Yes, West Virginia -- Independents Can Vote In the Primary

Lots of chatter about how Obama's State of the Union Speech will be "centrist" to appeal to "independents". If the Prez really wants to appeal to indies, he'll talk about the need for structural political reform. When 37% of voters refuse to register in a party, we need a voting system that includes these voters. Disenfranchisement of independent voters needs to end.

OPEN PRIMARIES

• City clarifies voting rules for independents (By Jim Balow, Charleston WV Gazette) After reading state code and checking with the state's two main political parties, City Attorney Paul Ellis said Thursday that independent voters will -- for the first time -- be able to vote in either the Republican or Democratic primary.

NO LABELS

• No Labels group pushes for bipartisanship (BY ANNA M. TINSLEY, Fort Worth Star Telegram) "We want to start with creating a civil dialogue, but we have a strong consensus that the debt and deficit must be addressed," McKinnon said. "We also support democratic process reforms like open primaries and redistricting reform that will help create a less poisonous partisan environment."

OBAMA

• Fickle independents return to Obama (By: Alexander Burns, Politico) “Independents are anti-politician in general,” Jensen said. “We find very few elected officials who are particularly popular with them and that’s partly because choosing not to identify with either major political party is a general sign of skepticism toward our political system and the politicians who fuel it.”

NEW YORK

• GOP Pushback To Independent Redistricting Plan Begins To Take Hold (By Chris Bragg, City Hall News) “We negotiated with the Senate Republicans and amended the proposal to make it more acceptable to them,” said Citizens United executive director Dick Dadey. “Senator Libous knows what independent redistricting is. He didn’t sign that pledge lightly.”