TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS 11/6/09

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• What Independents Want (By DAVID BROOKS, NY Times) Independents, who are the largest group in the electorate, don’t have any of this. They don’t have institutional affiliations. They don’t look to certain activist lobbies for guidance. There aren’t many commentators who come from an independent perspective.
• Election message: Voters want results (USA Today)
• Voters Take Aim at the Status Quo (By GERALD F. SEIB, Wall Street Journal)
• The Big Question: Will we see the rise of a viable third party? (By Mary Ann Dreas, Sydelle Moore and Tony Romm, The Hill)
• What Did the Independent Vote Tell Us? (Jeff Alworth, Blue Oregon) And there are independents to the left of the Democratic Party, too... If the Democrats make the mistake of confusing independents for moderates (as Rep. Cooper did), they'll take away exactly the wrong lesson. 
• Live Election Night Analysis With Marc Ambinder and Matthew Cooper (The Atlantic) Many disassociated with the GOP -- at least in terms of what they tell pollsters -- because of the GOP brand problems and because it's cool to be independent in parts of the country and in parts of states. Don't confuse "moderates" with "independents."  Still, it seems clear that for people who call themselves independent, Republican messages wear better than Democrats.
• Tuesday's Suburban Vote Swing (By KARL ROVE, Wall Street Journal)
• What the Voters Said--Tuesday's election results send a very clear message to everyone in Washington: change your tone, lower your voices, get things done. (Doug Schoen, Fox News) Indeed, the only incumbent managing to survive –albeit with a reduced majority – was New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg who ran an explicit and avowed centrist campaign, putting progress before partisanship. 

NJ GOV RACE

• The third-party effect in New Jersey (EJ Dionne, Washington Post/Post Partisan)

BLOOMBERG 09

• NYTimes Results with interactive map
• New York reelects Bloomberg as mayor; Mayoral contests in Atlanta and Houston are too close to call and may be decided by runoffs. In Pittsburgh, incumbent Luke Ravenstahl wins decisively. (By Richard Fausset and Kate Linthicum, LA Times)
• Election Remakes City Council, and May Give It More Bite, Too (By SEWELL CHAN, NY Times)
• NYC mayor's Dem foe might run again (By SARA KUGLER, AP)
• Queens: White, Sanders easily outpace Council rivals (By Ivan Pereira, Your Nabe.com)
• Bloomberg Declines to Say Whether He Voted R or I (By Azi Paybarah, NY Observer)