TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Voices for change (BY JOHN GUERRIERO, Erie Times News) "I think that Obama is a smart and savvy guy who knew just the right notes to hit during the Democratic primary as an underdog to beat Hillary Clinton, and knew just the right way to attract Independent voters and some Republicans in the general election."
  
• Warner earned reputation for independence (JEFF E. SCHAPIRO. Richmond Times Dispatch) "Senator Warner's personal penchant for independence and willingness to take issue with his fellow partisans made him especially appealing to this pivotal bloc of swing voters."
  
• Most Voters Like Caroline, But Only 37% Say She Is Fit for Senate (Rasmussen Reports) Fifty-five percent (55%) of Democrats say she is qualified to serve. Kennedy is a Democrat likely to be appointed by a Democratic governor and it may not matter much that just 20% of Republicans and 30% of unaffiliated voters believe she is qualified.
  
• Despite numbers, GOP floundered (BY ROBERT MOORE, Coloradoan) More than 61,000 Republicans voted in Larimer County in the Nov. 4 election, compared to 50,600 Democrats and 54,000 unaffiliated voters. Despite the huge partisan disadvantage, Democratic candidates for president, U.S. Senate and Congress all carried the county by healthy margins.
  

POLITICAL REFORM

Is good governance gone? (LA Daily News) we'd like to see open primaries adopted. Voters should be able to chose from among all the candidates running - not just their party - a chance that would help break up the 120 Club, which is our dysfunctional Legislature.

POLITISOPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS

• Blagogate (Jeffery T. Kuhner, Washington Times) Blagogate is about more than a brazen attempt by the Democratic governor to leverage a U.S. Senate seat in exchange for campaign contributions or a lucrative job for him and his wife. It is about a political culture in which bribery, influence-peddling, cronyism, abuse of power and misuse of public funds are widely practiced.
  
• Obama Triangulates His 'Base' (By Brent Budowsky, Consortium News.com) Since his election on Nov. 4, Barack Obama has appeared more interested in cultivating and appeasing political opponents than thanking the tens of millions of Americans who backed him – and building on their grassroots support.
  
• Catching up and thinking about tolerance (The Phoenix) While I commend their intellectual effort and attempt at compassion, I have to caution liberals and progressives about being too inclusive.
  
• Conservatism v. Liberalism Part V: The history of…: 'Independence'-making the case for It and agains (by Hassan Giordano, Baltimore Independent Examiner)
  
• How Historic a Victory? (By Michael Tomasky, New York Review of Books) Obama's win was strong enough that he didn't even need California (55 electoral votes) and New York (31). He could have spotted McCain those 86 navy-blue electoral votes, which he was never in danger of losing, and still finished with 279. It was, to use a nontechnical term on which political scientists and laypersons could surely agree, a wipeout. But was it, to use a technical term about which political scientists are more persnickety, a realignment?
  

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

OPEN PRIMARIES

• Progressives and Independents (Liberal Arts Dude, Mirror On America) Here's an idea: how about Leftist Progressive activists join Independents in efforts for radical structural reform? One effort they can join very easily right now is the effort by Independents for Open Primaries.
  
• Gumm wants open primaries (OkiePolitics.com) Oklahoma law currently mandates that parties have closed primaries. Gumms SB5 would allow party officials to open up the runoffs to independents (you know, swing voters like me) and members of rival parties.
  
• It's Politics: Charles Calderon weary of political 'bickering' (By Mike Sprague, Whittier Daily News) His solution? Bring back a version of the open primary that would in a sense turn all state offices as well as legislative races into non-partisan races, similar to how counties run.
  

 

POLITISOPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS

• Obama's Divisive Choice of Rick Warren (By Michelle Goldberg, Religion Dispatches) Warren is something of a magician. He has convinced much of the media and many influential Democrats that he represents a new, more centrist breed of evangelical with a broader agenda than the old religious right. 
  
• Sturm and drang over Rick Warren (by kos, Daily Kos)
  
• Taking Yes For An Answer (Andrew Sullivan, The Daily Dish)
  
• Is Obama moving too far to the right? (The Daily Voice) Writing in Black Agenda Report, Glen Ford said Obama had earned a designation as a center-right politician after he had "endorsed the bankers' bailout, put the economy's future in the hands of the same people that set the stage for financial meltdown, and let Bush's War Secretary keep the keys to the imperial armory."
  

NEW YORK POLITICS/INDEPENDENCE PARTY

• Judge upholds Independence Party status quo (BY TOM WROBLESKI, Staten Island Advance) In a ruling released yesterday, Justice Anthony Giacobbe said that Frank Morano's bid to wrest control of the county organization from chair Sarah Lyons was invalid.
  
• Sharpton's Birthday Shout-Out To Council Candidate 'Johnny T' (Elixabeth Benjamin, Daily News/Daily Politics) Sharpton, who met recently with Tabacco at his National Action Network, called the candidate his "friend and brother" at last night's get-together and joked that he might be the only person who could bring Sharpton and Sliwa together.
  

fulani bloomberg

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

POLITICAL REFORM

* Tucsonans should decide how city is run - Our view: Local elections should be nonpartisan, but change should be made by voters here, not at the Legislature (Arizona Star)

POLITISOPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS

• * Rich and Rick: A Post-Partisan Parable (By: Diana Butler Bass, Beliefnet) The challenge for progressive religious people is this:  Will we continue to stand in the story of the modernist-fundamentalist rift, or will we accept the invitation to pray with those whose views may offend us?
  
• * Obama Team Takes Two Shapes (By GERALD F. SEIB, Wall Street Journal Online) The Obama transition is putting a new twist on that idea. The president-elect is giving the country two administrations for the price of one.
  

NEW YORK POLITICS/INDEPENDENCE PARTY

• * Bloomberg Leaning Toward Independent In '09 (Elizabeth Benjamin, NY Daily News/Daily Politics) The mayor hasn't ruled out seeking the Independence Party line again, either, although he might face a challenge there from Lenora Fulani, who is mulling her own run for mayor.
  
• * Fulani vs. Bloomberg? (Elizabeth Benjamin, NY Daily News/Daily Politics) Last summer, Fulani launched an exploratory committee for a 2009 potential mayoral run. As an enrolled member of the Independence Party, all she has to do is circulate petitions; she needs no permission to run from Indy leaders. Not so for Bloomberg. Since the state's highest court has sided with Fulani and her supporters in their legal fight with state Independence Party Chairman Frank MacKay, a Bloomberg ally, over who controls Wilson Pakulas in citywide races, they would have to grant him the right to run on the line.
  

BOOK REVIEW

* In the Balance of Power: Independent Black Politics and Third Party Movements in the United States by Omar Ali (An Ordinary Person) I also found insightful the later accounts of African-American political participation in the post-segregation era. Martin Luther King Jr. warned of the perils of over-reliance and dependency on one major political party (in this case, the Democrats) and to pin all of one’s hopes and political efforts in that arena.

Progressives and Independents

I: Kicking the Left with Impunity

There was an interesting discussion at the Open Left blog today in the wake of Barack Obama picking conservative evangelical pastor Rick Warren to say the convocation at his Presidential inauguration:

[T]here are clear benefits for Democrats who are able to generate public, left-wing outrage against their actions…This is a widely held view, and is openly shared by Democrats as high ranking as Rahm Emanuel. As long as the generation of public, left-wing outrage toward their actions is understood to be politically beneficial to Democrats, then many Democrats will continue to undertake actions that have the direct or indirect goal of generating public, left-wing outrage at their actions. This is pretty straightforward. As long as the cost of annoying progressives is not only zero, but actually a net positive, then Democrats will continue to annoy progressives ad infinitum.

For a solution, the article argues:

Progressives must make the political cost of such actions unacceptable to the Democrats who are willing to undertake such actions for political benefit. At the congressional level, I accept kos's premise that the only means of holding Democrats accountable for angering progressives are primary challenges (sitting on your hands or supporting third-party candidates just doesn't work). Or, to be a bit more accurate, the only way for outsiders like us to engage in progressive accountability for Democrats in Congress is to spend actual resources attacking a member of Congress in his or her district.

The commenter “leftvet” observes:

The only accountability that works for politicians are political consequences. The left is currently unable to exact political consequences on any politician, so we are, of course, ignored or vilified. Chris has summed it up very well. Progressives have no real choice but to continue to support mainstream Democrats, no matter how many times they f**k us over, because there is no other electoral option available to us. The Dems know it, and continue to exploit that situation.

This conversation is fascinating to me on so many levels. As someone who self-identifies as a Progressive, it is truly maddening to witness case after case after case of Democrats kicking Progressive values and politics to the curb once they get elected even after they ran on the promise and symbolism of Progressive idealism. It is as if once elected, the best way to gain political credibility is to take gratuitous potshots at liberals and left-wingers who supported them in elections.

The discussion at Open Left, although it hits upon many of the right points, completely misses a very big point -- not everyone agrees the best strategy to enact a Progressive agenda is to elect Democrats into office. Many people who are potential supporters of any Progressive movement are NOT Democrats, have absolutely no intention of being Democrats, and do not have any particular loyalty to the Democratic Party given the party’s record on many issues Progressives care deeply about.

No one seems to be seriously talking about appealing to and bringing Independents into the fold -- and this comes at a time when satisfaction with government is at an all-time low and the number of people who are self-identifying politically as anything other than Democrats and Republicans is at an all-time high. I don’t claim to be an all-knowing political guru but I am tired of Progressives getting their asses kicked by Democrats in the process of playing by the rules of the game of American electoral politics.

Is the only viable goal for Progressive activism to elect Democrats into office (even if they are better Democrats)?

II: The Fight for Open Primaries

Here’s an idea: how about Leftist Progressive activists join Independents in efforts for radical structural reform? One effort they can join very easily right now is the effort by Independents for Open Primaries. A petition is circulating right now to ask President Barack Obama to:

• Initiate and support federal legislation to create open primaries for election to federal office in all 50 states that guarantees full access for independent voters;

• Establish a Presidential Task Force on Political and Electoral Reform that includes representatives of the broad movement of independent voters to consider sweeping nonpartisan reform of the electoral process and its administration;

• Use the bully pulpit to speak out on the importance of open primaries and the inclusion of independents in all aspects of the electoral and political process.

They are trying to reach 1,000 signatures by Inauguration. This is one way Progressives can get themselves introduced to the burgeoning movement among Independents who, increasingly, are becoming aware of their political potential. It is one way Progressives can form a bridge with Independents to join in an effort they care about (and which stands to benefit voters and political parties who seek a viable alternative to the Democrats).

san francisco

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

* Obama's team (LETTER from Cliff Hodge, Westlake Village, The Agoura Hills Acorn - CA) Frankly, I would like to see some ordinary folks involved as advisers to Obama.

  

OPEN PRIMARIES/POLITICAL REFORM

• * After Prop. 11, Gov ponders next move (By John Howard, Capitol Weekly) California has what is called a modified closed primary. In this system, the parties determine whether those registered as declined-to-state can vote in the party’s primary election. Generally, that means declined-to-state voters can cast ballots in most primaries except presidential and party leadership positions.
  
• * Calderon unveils his own 'open primary' plan (Sac Bee/Capitol Alert) Calderon's office said the assemblyman's legislation will be modeled after the Washington law.
  
• * Governor rejoices in redistrict measure's win (John Wildermuth, San Francisco Chronicle) When voters this summer saw partisan squabbling send the state's budget deliberations months over deadline before any agreement could be reached and Sacramento virtually paralyzed, they wanted changes, the governor said.
  
• * Tucson's election system is unfair, but Phoenix should back down (By Jim Sinex, ARIZONA DAILY STAR) "...Senator-elect Jonathan Paton from Legislative District 30 wants the state to force Tucson into a nonpartisan election system. This is another call for strong centralized control from Phoenix."
  
• * Governor Schwarzenegger Touts Redistricting Reform (Sacramento Scope/Imperial Valley News) Delivering on the Governor’s promise to take redistricting out of the hands of legislators, Proposition 11 creates an independent 14-person commission charged with drawing district boundaries for the Senate, Assembly and Board of Equalization. It will be comprised of five Democrats, five Republicans and four others that will all be selected through a nomination process overseen by the state auditor.
  
• * No Special Election For Obama's Seat (US News & World Report/Political Bulletin) Facing the potential prospect of a Republican winning President-elect Obama's Senate seat if a special election were held, media reports note that Illinois Democrats on Tuesday indicated they would not pursue that avenue to fill the vacancy.
  
• * Ipsos/McClatchy Poll: Illinois voters say Blagojevich must go (By Steven Thomma, McClatchy Newspapers) 44 percent said the state should have a special election
  

POLITISOPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS

• * The case of the vanishing GOP voter (By Eric Fehrnstrom, Boston Globe) The good news is that the worst for Republicans did not happen. There was no major political realignment. The most awful predictions of GOP losses in the Congress did not come to pass. A few states changed from red to blue, but only a few.
  
• * House GOP Faces A Long March, Not A Sprint - A 1994-Style Reversal Would Require An Enormous Shift In The Political Climate And Retooling Of The Republican Brand (National Journal, by Charlie Cook and David Wasserman)
  

Talk Talk: Tragic Figures

Salit: And the Detroit bailout. The Senate failed to reach an agreement, so the deal fell apart in Congress. The White House is going to make some kind of move. On the Lehrer NewsHour, David Brooks and Mark Shields got into a more heated fight than they typically do.

Newman: The class war. (Talk Talk)

chicago

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• * Colorado governor mum on Sen. Salazar replacement (By STEVEN K. PAULSON, AP) Ken Salazar's centrism and willingness to defy party leaders have helped him in a state where there are more registered independent voters than either Democrats or Republicans. Most states leave the choice of appointing U.S. senators to the governor.
  
• * Rasmussen: Americans Losing Confidence in Teachers Unions (By JAZZ SHAW, The Moderate Voice) While 78% of Republicans and 66% of unaffiliated voters say teachers’ jobs are the chief focus of the unions, only 55% of Democrats agree.
  
• * Blago impact likely slight (By David Hill, The Hill) “The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons.” ...Among independents, though, cynicism cuts deep. Forty percent of these swing voters in an increasingly competitive Texas say that neither party is ethical. Fully one-half, 50 percent, of all independent male voters hold to that jaundiced view of political misbehavior in the Lone Star State.
  
• * The Big Divisons on the Big Three (Washington Post) WaPo/ABC poll: Democrats, Midwesterners and Northeasterners are more likely to support a cash infusion for Detroit (though tepidly, at best), while residents of the South and West, Republicans and independents tilt against the proposed aid package.
  
• * Tragic Figures (Talk Talk) Newman: And obviously, they've found ways to get around the 17th Amendment. But you could make filling a vacancy a "mechanical" process – i.e. a special election – which is not a bad thing. You might even call it more representative, because you involve the people, the voters.

NEW YORK POLITICS/INDEPENDENCE PARTY

* Former Staten Islander feted at Anti-Corruption Awards ceremony (By KIAWANA RICH, STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE) If a young person like Tali Leger is any indication, the future of the New York City Independence Party is in good hands.... In addition, eight other individuals were honored, including Richard Winger of California, the nationally recognized ballot access expert and editor of Ballot Access News. About 200 individuals attended the event, which doubles as the party's biggest fundraiser, bringing in $45,000.

Former Staten Islander feted at Anti-Corruption Awards ceremony

How do I know this is politically "a new day?" Because Barack Obama won the presidential race? Well, yes..... but here's a little more evidence from the Staten Island Advance... Enjoy! - NH

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

By KIAWANA RICH

STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE 

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- If a young person like Tali Leger is any indication, the future of the New York City Independence Party is in good hands... Miss Leger, 24, a former Prince's Bay resident who now lives in Brooklyn, was one of five honorees and party members between the ages of 21 and 24 recognized for their part in Operation Control, an eight-month campaign designed to build county committees in all five boroughs....

...In addition, eight other individuals were honored, including Richard Winger of California, the nationally recognized ballot access expert and editor of Ballot Access News....

[FULL STORY HERE]

unboxed

other-thinking

in the box

thinking as usual

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• California needs a GOP for 2009, not 1977 (By Peter Schrag, Sac Bee) The self-marginalization has been far greater among Republicans, who exclude independent voters from their primaries, who have made no effort to reach out to California's fast-growing minorities, Latinos especially, or for that matter to women.
  
• Political parties must work together (LETTER News Times - CT) Instead of trying to recruit the unaffiliated voter to your party's dogma, it's time to listen to the unaffiliated voter's message.
  

OPEN PRIMARIES/POLITICAL REFORM

• ‘Open primary’ may be headed to 2010 ballot (Capitol Weekly) One view of the partisan paralysis gripping the California Legislature is that it could be eased by embracing open primary elections, in which voters can cast ballots for any candidate regardless of party affiliation.
  
• Give us good governance! (Press Telegram - Long Beach CA) The Legislature, chosen by party fiat in gerrymandered districts, can't decide whether to raise taxes, cut services or tie its shoelaces.... Voters last month decided they'd been gerrymandered enough, and new districts based on criteria other than party affiliation will see the light of day. To that, we'd add that open primaries should be adopted. A vote for the candidate - not the party - would help break up the 120 Club, which is our dysfunctional Legislature. 
  
• Electoral College could be weakened - Two Atlanta lawmakers want measure to let popular vote decide presidential elections. Other states have voted on similar bills. (By James Salzer, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
  

POLITISOPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS

• Obama’s Ideology and Pragmatism: More Common Law Than We Might Think (By Scott Payne, The Moderate Voice) The very notion of sternly pragmatic and ideological camps in itself smacks of gross over-simplification.
  
• The Pragmatist (by CHRISTOPHER HAYES, The Nation)
  
• State of Disgrace (by David Moberg, The New Republic) Why has Illinois always been so corrupt? In a word: adaptability. The simple answer is that the state's political machines--both Democratic and Republican--have become so adaptable and have so deeply influenced the state and local political culture that reformers, despite periodic victories, just don't have a shot. 
  
• Is "Ideology" Bad When it Comes to Foreign Policy? (Shadi Hamid, Huffington Post) In the realm of foreign policy, "Ideology" is getting a bad name. "Pragmatism" is, apparently, all the rage.
  

NEW YORK POLITICS

• Bronx Boro President Carrion Will Run For Comptroller (Gothamist)
  
• Bronx Beep Carrion Gets a White House Post (Gothamist)
  

post colonial

Petition for Open Primaries

In states with partisan registration, unaffiliated voters are now 24.8% of the electorate, up 36% since 1992;

• Nationally, nearly 40% of all voters self-identify as independents, regardless of whether they are registered into a party;

• In presidential elections, independents can participate in primaries and caucuses in only 33 states. In 17 states, they are denied access;

• In numerous states, independents can vote in the presidential primaries, but not in other statewide primaries. Only 21 states ensure the inclusion of independents in Congressional primary elections;

• As independents gain in numbers and influence, there has been an intensified effort by major party leaders in states that have open primaries—e.g., Idaho, Mississippi, Virginia and Washington—to close the primaries to independents.

SIGN THE PETITION TO PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA

Sponsored by: The Committee for a Unified Independent Party, Inc. / IndependentVoting.org 􀂙 Please send completed petitions to: 225 Broadway, Ste. 2010, New York, NY 10007 􀂙 ph: 212-962-1899 fax: 212-803-1899

African American Independent political movements

Review of In the Balance of Power: Independent Black Politics and Third Party Movements in the United States by Omar Ali on An Ordinary Person "I found myself constantly bowled over by one unexpected historical insight after another on the political activity of African Americans. More than just being passive, oppressed subjects as traditional historical accounts have tended to portray them, African-Americans have a rich history of organized, anti-Establishment political activity dating back to the days of slavery and through modern times......"

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Has Congress gone deaf? (By Greg Awtry, York News-Times) The First Amendment also states the people can petition their government for a redress of grievances. Too bad it doesn’t contain any language about the elected officials listening to us. 
  
• Can Obama fix it for Bob the Builder? (By SCOTT MILFRED, Madison State Journal) I started to wonder if the president-elect had subliminally used Bob's catchphrase to brainwash independent voters like me. After all, I've been a fan of Bob since my own first daughter arrived three years after Malia. 
  

• An Open Letter from Independents to President Elect Barack Obama. Excerpt: By virtue of being able to vote in the primaries and caucuses in 33 states, independents cast the votes that gave your campaign its margin, and continued to support you in the general election...Sign onto the letter online   Printer friendly format   

NEW YORK POLITICS

Another Billionaire For N.Y. (George F. Will, Hartford Courant) Any child can grow up to be a billionaire, thereby meeting what seems to have become the threshold qualification for mayor.

LAST WORD

Can Obama Lead Us Out Of Post-Colonial Age? (David Ignatius, Hartford Courant) We are long past the era of decolonization that Fanon was describing. What's tragic is that in many parts of the world, the United States — formed in the first great anti-colonial revolution — has come to be seen as the heir to European imperialism.

Where I Stand

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

NOTE: Today's News Headlines for Independent Voters was not published on Friday or Saturday due to technical problems with my Hewlett Packard Pavilion laptop. Let's hope it's fixed....

LOCAL NEWS OF INTEREST

• Obama volunteers meet to plan next step (By Tim Tresslar, Dayton Daily News) The house meeting was one of several scheduled this weekend locally, and more than 4,200 nationwide, at the behest of Obama's transition team.
  
• Partisans, bean counters and atheists (BY JOHN LAIRD, COLUMBIAN OPINION EDITOR) Partisan extremists will have to cool their heels in 2009, at least when it comes to local politics. Odd-numbered years are when Clark County voters elect people to nonpartisan offices on city councils, port districts, fire districts, school boards and other entities.
  
• Working Families Party Has Major Goals (By MARK PAZNIOKAS | The Hartford Courant) On Election Day last month, the Working Families Party provided the margin of victory for three Democratic challengers who won what had been Republican seats in the state House
  
• Dems' enthusiasm continues after election (By Sheena Mcfarland, The Salt Lake Tribune) Young voters across the country helped President-elect Barack Obama take the White House.  Matt Lyon, president of Young Democrats of Utah says, "We had this whole new group of people who were able to connect to local issues and who realized they wanted to stay involved after the elections."

NEW YORK POLITICS/INDEPENDENCE PARTY

Why Bloomberg's third attempt will be a mess (Adam Lisberg, NY Daily News) Bloomberg twice ran on the line of the Independence Party, but it is riven by a nasty internal battle featuring the controversial Lenora Fulani.

did you vote yet?

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Updated: Welcome to ‘Blue Hampshire,’ Dems claim (By Brian Lawson, PolitickerNH.com) "Numbers indicate that voters are joining the Democratic Party in New Hampshire by a two to one margin over undeclared and a three to one margin over the Republicans - making the Democrats the fastest growing of the three. If these trends continue at the current rate, Democrats will outnumber undeclared voters within seven years," a Democratic press release stated."
• HERE'S THE PRESS RELEASE: NH Democrats Now Out Number Republicans in Granite State (Posted on Politicker NH)
• Dems say they're the majority in NH now (Nashua Telegraph)
• The Decline of Conservative (By Sahil Kapur, Claremont Portside) Moderates are shifting leftward as they crave a new direction, and self-identified independent voters preferred Barack Obama over John McCain by eight points.
• Survey reveals voting disparities on Nov. 4 (USA Today) Democrats were more confident about the process in states that traditionally vote Democratic, such as New York, and Republicans in "red states" such as Texas. In states such as Virginia that were closely contested, independent voters were less confident about the process.
• Closely Related Headlines (Posted by Eric Earling, Puget Sound Politics) The simple truth is that Obama accomplished what he did electorally because significant number of independent voters switched from Bush in 2004 to him. These are not exactly left-of-center voters
• 18 Million Independents Vote for Barack Obama.
  From IndependentVoting.org November 2008 CUIP President Jackie Salit gives a post-election analysis of the independent movement and the 2008 presidential elections.

OPEN PRIMARIES
Redistricting OK'd; open primary next? (Thomas D. Elias, Ventura County Star) If Californians really want a state government that works, they'll support the open primary whenever it makes the ballot, just as they easily passed the Proposition 198 blanket primary more than 12 years ago.

NEW YORK POLITICS/INDEPENDENCE PARTY

• Dr. Lenora Fulani Confirmed She “Is Considering” A Run for Office Next Year, Possibly Mayor or Public Advocate (posted by Mary Alice Miller, Room Eight) If Mayor Bloomberg sought the Independence Party's endorsement, or to run on the Independence line, “He has to come with some major, major, major changes. He had to go beyond where he is. As far as I am concerned, he should change his mind.”
• [AND SPEAKING OF FULANI.....] I'm now a believer (Charles E. Richardson, Macon.com)

Obama Picks Shinseki for VA

During times of conflict, the Veterans Administration is always under the microscope.  It is at these times that veterans’ benefits have the best opportunity of catching up with veterans’ needs.  In periods of relative peace, there is not the same momentum in Congress or the White House to propel veterans’ initiatives.  Hopefully, the appointment of General (Retired) Erik K. Shinseki as Secretary of Veterans Affairs will ensure full exploitation of this limited opportunity.

Personal experience in any career makes a difference.  In one of my assignments, I became very familiar with some of the individual failings of the Army medical system.  I’ve also seen the tremendous improvements in that system in the past few years.  My two plus years as a recipient of VA medical care has given me insight into the differences between being on active duty and being a veteran.  Two years of helping my older, quadriplegic brother build a wheelchair transportation manufacturing company gave me experience with VA bureaucracy.  Vicariously, I’ve been familiar with VA for forty years through my brother, a former Marine Corps test pilot, who has spent that time in the VA system.

General Shinseki is personally familiar with Army medical care, having been wounded during each of his two tours in Vietnam.  In total, he spent approximately twenty months recovering from his wounds at the Medical Holding Detachment, US Army Tripler General Hospital.

Having served his country for thirty-eight years, General Shinseki certainly understands and has empathy for those who have served in uniform.  He is used to making hard decisions.  He gained valuable experience dealing with Washington in the decade or so that he served there.  He certainly has the experience to run a large bureaucracy—there is none larger than the US Army.

I don’t know General Shinseki personally but by his deeds.  He was commissioned a year before I was drafted.  In my thirty-three years, our paths never crossed.  I was, however, serving on the Joint Staff when he testified to Congress about the number of troops necessary to secure Iraq.  I knew then, and the president should have known, that General Shinseki was right about that life and death issue.  General Shinseki did the right thing.  When asked, he responded to Congressional questions with candor.  Paul Wolfowitz publicly demonized General Shinseki for doing what he was required to do by law—give Congress his honest estimate of the situation.  Donald Rumsfeld and George W. Bush should be ashamed by the way they subsequently treated this highly decorated and courageous leader.

Heading VA will be a new role for the general.  In uniform, a commander must always weigh mission accomplishment against the wellbeing of his soldiers.  In his new position, General Shinseki’s mission will be the wellbeing of his charges, all twenty-four million of them.

Jeffrey M. Freeman

Talk Talk: Bail Out Philanthropy

Sunday, December 7, 2008
Below are excerpts from this week's Talk Talk, Bail Out Philanthropy. Every Sunday CUIP's president Jacqueline Salit and strategist and philosopher Fred Newman watch the political talk shows and discuss them. Here are excerpts from their dialogue on Sunday, December 7, 2008 after watching "The Chris Matthews Show", Meet the Press and several Charlie Rose Interviews.

Newman: I think Obama believes that the relevant mindset here is the mindset of the American people, and that he won dramatically enough to have that be the determining mindset. And so his appointees will be taking on the positions of the American people. That is how he succeeds, it's how he pulls all of this off.

Salit: In a sense, that's what Chris Matthews was asking his panelists. What kind of room does he have to maneuver? John Heilemann says there are big problems to deal with but he had a big win. That gives him room.

Newman: Yes. And the assumption built in there is that his election represents more than just a normal election.

Read Talk Talk in its entirety here.

aristotle/

not aristotle

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

POLITISOPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS

• Increasingly Centrist Obama Ruffles Left And Right Feathers (By JOE GANDELMAN, The Moderate Voice) It’s not unusual for centrists to get it from both sides. As many on this site, Avlon and others have noted, anyone who chooses a centrist path will get it from some on the right (you MUST be a secret leftist masking yourself as a centrist and you’re mushy) and some on the left (you MUST be a secret Republican and you’re mushy).
• 60 Is Not a Magic Number for Democrats, Party's Failure to Win a Filibuster-Proof Majority in Senate Isn't the End of the World (By Mike Lillis, Washington Independent) Many of the experts contend that the Democrats’ belief that securing 60 seats would have been the key to legislative success ignores the regional and ideological nuances that influence voting patterns on both sides of the aisle.
• Don't Blame Obama For Disappointing Liberals (Earl Ofari Hutchinson, Huffington Post) He is what he's always been, namely a pragmatic, centrist, Democrat who when circumstances dictate will conciliate moderates and conservatives on a hot button issue that might cause political trouble.

LOCAL NEWS OF INTEREST

• Minorities boost Dems' numbers-Party sees big gains in Brevard (BY JOHN McCARTHY • FLORIDA TODAY) Overall, there were 23,850 more people who cast ballots in Brevard this year than in 2004. More than 10,000 of those were Democrats, while fewer than 4,000 were Republicans. The rest had no party affiliation or membership in minor political parties.
• Senator Clinton, 2001-2008: Smart, Hardworking, Unextraordinary (by Jason Horowitz, NY Observer)
• Is Anh Cao A Model For A New Republican Party? (By Justin Gardner, Donklephant)

joseph cao

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

LOCAL NEWS OF INTEREST

• Voter apathy, confusion led to Jefferson's loss, expert says (By Frank Donze and Michelle Krupa, Times Picayune) Nearly half the decline came in the heavily black areas of the district, the review shows. Given that those precincts are Jefferson's base of support, the huge decrease in these areas prevented him from winning his 10th term, Chervenak said.
• The Blog Watch (Sacramento Bee) Welcome to the Capitol – now get out: It's not Republican legislators he needs to court – it is Republican voters, constituents of Republican legislators. They're the ones who can force the obstructionists to give way to common sense and dire economic necessity.
• Orange County's Vietnamese American political scene comes of age (By My-Thuan Tran, LA Times) Vietnamese have historically voted largely Republican, identifying with the party's historic anti-Communist stance, Vo said, though the number of Vietnamese Democrats and voters who decline to state parties has increased.
• Other views: Good idea out of California (Joplin Globe) The 2008 election was largely an election of reform, and much of the outrage this year has been focused on Washington earmarks. But gerrymandering, too, deserves more attention throughout the union. The practice is used unashamedly by both parties.
• How much will race be a factor? (by Staten Island Advance) Still, as the only borough in New York City without a minority representative on any level of government, the diversity of this field speaks to a new sense of possibility here, observers say.
• Viola Plummer Joins Assemblywoman Inez Barron's Staff (posted by Mary Alice Miller, Room Eight) Elected officials in attendance at the events were Judge Geraldine Picket, Assembly members Annette Robinson, Karim Camara, and Michael Gianaris, State Senators Eric Adams and Bill Perkins, Council members Letitia James, Bill DiBlasio, and Eric Gioia. Others who came to witness Ms. Barron's oath were family members and a variety of community leaders: Dr. James McIntosh, Faye Moore (Local 371 Public Sector Social Service Workers), David Galarza (CSEA Local 1000), Ms. Ollie McClean, Dr. Ron Daniels and his wife Mary France, Sam Anderson, Kevin Powell, Stan Kinard and his wife Tulani (candidate for the 41st Council seat), Bob Law, Dr. Lenora Fulani, and Brenda Walker.

the zone of harlem development

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

OPEN PRIMARIES
New York County Lawyers Association forum on Open Primaries (by Nancy Hanks, VIDEO on The Hankster) Jackie Salit, Harry Kresky, David Seifman, Larry Mandelker, Jacob Weintraub, and audience members

POLITISOPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS

• Get back to basics, Republicans, and drop most social issues - Gummed-up Old Party (By Ross Kaminsky, Rocky Mountain News) Efforts to burnish McCain's social conservative credentials, particularly during a time of economic crisis, made him even less credible overall, hurting him among independent voters while not helping him with the religious right.
• New regime will be welcome change (LETTER from Hanne Hartmann-Phipps, Reeds Spring in Springfield MO News Leader)
• Loss creates opportunity for the GOP (by Jimmy E. Greene, Saginaw News) Now we'll have to ask if the Republican Party really wants the votes of blacks and Hispanics or if we just want to appear to want to in order to play to the moderate and independent voter.
• Obama: Principles & Pragmatism (James Zogby, Huffington Post) Presidents are most often defined as successful not by the agendas they set, but by how they adapt their agendas to respond to crises that unpredictable reality that sets for them.... I believe that those commentators, from the left and right, who are pushing President-elect Obama to lay out "grand strategies," "new global visions," or to set detailed priorities and timetables, are dead wrong.
• Obama policies pragmatic, geared toward long-term change (By Jesus Vasquez, Whitman Pioneer - WA) Obama supporters need to know that they should be in this for the long haul. Change can’t come overnight, and it can’t come without the support of the people.
• How Obama will govern: Strong team will test his skills (By Steven Thomma | McClatchy Newspapers) "But no alarm bells have gone off in conservative circles indicating he's picking a bunch of left-wing lunatics. These people are respected on both sides of the aisle. It looks like he's heading toward a centrist position on both foreign policy and the economic front."

INDEPENDENCE PARTIES

• * MN: Coleman keeps edge as hand recount wraps up (By BRIAN BAKST Associated Press Writer, West Central Tribune - Willmar MN) The very last ballot to be sorted, fittingly, didn't go for either Franken or Coleman. It was for Dean Barkley - the Independence Party candidate who ran a healthy third in the race and denied his rivals thousands of votes each.
• * MN: AG Mike Hatch targeting third-party candidates (By Kevin Featherly, Special to St. Paul Legal Ledger/Capitol Report) “I would prefer that the primary election simply narrow down the race to two candidates,” he said. “The two candidates would then conduct a campaign in the general election.”
• * NY: Beyond Cusick, perhaps Cuomo and O'Donnell (Posted by Tom Wrobleski, Staten Island Advance) Assemblyman Mike Cusick is flattered that someone thinks enough of him to suggest that he replace Secretary of State-designate Hillary Rodham Clinton in the U.S. Senate. That was Independence Party member Frank Morano's plan this week in a letter to Gov. David Paterson, who will make the appointment.

NOTES FROM HARLEM
Milton Allimadi and his Black Star News BSN recently hosted its Annual Dinner Awards Gala (Black Star News) About 200 partygoers attended the BSN Awards festivities, many of them are Harlem paparazzi and cognoscente like Dr. Lenora Fulani, former Harlem BUF businessman Kermit Eady; WHCR Radio host Jeanne Parnell, businessman Fritz McLymont and Network Journal editor Rosalind McLymont.

Conversations on Open Primaries #4

CUIP activist Naomi Azulay comments on the New York County Lawyers Association forum on Open Primaries 12.4.08

Conversations on Open Primaries #3

Ballot access attorney Gary Sinawski and independent activist Richard Ronner comment after the New York County Lawyers Association forum on Open Primaries 12.4.08

Conversations on Open Primaries #2

IP organizer Bryan Puertas comments on the New York County Lawyers Association forum on Open Primaries 12.4.08

Conversations on Open Primaries

Responses from independent voters at the New York County Lawyers Association forum on Open Primaries 12.4.08

Jacob Weintraub on Open Primaries

Jacob Weintraub, former counsel to Democratic and Republican governors, at the New York County Lawyers Association speaking against open primaries at last night's forum.

Larry Mandelker on Open Primaries

Larry Mandelker, Chairman of the Election Law Committee of the New York County Lawyers Association speaking against open primaries at last night's forum.

Harry Kresky on Open Primaries

Independence Party attorney Harry Kresky addresses discussion at last night's New York County Lawyers Association forum on Open Primaries.

Jackie Salit on Open Primaries

CUIP President Jackie Salit's opening remarks on Open Primaries at last night's forum hosted by the New York County Lawyers Association

David Seifman on Open Primaries

City Hall Bureau Chief for the New York Post David Seifman moderated the New York County Lawyers Association forum last night on Open Primaries. Watch the video of his comments after the discussion...

team of rivals

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

POLITISOPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS

• Liberal Democrats on Obama's Cabinet appointments (by Karen Harper, Birmingham Progressive Politics Examiner) Obama's creation of a bipartisan cabinet is change. It is change that signals that unilateral partisanship is over.
• Conservatives' new love object: Obama (by Tony Norman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) Some conservative talk radio hosts are trying to generate mischief in the Democratic ranks by implying that outrage over Mr. Obama's choices is growing at Daily Kos, MoveOn.org and other liberal blogs. They confuse healthy debate about a Democratic presidency among liberals with early signs of schism. Liberals love to argue and consider the lockstep ideological conformity of the far right a betrayal of the Democratic ideal.
• Knowing what you don't know (By COKIE AND STEVE ROBERTS, The Morning Sun, Pittsburg KS) Obama is much better off having the support of the Pentagon than The Nation magazine.
• Obama channels Lincoln's spirit (Marilou Johanek, Toledo Blade) Not only do the Obama choices exhibit a deft move to co-opt potential enemies of his administration, but they follow the Lincoln model of refusing to let past hurts cloud present judgment.

NEW YORK POLITICS/INDEPENDENCE PARTY
How New York’s Qualified Minor Parties Did for President (Ballot Access News)

change is changing

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS
America's Best Days: GOP Voters Grow Slightly More Optimistic About America’s Future (Rasmussen Reports) Democrats say America’s best days lie ahead by a 53% to 30% margin. Among unaffiliated voters, 48% say the nation’s best days are in the future while 35% say they are in the past. h/t to Jazz Shaw at The Moderate Voice

OPEN PRIMARIES
Old Issue, New Twist (NY Daily News/Daily Politics) The New York County Lawyers' Association's Election Law Committee will hold a public forum TODAY on the question of open primaries, and the line-up - from Independence Party attorney Harry Kresky and CUIP's Jackie Salit to Post City Hall Bureau Chief David Seifman (acting as the moderator - is sure to make for a lively discussion.

POLITOSOPHOCAL INVESTIGATIONS

• Obama is walking, cautiously but with purpose (Fosters Daily Democrat/Sanford) The United States is governed from the center — sometimes from the center-right, at other times from the center-left. Change born of dissatisfaction occurs when those in positions of power lose sight of the wide center and focus only on narrow interests.
• Obama Policymakers Turn to Campaign Tools - Network of Supporters Tapped on Health-Care Issues (Washington Post) "President-elect Obama believes that change really comes from the ground up, not from Washington," Salazar said in an interview. "The drumbeat for change is one which goes across every single state -- red, blue and purple. That kind of a drumbeat will be very effective in achieving the change needed on health care."
• Liberals to keep pressure on Obaman (Casa Grande Valley Newspapers) He promised to lead with a bipartisan spirit, the kind that could unify a country and allow him to get deals through Congress. From the moment he won, he implored people: "Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship."
• Change is … changing (Michael Reagan, Asheville Citizen Times) A funny thing happened on his way to the White House: that old, left-wing community organizer Barack Obama has suddenly veered toward the center, and his incoming administration is looking more and more like the Daley Machine in Chicago than Hugo Chavez’s administration down in Venezuela.
• Pragmatic leadership (The State) The candidate of change now demonstrates an understanding of the need for continuity where practical.
• How Will Obama Enrage The Left? (Chris Weigant, Huffington Post) By appearing to "stand up" to the left wing, Obama will be seen as charting his own course as a strong and independent leader, beholden to no special interest group of radical progressives. That's how the news media will portray it, at any rate. His approval ratings will likely rise after he does so, since it will serve to calm fears from suburban Republicans and Independents that Obama is going to make too many radical changes too fast.
• Op Ed: Point-of-Attack - Now Preparation For Policy-Change (Salem-News.com) Pragmatic is the right word for this new President. What he seeks is rapid but practical approaches to matters left far too long open to direct attack by the neocon-shiftless he replaces.

"November 2008-Are Open Primaries The Problem or The Solution?"

The New York County Lawyers Association presents: "November 2008-Are Open Primaries The Problem or The Solution?" Independents shaped the presidential season in 2008, first in the primaries and then in November, and currently 33 states in the country have open primaries for presidential primaries, so why can't Independent New Yorkers vote in primaries? Thursday December 4 at 6pm A free forum hosted by the New York County Lawyer' Association on Open Primaries. Check out Elizabeth Benjamins Daily News blog on the forum entitled Old Issue, New Twist.

Panelists:

Harry Kresky, Counsel, New York City Organizations of the New York Independence Party and one of the country's leading legal experts on the issue of open primaries.

Jacqueline Salit, President of the Committtee for a Unified Independent Party (www.independentvoting.org)

Steven H. Richman, General Counsel to the Board of Elections in New York City

Jacob Weintraub, Former Agency Counsel for Democratic and Republican Governors

Moderator:

David Seifman, City Hall Bureau Chief, New York Post

Location: NYCLA Home of Law, 14 Vesey Street, (between Broadway and Church Streets) - Map

Please RSVP 212-962-1699.

democracy's milk

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Scapegoating the Social Right (RAMESH PONNURU, National Review) Avlon is mistaken in thinking both that all centrists are social liberals and fiscal conservatives and that all people who talk about “the center” have this type of voter in mind.
• Record Turnout for Harvey Milk March (Beyond Chron: San Francisco's Alternative Online Daily News) The recent passage of Proposition 8 calls into question whether the campaign bothered to learn how queers defeated Prop 6 thirty years earlier. A cautious, poll-driven campaign that kept gay couples out of the limelight de-sensitized the subject – allowing the other side to scare swing voters with emotional appeals about “the children.” In stark contrast to Harvey Milk sticking his neck out by campaigning across the state, SF Mayor Gavin Newsom was reduced to campaigning in “safe” areas – not willing to step out of his own comfort zone to engage the opposition.

PRAGMATISM/IDEOLOGY

• Barack Obama: Pragmatist or Liberal? How About Both? (US News & World Report/Thomas Jefferson Street blog) I'm getting a bit tired of hearing about how Barack Obama's cabinet choices thus far have reflected a pragmatic approach to governing, rather than a liberal one. That's rather like saying that my lunch today will taste like chicken, rather than like purple.
• Shifting Landscapes: Obama & The Movement (By Max Uhlenbeck, Source: Left Turn, ZNet) Obama was able to accomplish this feat by building a coalition ranging from the far left to the center-right, and by utilizing a variety of new technologies (blogs, YouTube videos, social networking sites) to raise a record three quarters of a billion dollars, much of which was re-invested in staff and organizing infrastructure.

CENTER-LEFT

• 2008: An extraordinarily ordinary election or an historic shift? (Politicker ME) That's the real lesson of the 2008 election: For the first time since Lyndon Johnson's Great Society, a credible case can be made that the United States is now a center-left country instead of a center-right country. moderate voters, by far the largest slice of the American electorate, chose Barack Obama by a 60 percent to 39 percent margin.
• The Real Rivalry In the Team: The Cabinet vs. The Campaign Promises (David Sirota, Huffington Post) In fact, there already is - it's no accident that the conservative noise machine from Karl Rove on down is praising Obama's appointments, and effectively creating that rightward pull. If there isn't similar progressive pressure now, don't be surprised if the debate - and thus the policy - starts slowly creeping right.

BOOK REVIEW

• The American Way of Strategy: U.S. Foreign Policy and the American Way of Life by Michael Lind: A Pragmatic Book for a Pragmatic Time (TPM Cafe) Regardless of where you fall on the progressive-idealistic/republican liberal-instrumental spectrum, it's clear that we desperately need to shift to a much more intensely pragmatic way of reasoning about democracy as a function of our national security goals.
• The evolution of American liberal internationalism (By Michael Lind, TPM Cafe) Both of the elements of traditional liberal internationalism -- the norm of nonintervention and the idea of a concert of all great powers, democratic or otherwise have been rejected by many self-described liberal internationalists since the end of the Cold War.
  

free voting!

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS
Swingers: The New Voting Bloc That Could Change Politics Forever (Huffington Post) It wasn't the Democratic base that nominated Barack Obama; the establishment was solidly in line for the coronation of Hillary Clinton. But Swingers stepped in and turned Obama from an inspiring story to the real deal.... Find out if your state has open primaries and push your elected officials to make the switch if it doesn't.


OPEN PRIMARIES/POLITICAL REFORM

• Possible Solution to the Conflict Between Supporters of “Top-Two” and Minor Party and Independent Activists (Ballot Access News)
• The New York County Lawyers' Association's Election Law Committee will hold a public forum Thursday 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. (NY Daily News/Daily Politics) CUIP's Jackie Salit also speaking in favor of open primaries...
  
• Prop. 11 won by not talking about redistricting (San Francisco Chronicle) instead of running a campaign about the glories of "communities of interest" and "geographically compact districts," the Prop. 11 team leaned on one of those evergreen slogans of California politics: "Let's throw the bums out."

WHAT'S IDEOLOGY GOT TO DO WITH IT?

• For Obama, moderates held key to election (Politico) these voters want a transformation in politics and government that is every bit as profound as those on the left. Yet they are often frustrated by what they see as a series of false policy choices, hemmed in by narrow and outdated ideological battles. Thus, for a transformation to take hold with the American middle, it must reflect the values of post-partisanship, pragmatism and patriotism.
• Third Way President Jonathan Cowan’s Statement on the Election of 2008 -- “A Moderate In Moderate’s Clothing” - Obamism and The Future of Progressive Politics (Third Way Press Release)
• Calling U.S. center-right gets it wrong (Atlanta Journal Constitution) Before the election, Republicans argued that Obama’s proposals on issues such as the economy and health care were so radical they amount to socialism. Now some of those same people argue that Obama ran as a centrist, and therefore has no mandate to pursue progressive policies (The day after the election, Karl Rove claimed, “Barack Obama understands this is a center-right country and he smartly and wisely ran a campaign that emphasized it.”). Both of these things cannot simultaneously be true.
• Obama from change agent to pragmatist (AP) Obama: "One of the dangers in a White House, based on my reading of history, is that you get wrapped up in group-think and everybody agrees with everything and there's no discussion and there are no dissenting views," he said. "So I am going to be welcoming a vigorous debate inside the White House.
• 18 Million Independents Voted for Obama (Independent Voting) In 1992 the independent movement in America was a center-right movement. In 2008, the independent movement is center-left. That's a shift...
  

that's usin' your gourd...

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

OPEN PRIMARIES

• Upcoming Events in The Legal Community (Brooklyn Eagle) Dec. 4, Public Forum: Open Primaries, the Problem or the Solution? 6 p.m. NYC Independence Party attorney Harry Kresky and CUIP President Jackie Salit will speak in favor of open primaries
  
• Will the RNC Push for 'Closed' Presidential Primaries? (Human Events)
• Governor Schwarzenegger: Please Don’t Declare 2009 the Year of Anything (Frank Russo, California Progress Report) There is now talk of an “open primary” as if that is a panacea for our problems. If this is the kind of ethereal pursuits our Governor focuses on and he is unwilling to tackle the real problems our state faces that are difficult to solve, we will have precisely what Professor Murray Edelman wrote about in, "The Symbolic Uses of Politics"--a symbolic gesture that is a lot easier to achieve and will make people feel good.

LOCAL INDEPENDENT NEWS

• Working Families Party boosts vote count (New Britain Herald News - CT) After a change in the state’s election laws last year made it easier for parties to cross-endorse candidates, a Working Families line appeared on every ballot this year.
• Marion County election demographics (Salem Monthly - OR) While the registered Democrats outnumber the Republicans, the unaffiliated voters easily could have been the deciding votes in some of the closer races.
• Change is essential (Lower Hudson Journal News) Those who refuse to register with any party are now the fastest growing group of voters in many districts. These voters represent a huge opportunity for a new Republican Party willing and able to meet their needs and tap into their frustration.
• How to have minor parties that are more than spoilers (Minneapolis Star Tribune) A little more than a hundred years ago, Minnesota and the rest of the nation allowed third parties to grow without simply being spoilers. The process is called fusion politics.

CENTER-LEFT PRAGMATICS

• America transformed (Eugene Robinson, The Detroit News) It's meaningless to argue whether ours is a center-left or center-right polity; the midpoint of the nation's political spectrum is, by definition, center-center. Ronald Reagan took office as the whole spectrum was moving to the right, and he pushed it further in that direction. Obama was elected as the spectrum was shifting back to the left, and he will try to give it a helping shove.
• Obama's historic moment (Philadelphia Daily News) Thus far, Obama refuses to be a prisoner of party ideology, admitting that he' be "happy to adopt ideas that work, whether they come from FDR or Reagan."
• Obama's change: minor or major? Our policies will change: Will our values, too? (Christian Science Monitor) Clearly then, Obama's values have American roots. The question, however, is whether these values are necessarily American. If people view pragmatism, pluralism, and positive human rights – which include the right to healthcare – as American values, they will see Obama as an inspiring agent for Change 2. But if they think these values are inimical to true American values, say, of personal responsibility, strict property rights, and limited government, they will fear Obama as an agent for Change 1.

LAST WORD(S)
Busty Bimbettes, Bombs and Brand Obama (CounterPunch)
Enough of 'Barbituate' Left Cynicism, Obama Is a Victory over White Supremacy (By Tim Wise, Red Room/AlterNet)