Today is primary day and 3.5 million Flori

Thursday, October 23, 2008

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

OREGON MEASURE 65
  • Measure 65 debated (John Sowell, News Review Today) It would allow independent voters — those who don’t belong to a political party — the chance to vote in a primary. Plus, it would allow nonaffiliated candidates to run in the primary, rather than waiting until the general election, as is the case now.
  • Oregon Ballot Measures 2008: Your Choice is Your Own (Salem-News.com) MEASURE 65: Changes general election nomination processes for major/minor party, independent candidates for most partisan offices. Yes Vote: Candidates from all parties (not just Democrat and Republican) run in a single primary; the top two primary candidates compete in the general election. Open primaries would have an impact on the two party system, giving all voters in primary elections a chance to vote for an individual rather than being restricted to those candidates in their own party. (Note: Washington State just held their first-ever open primary.)
  • Measure 65 (Jeff Alworth, BlueOregon) Here's the fascinating thing about this initiative: it has very strong progressive support on both sides.

CAMPAIGN
  • Less than 2 weeks to go, polls say Collins, Obama take state (Kennebec Portland Press Herald) Independent voters went for Obama over McCain by 65 percent to 45 percent, the poll found. The margin of error for those figures is higher -- about 8.5 percent -- because the sample size is smaller. Still, Murphy said the margin is significant, because 37 percent of Maine voters are independents.
  • The Race Goes to 11 -- Powell Helps with Indies (Washington Post/The Trail) Two in 10 independent voters said they are more inclined to vote for Obama because of Powell's backing; 4 percent said they were nudged the other way.
  • Carl Leubsdorf: McCain blew it by steering off course (Dallas Morning News) By going that way, Mr. McCain may have sacrificed his single biggest advantage over his GOP primary rivals – his appeal to independents.
  • FOX News Poll: Obama Leads McCain, 49% to 40% (FOXNews.com) Obama's advantage comes mainly from independents, and from the fact that more voters identify themselves as Democrats these days and almost all of them back their party's nominee. Eighty-eight percent of Democrats support Obama, and 83 percent of Republicans back McCain. Independents break 44 percent to 35 percent in Obama's favor.
  • Chester County: Pennsylvania’s very own ‘swing state’ (PolitickerPA.com) And in the end, the victor will likely be decided by the county's 48,000 independent voters, who more than make up the difference between Democratic and Republican registrants.
  • The Chomsky Sessions: Noam Chomsky on the World (uprisingradio.org) Chomsky suggested voting against McCain and for Obama in battleground states, but without illusions about Obama’s slogans of “change.”
  • Florida Focus Group: Independents Break For Obama And Are Anti-Palin (JOE GANDELMAN, The Moderate Voice) What’s striking (and ironic) is that McCain’s political brand has been forged by his stature with independents — and it’s what always made him the strongest Republican to run in this cycle. Conversely, McCain is doing very well with the GOP base in the poll. He’s winning handily among evangelicals, small town/rural voters, and folks in the South.

NEW YORK POLITICS
  • New York City Council May Suspend Term Limits on October 23 (Ballot Access News)
  • City Council to vote on term limits bill (Newsday)

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