TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

CAMPAIGN

• FOX News Poll: Wright Ties Hurt Obama Campaign - And, despite that the bulk of independent voters (49 percent) says the issue would make no difference to their vote
• Health coverage is another reason to wed, poll finds (Nashua Telegraph/Los Angeles Times) "The general election is going to be a contest for independent voters," Altman said.
• Clinton Exuding Confidence (Washington Post/The Trail) Clinton operatives in both Indiana and North Carolina are targeting independent voters in both states, believing a demographic that heavily favored Obama in early primaries is now shifting to the New York Senator.
• Primary Confusion (By Tobin Harshaw, Opinionator/New York Times) Independents and open primaries

NORTH CAROLINA

• Vote way that serves interests (BlueRidgeNow) Independents should vote exactly how they want to
• North Carolina voters excited about primary (Pisgah Mountain News/Citizen Times) Of those new voters, 1,010 registered as unaffiliated in Henderson County. More than 800 have registered as Democrats and nearly 760 as Republicans.
• Primaries have finally arrived (The Cherokee Scout) “It’s just real important that people know that unaffiliated voters must pick a party,” Jones said. “Many unaffiliated voters do not understand that.”
• Record registration reported leading up to primary (Smoky Mountain News) ready for a paradigm shift

INDIANA * Wild cards could determine deadlocked Indiana (CNN) Open primary makes a difference

WEST VIRGINIA

• Independents required to ask for party ballots - Voters registered as independents or nonpartisan can choose whether to cast ballots in the Democratic, Republican or Mountain Party primaries. (Charleston Gazette)
• Unaffiliated Voters Cast Votes In Election (WVVA) About 5.8 percent of all early ballots cast have been from unaffiliated or independent voters.

REFORM * Fort Worth gets seat on panel (Star-Star Telegram) Many candidates for state office are finding favor with voters by speaking out against toll roads, especially the controversial Trans-Texas Corridor, a proposed statewide tollway network, said Linda Curtis of Bastrop, founder of Independent Texans, a group of independent voters that opposes toll roads.

BLACK PRESIDENTIAL LEADERSHIP * Can “the Black experience” in America produce an acceptable presidential candidate? (John Milton Wesley's Weblog)