TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

ELECTION REFORM

• Election flaws (LETTER Stamford Advocate) If the legislature is serious about inviting competition, then it may want to start by creating an open primary system, which treats incumbents and competitors as equals.
• Election 2008: Why North Carolina will continue to be a battleground (Southern Studies)

POLITICAL TACTICS

• Republicans Seek to Fix Short-Sitedness (Washington Post) The right owns talk radio; the left owns the Internet. For years, that's been the simplest way to explain the online gap between the two parties.
• A Diverse Young Coalition Behind Obama (The Nation)
• Turnout by Education, Race and Gender and Other 2008 Youth Voting Statistics (Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service) One of the most striking characteristics of this election was young people’s united support for Barack Obama, regardless of their political affiliations. Thirty-three percent of young white voters self-identified as “Democrat,” and yet, 54 percent voted for the Democratic candidate. NOTE: THIS SURVEY DID NOT ASK RESPONDANTS TO IDENTIFY AS INDEPENDENTS
• The Impact of The Hip-Hop Vote (Jeff Chang, Vibe/zentronix d+h) In this election, 43% of young voters were first-time voters, including 45% of African Americans and 61% of Latinos.

LAST WORD

Noam Chomsky: “What Next? The Elections, the Economy, and the World” (Transcript - Democracy Now)

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• "We're frustrated!" Missouri independent voters form Show Me Independents "The US has been profoundly hurt by ideological and political labeling..." (St. Louis Post Dispatch)


• Cultural divide, political polarization (Des Moines Register)


• Right Ideas, Wrong Party-The Kucinich Quandary (CounterPunch)


• Is Ron Paul quirky enough to get elected? (Politico) and Ron Paul: A spoiler, not a contender (Politico) NOTE: We wish this report was ironic, but alas, in the BizarroWorld of the MSM, it's all about the votes. News: for some candidates, it's not about the votes, it's about the message, stupid!


• Poll: the Clintons are okay (Washington Post)


• Obama Tries to Overcome Clinton’s African-American Advantage (CQ Politics)


• Virginia: Candidate Redmond faces party sanctions for political gaffe (Journal Press)


• Oregon: At the Heart of Who We Are as a People - "impeachment is essential" (by John Frohnmayer-OpEdNews)


• Lesser known gubernatorial candidates depend on stumping, Internet to get out message -- debate tonight (Shreveport Times)


• The Netroots Battlefield in the ’08 Presidential Campaign-Declarations of the Death of Blogger Power Are Greatly Exaggerated (Special to The Narco News Bulletin) NOTE: Tied to Dems? That's a slow painful death.....

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Independents understand hypocrisy--If you consider yourself a political independent, you probably should visit www.independentvoting.org (Columbian)
• Americans feel we are "seriously off on the wrong track" but Repubs prefer to "stay the course" (Los Angeles Times)
• Lively Obama/Clinton contest, Netroots rooting inside the box (Politico)
• Carl Romanelli, county Green Party co-chairman, suspicious of Pennsylvania plan for independent voters in candidate cross-filed elections (Wilkes Barre Times Leader)
• The small divided Green Party (Dissident Voice-by Joshua Frank)
• In Kentucky, pol calls for independent ethics commission (News Enterprise)
• In Washington, elitist party system excludes independent (LETTER to HeraldNet)
• In North Carolina, Sam Smith wants nonpartisan elections (Charlotte Observer)
• Kinky Friedman eyeing gubernatorial bid as Democrat (Houston Chronicle)

Conversation on Markos Moulitsas

I happened to catch Markos Moulitsas on Charlie Rose last night. Here's a snipit of film from the interview... Not being much of a follower of Kos, I have to say I was astounded at his lack of "message". He did make the point that terms like "left" and "right" don't have much meaning these days, right after saying he's "supposedly left on the war", and then updating his resume with the facts that he used to be a Repub, and actually he's a libertarian when it comes to his own life (wouldn't want the US government in his bedroom, etc... - of course his wife has a lot to say about everything, etc...) but Karl Rove was really responsible for the collapse of the bridge in Minnesota. Oh, and there was a lot of giggling when Rose asked Markos what is the difference in positions taken by Hillary, Obama and Edwards in their campaigns relative to the war...

Markos' real message is something like: "The Netroots will support the Democratic ticket no matter what, and we don't want to put pressure on anyone in the meantime because we really don't care who the nominee is..." So much for dialogue....

Conversations on Independence

• Here's a catchy way for the Dems to avoid alienating independents: open the primaries! (Drudge Retort)
• The debate between the Dem netroots and the DLC is alive and... here on Left in Alabama...
• Daniel Ellsberg comments on Cindy Sheehan's independent candidacy...

Conversations on Independence

• Independent blog Great Minds Think Like Me (now on The Hankster sidebar) thinks the Dems have become Bush enablers....
• The Lizard (a new independent blog now on The Hankster sidebar) comments on Censure Resolutions and the Disingenuous Congress: "This is the worst congress I have ever had to endure. This congress has been unable to accomplish anything significant. The only issue they have is the unpopular war and an unpopular president. The democratic leadership has no ideas, no direction, and a 3% approval rating on their handling of the Iraq war. It is high time this congress realizes they are inadequate. Both political parties have bankrupted American society...."
• The Mahablog (Home blog of the American Resistance) has a piece (This is a good read and I applaud her effort to bring in history, even if I don't agree with the projected outcome of this process!) talking about how the liberal netroot left shall overcome the DLC.... "The DLC came along and had some success with a short-sighted strategy: Ignore the base, because they don’t have anyone else to vote for, and try to pick off “swing voters” by moving to the Right. But now the American people are desperate for someone to lead them away from the failed policies of the Right.... Dear DLC: Step aside, fellas. We’re doing the leading now." I'm going to keep an eye on this, but again, I don't have much hope for the resurection of the Party of Triangulation to be born again (and again and again at election time) as the Party of the People....