Independents Gain Numbers, South Carolina Repubs Challenge Open Primary

INDEPENDENT VOTERS
Voter reg. could be key for Obama in 2012 (AP  By KEN THOMAS, KGO ABC San Francisco) Nearly 2.6 million voters in Florida are unaffiliated… About 500,000 Pennsylvania voters are unaffiliated… Nonpartisan voters remain the largest bloc in the Hawkeye State, representing more than 762,000 voters…

SOUTH CAROLINA OPEN PRIMARY
Republicans ask judge to reconsider open primary ruling (By Eric Connor, Greenville News) In a court filing, state GOP attorney Samuel Harms asks the judge to “clarify the extent and scope” of her opinion, out of the central concern that political rivals are allowed to meddle in the nominating process of a competing party.

2012
GOP eyes Obama campaign tactics (Tony Leys, Des Moines Register) Ann Selzer, a national pollster who runs The Des Moines Register’s Iowa Poll, said she sees opportunities for a relatively moderate Republican candidate to woo Iowans who participated in Democratic caucuses for the first time in 2008. Selzer said about 144,000 of the 240,000 people who participated in the Democratic caucuses that year were newcomers to the process. The largest share of those people supported Obama, and some probably have become disenchanted with his presidency, Selzer said.

OBAMA
Obama finds some solid ground; tests still ahead (By JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press, Sac Bee) Axelrod said many independents turned to Republicans last year because they perceived that Democrats had used their partisan edge to muscle through legislation, particularly the health care overhaul. Obama has doggedly tried to change that perception since, cutting a deal with Republicans to extend tax cuts in December and reaching another agreement to cut spending and avoid a government shutdown in April.

BLOOMBERG
Bloomberg: Let vets be your model; Tells Princeton grads to note example of sacrifice (Trenton Times) "In government, too often what's right is less precious than winning re-election," Bloomberg said. "Don't fall into that trap. Don't play by their rules. Don't follow the crowd. Don't fool yourself into thinking that one party is 100 percent right 100 percent of the time, and the other party is dead wrong. History shows that no party has a monopoly on ideas, or God on its side."