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.

Gatewood Galbraith Files for Gov in Kentucky as Independent

KENTUCKY
Galbraith files to become independent candidate for governor (By Jack Brammer, Lexington Herald Leader) Saying Kentuckians are "so disgusted with the status quo" in Frankfort, Gatewood Galbraith turned in 7,396 signatures with the secretary of state's office Thursday morning to become an independent candidate in this year's race for governor.

Independents Angry White Men? What about all the angry progressive black, white, Latina and Asian women and men?

Media discussion of a return to 90s "angry white male" profile of independent voters BIG OMISSION -- the face of independents is increasingly black, Latino, Asian, female, and progressive.... but let 'em rant! [See section 6 of Jackie Salit's How the Independent Movement Went Left by Going Right]  Whoever independents are, Mark Silva got it right -- they dislike both parties. Independents don't like partisanship. Period... ****** Discussion of open primaries (there's a "Top Two" referendum on the ballot in California in June 2010) is really heating up! Proponents think open primaries is good for democracy, opponents think minor parties won't be able to hold onto their 2%... What do YOU think??... ******* The Working Families Party is taking the heat for becoming relevant in NYC's recent election... ****** And here's the good news: Frank MacKay's maneuver to take over the Reform Party by conference call was deemed outside the law by a US District Court judge..... Now, there's a wise decision!

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Angry voters may revive state GOP (Nolan Finley, Detroit News) But Republicans must be mindful that those critical independent voters aren't yet rushing to the GOP as much as they are fleeing from Democrats.
• WSJ/NBC News Poll: Tea Party Tops Democrats and Republicans (By Susan Davis, Wall Street Journal/Washwire)
• Poll: 2010 could be 'year of the angry white male' redux (By Dave Cook, Christian Science Monitor) Battleground Poll data shows independent voters now rank 13 percentage points higher than Democrats [77 percent versus 64 percent] in saying they are likely to vote in the next election.
• Poll: Dissatisfaction could spell trouble for Democrats in 2010 (By Mark Silva, LA Times) "I've come to the conclusion on independents . . . that what really drives them is, they dislike both parties, and they dislike the party in power more..."

OPEN PRIMARIES and ELECTORAL REFORM

• Cornyn Optimistic But Wants RNC Help (By Reid Wilson, National Journal/Hotline) "If there's any lesson that people should have learned about New York 23, it's that when you have closed primaries and a closed-door selection process, people are going to find a way to express their will," Cornyn said. "I think the answer to all that is contested, open primaries, and our goal of course is to, hopefully the Republican nominee, whoever that is, will not be bloodied and broke at the end of the process, because ultimately the goal is to win the general election. I think through that open primary process, all that will be resolved in a satisfactory way."
• Senate Approves Bill Allowing Non-Partisan Municipal Elections To Move To November (NJ Today)
• KY: Time running out to change your political party affiliation (Thomas McAdam, Louisville City Hall Examiner) NOTE: BR 222, the open primary bill that newly elected State Senator Jimmy Higdon pre-filed in the state assembly last March, would: “permit a registered independent to vote in the primary of one party for each primary…provide that a primary candidate shall not be a registered independent [and] provide that electronic voting machines be reprogrammed to allow a registered independent to vote for a party’s candidates in a primary.”  Higdon was elected with support from Michael P.W. Lewis and Independent Kentucky.
• ACLU Files Lawsuit Against Three Nebraska Ballot Access Restrictions (Ballot Access News)
• Letter [Richard Winger]: Problems plague open primary (Appeal Democrat - CA)

STATE RACES

• My View: This Kennedy, too, can win (Richard Rubino, Salem News)
• Idaho GOP questions if guv hopeful is nonpartisan (JOHN MILLER, The Olympian)
• Vegas mayor changing parties, mulling governor bid (Mercury News/The Associated Press)
• The debate voters deserve: Coakley vs. Brown (Boston Globe Editorial) HINT: The Boston Globe doesn't think voters deserve to hear from independent candidate Joseph Kennedy...

WORKING FAMILIES PARTY

• More incoming councilmen acknowledge being approached by feds concerning Working Families Party (BY ELIZABETH BENJAMIN AND CELESTE KATZ, DAILY NEWS)
• Williams: WFP Probe Result Of 'Sour Grapes' (BY ELIZABETH BENJAMIN, Daily News/Daily Politics)
• Mayor Jolted—Will It Continue? (Western Queens Gazette) The Working Families Party could be a headache for the mayor in his third term. The party backed several new councilmembers who were elected in November, some of them from The Bronx. They were among The Bronx delegation members in the coalition that coaxed lawmakers from other boroughs to join in defeating the Bloomberg-sponsored project by an eye-opening 45 to 1 vote.
• SI probe of Families $$ (By DAVID SEIFMAN, NY Post)
• Pols vow to help Working Families Party probe (BY CELESTE KATZ, DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU)
• Preet the Terrible (By Reid Pillifant, NY Observer)
• Is the WFP's game up? (NY Post)
• Former Suffolk WFP Chair Will Campaign To Oust Master, Lewis and Williams As WFP State Chairs (By Edward-Isaac Dovere, City Hall) “The plan here is to elect a new slate of chairmen, co-chairmen. It’s time to put the party back in a healthy direction,” Pohanka said, announcing his intentions in an exclusive interview with City Hall. “I want to run for state chairman in September and be able to open up the books for everyone to see, just like every other party—what their salaries are, to know where the money’s going from one campaign account to the other, to simplify it.”
• The ACORNing of the WFP (by Casey Seiler, Albany Times Union/Capitol Confidential)
• Woeful families matters (By DAVID SEIFMAN City Hall Bureau Chief, NY Post)

REFORM PARTY

• Federal Court in New York Issues Ruling in Internal Reform Party Dispute (Ballot Access News) On December 16, U.S. District Court Judge Joseph F. Bianco, a Bush, Jr., appointee, issued an opinion in MacKay v Crews, eastern district, 09-cv-2218. He ruled that the 2008 national convention of the Reform Party in Texas was a valid convention. Therefore, the national officers elected at that convention are the rightful holders of the party’s trademarks and logos. Those officers are: chair David Collison, vice-chair Rodney Martin, secretary Janelle Skinner-Weill, and treasurer Beverly Kennedy.
•  DECISION PDF

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS 8/27/09

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

Independents are playing a key role in the debate on health care. Centrist commentator John Avlon says indies are social liberals/fiscal conservatives; James A. Morone, seeming to speak for the Demo-(We-Are-Not-Socialists)-Crats says indies are moderate, fence-sitting, frightened and don't vote in midterm elections... Independent strategist and public philosopher Fred Newman says "the most right wing voices are saying in their appeal to a base: We don’t want to have any or more or all of our money spent on poor people. It’s not more complicated than that."

• Commentary: Obama losing independent voters (By John Avlon, Special to CNN) All this is evidence that Obama's election did not represent a liberal ideological mandate, as House Democrats and their partisan cheerleaders might wish. More than 70 percent of independents now disapprove of Congress.
• Why the Health Care Debate Is So Explosive (James A. Morone, Washington Post/Short Stack) Many Democrats are moving to whittle back health reform in order to win over moderate, fence-sitting, frightened independents. Big mistake...
• The Ant and the Grasshopper Revisited (Fred Newman and Jackie Salit, independentvoting.org) I’ve always felt that the long term debate over health care is the societal form of the “socialism or capitalism” debate. That’s what it’s meant. That’s writ large in the current circumstance and Obama is bearing the brunt of that debate right now, while trying to lead the way forward, without using the language of socialism, and almost certainly overworking the language of capitalism. That’s what the raw emotions are about. The right wing is aghast, not by how much money we’re spending. I think that’s ludicrous. Nobody worries about how much money we’re spending, as long as it’s not their money.
• Polling shows uncertainties about 'public option' insurance in health reform (Portland Business Journal - by Neil Westergaard) Couple that with diminishing support for Obama from independent voters who were key to his election last year, and Cook said, "I don't know that there's an ending that the president is going to like."
• Reasoned arguments win more debates (Tim Hadachek, Kansas State Collegian) Actually, there’s a reason Obama has made only the feeblest of efforts to debunk these crazy claims. Independent voters are the kingmakers of American politics. Roughly the same number of Democrats and Republicans will vote and cancel each other out. But the candidate that can capture the most people in the middle of the political spectrum usually wins.

OPEN PRIMARIES

Open primaries is probably the most democratic reform that could be implemented right now, one that would allow 40% of the electorate to have a voice

• Change the two-party political system? Yes we can! (By Chris Ward, Arizona Daily Wildcat/University of Arizona) I’m a registered Independent, as are another unfortunate 898,000 voters in Arizona; we are unfortunate because in Arizona, as in 17 other states, independent voters cannot vote in primary elections or caucuses. Verily, nearly 40 percent of Americans identify themselves as Independents, and that number is even greater among college students, a demographic that could carry a candidate to victory.
• Another take on legislators moving into state jobs (Posted by Jeff Mapes, The Oregonian) " I also am not on a partisan crusade; in fact, I'm a registered Democrat, and would be an Independent if Oregon ever created an open primary...."
• GOP Sen. Abel Maldonado: CA Reps are "suicidal" to bar indy primary voters (Carla Marinucci, San Francisco Chronicle/Politics blog)
• Our Views: Leave state’s top-two primary system alone (The Olympian - WA)

GOVERNORS RACES

Watch Chris Daggett's independent campaign for governor in New Jersey -- he's raised enough to qualifiy for public funding and is in the debates:

• Independent candidate Chris Daggett decries proposed date change for debate (by Trish G. Graber/Statehouse Bureau, Star Ledger)

BLOOMBERG 09

Dems talk amongst themselves... Bloomberg leads in NYC Mayoral race

• In Face-Off, Rivals Take On Bloomberg (By DAVID W. CHEN, NY Times) Mr. Thompson was so focused on Mr. Bloomberg, meanwhile, that when he was given the opportunity to ask Mr. Avella a question, he asked him what was the worst thing that Mr. Bloomberg had done.
• Thompson, Avella Have Democratic Debate... About Bloomberg (Jen Chung, Gothamist)
• NY1 VIDEO of Dem debate
• August 26, 2009 - Bloomberg Hits 50% With 15-Point Lead In Mayoral Race, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Mayor's Spending Is Overkill, Ads Are Annoying, Voters Say (Quinnipiac Poll)

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS 8/26/09

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Tulsa Independent Voters a Growing Voice (By CHARLES CANTRELL, GTR News Tulsa) According to Perkins, pragmatic, creative, successful solutions to local problems are better achieved in an environment free of the parameters set by political party affiliations.
• The Democrats Should Stick Together On Health Care Reform (The Chattanoogan/Opinion) Most of the independent voters who voted Democratic in the last election voted for: removal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, a public health plan option, increased education spending, and accountability in government.

GOVERNORS RACES

• Independent Chris Daggett proposes 'luxury tax' on gubernatorial campaign spending (by Trish G. Graber/Statehouse Bureau, NJ Star Ledger)
• Run, Jackie, Run! (By Marie Lakin, Ventura County Star) Speier recently held a town hall forum on health care in her district which was peaceful. "There is no point in pursuing health care reform without a public option," she said. What would she do to fix California politics? Get rid of term limits (which give us a perpetual crop of rookies) or limit each legislator to 12 years, jettison the two-thirds vote needed to pass a budget and bring on open primaries (which will encourage moderates).

BLOOMBERG 09

• The 63rd Senator (Gotham Gazette, by David King ) Whether it springs from his generous sponsoring of Senate Republicans, the weight Mike Bloomberg's opinion carries with the public or the spite some lawmakers feel toward him, Bloomberg has the ability to drastically affect the direction of discourse in Albany.
• Puerto Rico Gov. For Bloomberg (Liz Benjamin, Daily News/Daily Politics)
• Bill Thompson: Contender? (New York Magazine, By Jacob Gershman) Six strategies to beat Bloomberg: Again, Mike Bloomberg, the post-partisan plutocrat and technocrat, liked but difficult to love, is opposing a Democratic-machine candidate with a built-in ethnic base but little fund-raising prowess, whose campaign message revolves around painting the mayor as out of touch.... Sure, today Bloomberg’s a registered Independent who supports gun control and gay marriage, but he did bring the 2004 GOP convention here, and he’s on that party’s ballot. The trick is to shackle him to the right wing. Says a senior Thompson aide: “It’s just Republican philosophy to say ‘Don’t tax the rich.’” Look for Thompson to employ catchphrases like “the Bush-Bloomberg economy.”

PEDRO ESPADA

• Espada doesn't duck: State Senate troublemaker does right by farmworkers (NY Daily News) Espada said he had talked with the owner and wanted to see the farm, adding, "I'd love to have the cops come here. The state police, the FBI, let's invite all of them of here to see how you are treating your workers."

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Independent gov in Michigan's future?
• Sotomayor has 64% independent support for Supreme Court confirmation
• Political Common Sense for America: The Creation of the Franklin Party By Brian Boeheim (NEW BOOK EXPLORES THE NON-‘SENSE’ IN PARTISANSHIP–Republicans vs. Democrats, Left Wing vs. Right Wing, Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off!) from HotIndieNews.com
• Check out Mayor Bloomberg at the Personal Democracy Forum 2009 yesterday -- Mike talks about politics then and now... via Skype from Jazz at Lincoln Center