Today is primary day and 3.5 million Flori

Friday, November 07, 2008

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

OREGON MEASURE 65
  • Where party still counts (Albany Democrat Herald) The initiative would have done away with partisan primaries, but Democrats and Republicans in Linn County say they like the present system just fine, a system in which the taxpayers foot the bill for the selection of party candidates while excluding people who refuse to identify themselves as either an R or a D.
  • Making more sense of our elections (The Oregonian) Unlike Measure 65, the "top two" election system that Oregonians overwhelmingly rejected at the polls this week, instant-runoff voting has a track record of success and was used most recently in Pierce County (Tacoma) in Washington to elect the county executive and other officeholders.

CAMPAIGN
  • GOP stalwarts shun tradition, switch votes; "With neighbor-to-neighbor grass roots organizing, we made inroads into smaller, more conservative counties across the state," he said. "We just felt we could make significant ground there, turning out new voters in record numbers and making a strong push for independent voters who had been turned off by the Bush economy for the last eight years." (Toledo Blade)
  • Nevada Voter Turnout Near 1 Million (Las Vegas Now KLAS) Obama also captured a majority of independent voters in Nevada or those not affiliated with the two major parties. 54-percent of them went for Obama, compared to 41-percent for John McCain.
  • Obama Victory Good for America (HULIQ) Barack Obama did the same thing as Reagan. He ran as a leftist. Instead of trying to grab the independent voters he just offered change.
  • Costa Mesans vote for Obama (Daily Pilot) Baugh thinks Obama is clever enough to know that if he yanks the country too far to the left he will hurt himself with independent voters and could get punished in the mid-term elections.
  • WAS THE "MAVERICK" TOO MODERATE TO WIN? (Town Hall) This logic suggests that candidates fare better when they display ideological rigor and consistency, and that Republicans can never succeed by going after moderate and independent votes.
  • Electoral Consequences Big & Small (America/The National Catholic Weekly) Obama won the presidency by winning among Independent voters, voters who by definition resist partisan labels. Having to cross with 60-vote threshold with centrist Republican votes will help him beat back political pressures on the far left of the Democratic Party.

MINNESOTA INDEPENDENCE PARTY

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