TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

OPEN/CLOSED PRIMARIES

• Party controls outcome (The Leaf Chronicle) It came as a shock to a number of voters in Cheatham, Houston and Montgomery counties that a political party could overturn primary election results. [NOTE: To echo one commenter, Shocked? We're shocked you're shocked, sir! Voters are not in the least "shocked" by this behavior by a political party!!]
• Voter registration opens up again in Del. (The News Journal) many registered Republican and independent voters chose to change to the Democratic Party for the gubernatorial primaries.

CRAZY CAMPAIGN POLL FRENZY

• NJ: McCain narrows Obama's lead in N.J., poll finds (Courier Post online) Independent voters are split 38 percent for Obama and 37 percent for McCain.
• PA: Obama descends on Pennsylvania to woo key voters-Eyes women, independents; surrogates on Palin attack (Washington Times)
• IA: Obama establishes double-digit lead in Iowa poll (Oskaloosa Herald) Des Moines Register poll says independent voters helping Obama
• OH: Obama cuts McCain's lead in new poll (Columbus Dispatch/Road to Washington) Obama is winning independent voters, so the 12-point "loyalty gap" is a difference-maker.
• US: Electoral Map Looks Similar To 2004, 2000- Washington Post: Obama Still Seeks To Expand Battleground, But Familiar States Expected To Once Again Be Key To Victory (CBS News-Washingtonpost.com) New Hampshire took a sharp turn toward the Democrats two years ago, but McCain's popularity there could offset that advantage. New Hampshire strategists said over the weekend that independent voters, whom both McCain and Obama courted during their respective primaries, will decide the outcome in November, particularly the more than 100,000 independents who did not vote in either primary.
• PA: State of the race (Lancaster Online) Independent voters are split nearly evenly, 45 percent for McCain and 44 percent for Obama.

THIRD PARTY NEWS

• Libertarian National Committee in a deadlock over how to address growing Bob Barr controversies (Mens News Daily) Barr refused to attend Ron Paul's Rally for the Republic [see part of Jesse Ventura's address at the top of The Hankster. Most Americans think independent candidates should be in the debates. Rockthedebates.org tells the story...]
• Dean Barkley’s candidacy and what it means in 2008 (Minnesota Daily)
• Barack Obama Will Only be on Democratic Line in South Carolina (Ballot Access News) Obama refuses IP and other lines offered
• Federal Court Holds Hearing on Lawsuit to Remove McCain from California Ballot (Ballot Access News) The leading precedent on who has standing to challenge the ballot access of a major party nominee is Fulani v Hogsett, 917 F 2d 1028 (7th cir., 1990). It said that Lenora Fulani did have standing to challenge the ballot placement of George H. W. Bush and Michael Dukakis, since their presidential elector candidates had been filed after the legal deadline in Indiana.

Jesse Ventura Speech Rally for the Republic: Rock the Debates!!

Be sure to click on the video at the top of The Hankster and listen to former Minnesota Gov Jesse Ventura speaking on September 2, 2008 about the need for independent voices in the presidential campaign. The two parties are destroying our country, says Jesse. He talks about RockTheDebate.org, a grassroots independent organization working for inclusion of independent candidates in the debates. RockTheDebate's co-founder Bob Sullentrup recently delivered a letter to the Committee on Presidential Debates (a company owned jointly by the Democratic and Republican parties to control the presidential debates) detailing demands to change the criteria by which candidates are authorized to be included in a national debate (I'll try to get a copy of this for you).

Read more here on Sound Politics, and here in the Hawaii Reporter from August 25, which says: The poll released by Zogby showed that 55 percent of likely voters want Bob Barr included in the debates. Of the respondents, 69 percent of independents felt that Bob Barr deserves a place in the debate, while 52 percent of Democrats and even 50 percent of Republicans agreed.

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Voters Want Barr, Nader in Debates (Examiner) Among independent voters, 69% favored Barr's inclusion in the debates. 59% favor having Nader in debate...
• Independents are loving 2008 (John Laird, The Columbian)

REFORM

• Lights out for parties? Tuesday’s top two primary could signal a new political era for Washington state (The Columbian) “Parties have no constitutional right to be part of the primary system,” says former Oregon Secretary of State Phil Keisling
• Washington voters offer preview to Oregon’s Measure 65 (The Register-Guard) Joseph Cornwell, vice chairman of the Libertarian Party of Oregon, said his counterparts in Washington oppose the new format because it makes it harder for third parties to access the general election ballot. “It’s not exciting,” he said. “It’s basically taking a choice away from the voters by pushing out any of the smaller parties.”

CAMPAIGN

• NORTH CAROLINA: Obama Backers Mobilize in Bid to Wrest State From Republican Grip (New York Times) Democratic registration in the state is soaring, with 45,000 new registrants since May, and 7,000 new Republicans. About 44,000 have registered as unaffiliated.
• Colorado crucial in presidential race (Vail Daily) Republicans have a slight edge over Democrats in this university town of 130,000, 32 percent to 30 percent. But the dominant voting bloc are the unaffiliated voters with 38 percent.

LOCAL INDEPENDENT NEWS: No challenge to Tennessee open primary

• Memo outlined two courses for Davis to contest primary vote (Kingsport Times News)
• Davis Concedes Primary to Roe (Bristol Herald Courier) Tennessee Republican Party officials voiced relief that Davis decided against a messy squabble over state election law.
• Davis concedes, says delay designed to point out that Roe won with 'illegal votes' (Kingsport Times News)

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Zogby Poll: Majority Want Libertarian Bob Barr Included in Presidential Debates (by Press Release - OpEdNews)
• Poll: Obama by a nose (The Charlotte Post) Independent voters are split on the candidates, with Obama ahead with 37 percent compared to 32 percent for McCain. Barr, a former Republican congressman now on the Libertarian ticket, has 14 percent of the independent vote, while Nader has 4 percent.

REFORM
Washington voters offer preview to Oregon’s Measure 65 (The Register-Guard)

LOCAL INDEPENDENT NEWS
Text Of Rep. Davis' Concession Statement (Greeneville Sun) "The right of political parties to determine their own nominees goes to the core of the associational rights guaranteed by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, and it has been upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States...."

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

REFORM: Raging debate in Massachusets papers over popular vote

• Popular vote is popular among local reps (Salem News - MA)
• A popularity contest that can't succeed (Boston Globe)

CAMPAIGN

• Making It-How Chicago shaped Obama. (by Ryan Lizza, The New Yorker)
• Obama, the Newsweek Poll and Other Downers (THE FIFTH COLUMNIST by P.M. Carpenter)

LOCAL INDEPENDENT NEWS
Cambridge elects black mayor-Also marks first time for a woman to lead city (Washington Times)

THIRD PARTY NEWS: Mayor Bloomberg gives $150K to anti-democratic upstate faction of New York Independence Party

• Mayor Bloomberg's pals can count on him and his cash (NY Daily News/Daily Politics)
• N.Y. Independence Party Retains Tradition of Being Last Party to Choose Presidential Nominee (Ballot Access News)
• Jesse Ventura on Larry King Live for Senate Decision (Ballot Access News) TONIGHT AT 9 PM
• Peace & Freedom State Convention Will Have Big Attendance (Ballot Access News)
• Bar-none with Barr-Nunn (Arkansas News Bureau)

DEBATES

• Barr Set to Make Debate Push (Campaigns and Elections Politics Magazine)
• An Opportunity to Open Presidential Debates (The Nation)

FEATURE
Civil Rights and the Conservative Movement- How the right got it wrong. (Wall Street Journal)