TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES FOR INDEPENDENT VOTERS 9/20/10

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Democrats see opportunity in "Tea Party" rise (By Will Dunham, Reuters) "I think it's become very clear now ... that the control of the Republican Party is in Tea Party candidates who do not speak for independent or moderate voters at all," Democratic Party Chairman Tim Kaine said on CNN's "State of the Union" program.
• Unaffiliated voters deserve to have their voices heard in primaries (EDITORIAL Washington Post) we think the council was wrong to treat unaffiliated voters differently than those who have never registered. Why is it okay to register and vote on Election Day, but not okay to join a party and vote on Election Day?
• In Md., independent voters are disenfranchised (LETTER Baltimore Sun)
• Oklahoma sees rise in registered independents (By CURTIS KILLMAN, Tulsa World) Although the state GOP has made headlines for its continued increase in voter registration numbers in the state, independent voter registration has quietly climbed to unprecedented numbers. Independent voters now make up 11.3 percent of the total of registered voters - an all-time high percentage in Oklahoma, recently released figures from the state Election Board show. 
• Republicans Gain Ground Among Independents - But a new poll shows independents still don't trust the GOP on spending. (DOUGLAS E. SCHOEN AND HEATHER R. HIGGINS, Wall Street Journal) A new comprehensive national survey shows that independent voters—who voted for Barack Obama by a 52%-to-44% margin in the 2008 presidential election—are now moving strongly in the direction of the Republican Party. The survey, conducted by Douglas E. Schoen LLC on behalf of Independent Women's Voice in late August, raises the possibility of a fundamental realignment of independent voters and the dominance of a more conservative electorate.

OPEN PRIMARIES

• From Britain, a thumbs up on US open primaries (By Matthew Triggs, Guest blogger, Christian Science Monitor) If Britain adopted American-style open primaries, candidates would more closely reflect their constituents' views.

MIDTERMS

• More on Murkow Ms. Murkowski’s Math (By NATE SILVER, NY Times/FiveThirtyEight) Ms. Murkowski -– although she will surely run toward the center to differentiate herself from Mr. Miller –- might also have more access than Mr. Crist does to voters on her right. This is because, according to the Public Policy Polling survey, 32 percent of likely Republican voters have an unfavorable impression of Mr. Miller, as do 54 percent of independents. In contrast, only 11 percent of Republicans in Florida have a negative view of Mr. Rubio, according to last month’s Quinnipiac poll.
• House District 61 — Wilson vs. Korkowski vs. Curry (Colorado Statesman) Rep. Kathleen Curry, U-Gunnison, is trying to defend her HD 61 seat by the toughest way possible: as a write-in candidate.
• Twenty-Year Old Labor Party Runs its First Candidate for Partisan Office (Ballot Access News) Unlike the Working Families Party, the Labor Party does not believe in ever cross-endorsing major party nominees.
• SC's DeMint bursts onto national stage (WASHINGTON Herald Online) "I really think she's got a good chance of winning," DeMint said. "Independent voters, who represent about a third of Delaware's voters, are looking for somebody who's not tied in with any party establishment. The best pick on that list is going to be Christine."
• Tea Party Victory Opens Rift Between Moderate and Conservative Republicans (By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN and CARL HULSE, NY Times) The ascendancy of the right is forcing even some of the most loyal Republicans, like Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, the No. 3 Senate Republican, to defend their conservative bona fides. And it seems to be dashing the hopes among moderates that the prospect of winning a majority in the House, and a pursuit of independent voters, would push Republican leaders to the middle.
• As November nears, voters turn backs on both parties (By Chris Cillizza, Washington Post) Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster who has conducted a series of House race surveys for the conservative-aligned American Action Forum, insisted that the coming midterms will be a referendum on the party in power, not a choice between the two sides - particularly among electorally critical independent voters.
• The ten most important House races of 2010 (San Francisco Chronicle)

NEW YORK

• Voters oust 2 faces of NY's political dysfunction (By Associated Press, TMCnet.com) Espada was at the heart of a raucous year in notoriously partisan and dysfunctional Albany, going from Democrat to Republican back to Democrat over the course of several weeks, flipping majority control of the Senate each time and each time collecting lucrative leadership posts.
• Michael Barone: Dems at war: Public unions vs. gentry liberals (By: MICHAEL BARONE, Washington Examiner) In each there was a split between the public employee unions that do so much to finance Democratic campaigns and the gentry liberals who provide Democratic votes in places like Manhattan, the Montgomery County suburbs of Maryland, and Northwest Washington, D.C. And in each case the public employee unions won.
• Paladino the next in line of upstate businessmen running for governor (BY JOSEPH SPECTOR •ALBANY BUREAU, Ithaca Journal) As Paladino embarks on trying to become first governor from outside the New York City-area since Cortland native Nathan Miller in 1921, he will try to follow the same broad strategy as Golisano -- win big upstate and stay competitive in New York City and its suburbs.
• Bloomberg campaigns for center (UPI Tracker) In an extensive interview, he told the Times the anger displayed by many voters this year is understandable: "Washington isn't working," he said. "Anger, however, is not a government strategy," he added. "It's not a way to govern."
• Primary analysis on BronxTalk (Bronx News Network) Mr. King and Mr. Perez will take calls from viewers about the defeat of Pedro Espada, Jr. and the victory of all other Bronx incumbents.
• New York Likely to Have Eleven or Twelve Parties on Statewide Ballot (Ballot Access News) Therefore, these parties will be on the ballot for statewide office:  the five qualified parties (Democratic, Republican, Independence, Conservative, Working Families), followed by these parties:  Anti-Prohibition, Freedom, Green, Libertarian, Rent is 2 Damn High, Tea, and Taxpayers.  Although the Taxpayers Party is on the ballot now, a lawsuit is pending on whether that petition is valid.  The Taxpayers nominee for Governor is Carl Paladino, who is also the Republican nominee.