TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

HANKSTER LEDE: Independent voters want 'New direction' over 'experience' in (The Swamp/Baltimore Sun)

THE CAMPAIGN:

• Initiative may affect election (News Leader - Springfield MO) Opposition to affirmative action is the new Southern strategy.
• Will Democracy Win? (The Nation)

INDIES SWITCH FOR PRIMARIES:

• OREGON: Switching political parties? You have a deadline (Albany Democrat-Herald) There are 436,070 unaffiliated voters in Oregon, and 12,597 members of the Independent Party
• Voters Flock To Democratic Party During Iowa Caucuses (KCCI - Des Moines)

PENNSYLVANIA: For Obama, an Uphill Battle in Pennsylvania (By Dan Balz, The Trail/Washington Post)

NORTH CAROLINA: Filing process a smooth one for Board of Elections (Lumina News - Wrightsville) Preparations for open primary

IS NADER RELEVANT? * How Nader Has Made Himself Irrelevant (Lenora Fulani, The Daily Voice) * Nader, the Greens, and Building a Movement (Dissident Voice) * Once the spoiler, Nader no longer seen as a threat (Michigan Daily)

PACleanSweep says Vote NO on Nov. 6

PACleanSweep (on The Hankster sidebar) is urging every Pennsylvanian to go to the polls on November 6 and cast a resounding 'NO' vote on every one of the PA judges who accepted a pay raise. You can select your county for the list.

I first met Russ Diamond, the founder of PACleanSweep, when he attempted to run for gov of Pennsylvania as an independent in 2006. He failed to reach the ridiculous ballot access requirement of 68,000 signatures (volunteers collected a hefty 38,000 statewide), but he has never given up on organizing independents, anti-incumbents and just plain folks to speak out about the corruption of the two-party system and the democratic process.

Earlier in September, the Philadelphia Daily News reported that "some anti-pay-raise activists, such as Russ Diamond of Pennsylvania Clean Sweep, note that Saylor [a State Supreme Court Justice seeking re-election] was part of a 6-0 Supreme Court decision upholding the way the Legislature approved slot-machine parlors - a dead-of-night vote on a bill that received no detailed public scrutiny until after it passed."

USA Today reported last week: "Pennsylvania judges went a decade without any raise in base pay, according to Stuart Ditzen, a spokesman for the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts. In July 2005, the Legislature raised salaries for lawmakers, judges and other state officials — during a 2 a.m. vote that enraged voters and led to the defeat of at least six legislative leaders that November. Voters also ousted Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Russell Nigro — the first time in state history, Ditzen says, that a high-court justice was voted off the bench. After the election, the Legislature repealed the pay raise for everyone."

It's not about the money, Russ is quoted in the article, "it's about the way they got it."

Keep up the good work, PACleanSweep!

Deveopmental Blogging

Welcome to the developing independent blogosphere! Here's the latest from Pennsylvania (now featured on the Hankster blogroll):

PAindependents.org

Check it out!

Hello Fellow Independents:
Independent Pennsylvanians is proud to roll out our very own web site for activities and initiatives we are leading here locally and state wide (visit www.PAindependents.org). Please check it out when you have a moment. One of the first activities we are kicking off is a media advocacy and education campaign re: our CUIP presidential poll - exciting stuff - we will keep you posted.
We hope all is going well in building our movement and voice in you state/region.
Best,Stephen Bouikidis ChairpersonPA Independents
Independent Pennsylvanians
245 South 16th Street
Philadelphia PA 19102
Contact: Jennifer Bullock
Tel: 215-957-5073
Email: jbullock1@comcast.net

Deveopmental Blogging

Welcome to the developing independent blogosphere! Here's the latest from Pennsylvania (now featured on the Hankster blogroll):

PAindependents.org

Check it out!

Hello Fellow Independents:
Independent Pennsylvanians is proud to roll out our very own web site for activities and initiatives we are leading here locally and state wide (visit www.PAindependents.org). Please check it out when you have a moment. One of the first activities we are kicking off is a media advocacy and education campaign re: our CUIP presidential poll - exciting stuff - we will keep you posted.
We hope all is going well in building our movement and voice in you state/region.
Best,Stephen Bouikidis ChairpersonPA Independents
Independent Pennsylvanians
245 South 16th Street
Philadelphia PA 19102
Contact: Jennifer Bullock
Tel: 215-957-5073
Email: jbullock1@comcast.net

AIN'T EASY BEING GREEN

FILM SCREENING: A 92 MINUTE DOCUMENTARY

MONDAY APRIL 9, 2007
STITELER HALL AUDITORIUM (ROOM B6)
AT THE CORNER OF 208 S. 37TH STREET (BETWEEN WALNUT AND LOCUST STREETS AT 37TH STREET)
PHILADELPHIA, PA
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
5:30-6:30pm- There will be dinner and mingling.
6:30-8:00pm- Film screening.
8:00-9:00pm- Panel Discussion with reps from Annenberg, PoliSci Dept. and History Dept.

Morse-Levin Productions Presents:
AIN'T EASY BEING GREEN
Directed by Stephen Robert Morse
Edited by Matthew Langhirt
Ain't Easy Being Green depicts the obstacles faced by Carl Romanelli, the Green Party's nominee for United States Senator from Pennsylvania in 2006. A quirky character who set himself apart from the other candidates in this race, Romanelli battled numerous legal challenges from the Democratic Party, because Democrats across the nation were furious that he would spoil the election. But Carl Romanelli did not go away quietly, and this is his story.

Cosponsored by: Political Science Department, Wharton Venture Initiation Program, History Undergraduate Advisory Board, PoliComm, Women's Studies Undergraduate Advisory Board, 34th Street Magazine, The Middle East Forum at Penn, and the Libertarian Speaker Committee.

THIS SCREENING IS COMPLETELY FREE. PLEASE BRING ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS, RELATIVES, AND ANYONE INTERESTED IN POLITICS!