPDATE: Matthews Denies (The Huffington Post) yes he is, no he's not, yes he is, no he's not....
• Baseball's postseason needs to capture the 'independents' (USA TODAY) If we compare postseason television broadcasting to the recent election, television has the votes of fans whose teams are playing locked up, but it needs to capture the independent voters.