TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS - Of Third Parties and Con-fusions

Chatter continues about where independent voters are in the countdown to the 2010 midterm elections, this week's theme being the subjective/emotional "state" of independents -- indies are angry, frightened and turning right, say the pundits -- oh, yeah, and anti-incumbent. Poli-Tea started a very interesting and I think important dialog in several posts last week about the impact on independents of the rules the major parties enact to prevent the rise of a competitive third party in The Dialectic of the Subjective and the Objective in the Reproduction of the Two Party-State. In the meantime, a state chapter of the Working Families Party has been formed in Vermont... Surely the success of in NYC (both NY and VT have a form of fusion voting where candidates can run on more than one party line) of both the Independence Party and the WFP deserve some investigation in light of the formidable barriers that exist? More on this later. And on a final note, there's fusion and then there's fusion -- Doctor Zero's fusion is, well, CONfusion... -NH

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Polls: Voter/Independent's ire for incumbents reaching critical mass (Wichita Independent Examiner, Geoff Caldwell)
• Edward Achorn: Frightened independents send Washington a message (By EDWARD ACHORN, Providence Journal)
• The Silver Lining of the Left in Power (by Dennis Prager, Townhall) It is difficult to overstate how important this is. For decades, the left has largely controlled the news media, the arts, the universities and the entertainment media. And vast numbers of Americans have imbibed these leftist messages and the leftist critiques of conservatives. What these Americans have never been able to do is to see what the left would actually do if in power.
• Independents Turning Right (By Sarah Gravlee, KULR 8 Billings MT)
• Poll: Beau Biden Grabs Lead in Delaware Senate Race (By DAVID WEIGEL, Washington Independent)
• Barack Obama Proves He’s No Bill Clinton (By Ron Nehring, Chairman of the California Republican Party, Fox & Hounds Daily - CA)
• Rasmussen delivers more the-sky-is-falling-on-Obama spin in the WSJ (by Eric Boehlert, Media Matters) Since when do serious, 'independent' pollsters write columns urging the president to "shift right"? While you’re at it, tell the City Council that you want them to appeal the U.S. Department of Justice’s ridiculous decision to overturn our vote on nonpartisan elections.

OPEN PRIMARIES

• Constitutional convention initiative moves toward ballot (By Gary Quackenbush, North Bay Business Journal) “Redistricting authority should be given to a nonpartisan commission and not be left to legislators. Open primaries would allow voters to vote for anyone during the primaries and the two highest vote-getters for each position would then appear on the general election ballot, regardless of party affiliation.”

KINSTON NC

• A fond farewell to Buddy and Jimmy (Bryan C. Hanks, ENC Today) Article mentions the Justice Department's decision to deny voter-approved nonpartisan municipal elections...

GOVERNORS RACES

• So much for the power of incumbency (By The Monday Fix, Washington Post) What's clear from this and other national polling as well as a variety of state data is that there is a widespread belief that politicians are not acting in the best interests of those they represent. This sentiment isn't terribly new, but the depth of these anti-incumbent feelings -- particularly among political independents -- makes it newsworthy.
• Christie versus Booker must wait, as mayor intent on building upon their alliance (By MAX PIZARRO, PolitickerNJ.com)
• An insider's view of Christie's N.J. victory- During "that roller-coaster ride," the campaign focused on independent voters, and the issues. (Russ Schriefer, Philadelphia Inquirer)  NOTE: Russ Schriefer is a 20-year Repub consultant

WORKING FAMILIES PARTY

• Working Families Party forming in Vermont (By Nancy Remsen, Burlington Free Press) Vermont is one of 10 states that allows candidates to run with more than one party affiliation noted on the ballot and those are the states that the Working Families Party have targeted. The party was founded in New York in 1998 and then spread to Connecticut. Vermont has three major political parties -- Democrats, Republicans and Progressives. A political party is considered "major" in Vermont if one of its statewide candidates received more than 5 percent of the vote in the most recent election. Vermont also has had three minor parties in recent years -- Liberty Union, Libertarian and Constitutional.
• Lopez’s Legacy Looms Large (By Aaron Short, Your Nabe Brooklyn)

ON THE BLOGS

• The Essential Fusion (BY DOCTOR ZERO, Hot Air) The part of the conservative movement broadly defined as “social” is essential to defeating the moral argument of the Left. Electoral victory requires persuading moderate and independent voters, and even some liberals who are still open-minded enough to give the other side a hearing. Such persuasion is impossible without a compelling moral argument, because conservatism does not seem coherent without it. Say what you will about the fundamental argument of collectivism, but you can’t deny it’s simple and consistent: give us your vote and we will take care of you, at the expense of people whose greed is worthy of your hatred.