TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Important independent voters share common goals for U.S. (The Tennessean) Who are the independents? One of them is writer Marcia Ford, and she'll tell you: "Ideologically, we run the gamut from right-wing fundies to radical lefties, from pro-abortion conservatives to anti-gay-marriage liberals, from embarrassed ex-Republicans to disillusioned ex-Democrats, from Catholic, mainline Protestant and evangelical Christians to religious and secular Jews to Buddhists and the ever popular 'highly spiritual' types.''
• NC: Voter registration ending Friday (St. Paul's Review The Robesonian) There are 52,809 registered Democrats in Robeson County, 7,511 Republicans, and 8,707 Unaffiliated (Independent) voters registered in Robeson.
• NC: Unaffiliated voters flood election rolls (Watauga Democrat) In September, 3,484 people registered in Watauga County and nearly half, or 1,588, were unaffiliated — compared to 891 Democrats, 992 Republicans and 13 Libertarians.

OREGON OPEN PRIMARY Measure 65

• Measure 65, ending partisan primaries in Oregon, raises lots of questions (The Oregonian) The open primary system "lets everybody vote for the best candidate."
• Gronke, Kiesling square off in Measure 65 debate (Politicker OR)
• Dancer would make office nonpartisan- Secretary of state candidate spoke at Linn Republican Women luncheon (Albany Democrat-Herald)

CAMPAIGN

• FOX NEWS POLL: OBAMA 46, McCAIN 39 (FOXNews) Independents split their vote 34 percent Obama and 32 percent McCain, with 24 percent unsure.
• 10/10/08 FOX News Poll: The Candidates and Character (FOXNews) among the critical bloc of independent voters, more think Obama puts his campaign first (44 percent) rather than his country (41 percent). Independents have no such qualms about McCain — 55 percent think he puts country over campaign.

NEW YORK POLITICS/INDEPENDENCE PARTY

• Democrats Are Gaining in State, Registration Data Shows (NY Times) Republican officials said that they were used to running — and winning — in an overwhelmingly Democratic state, and played down the significance of the enrollment trends. Voters, they said, would choose the candidate, not the party, and were attuned to the Republican message of lower taxes and balanced government. Moreover, all of the Republican candidates in close Senate races have been cross-endorsed by New York’s Independence Party, which has seen significant growth in recent years.
• Mayor Plans an $80 Million Campaign (NY Times)

Quality Reading: Ordinary Person on David Sirota's The Uprising

The Uprising says Liberal Arts Dude, "takes the reader on an utterly fascinating whirlwind tour of the various populist uprisings that are happening nationwide mostly obscured from the radar of mainstream public consciousness...." And 'Dude points out some rather notable missing elements in The Uprising -- this commentary is well worth reading!

And while you're there, be sure to read 'Dude's review of Marcia Ford's We The Purple. "The Liberal Arts Dude gives We the Purple five stars out of five!"

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Independents and Online Activism (By Marcia Ford, Donklephant)
• Give independents chance to vote (The Citizens Voice - PA)

NORTH CAROLINA

• Dems expect flurry of action-Obama, Clinton set up across street from each other (Independent Tribune - Concord and Kannapolis)
• Thanks Price, Watt (LETTER to Carrboro Citizen) Superdelegates endorse Obama
• Clinton faces uphill battle in North Carolina (CNN) Unaffiliated voters can participate in North Carolina's semi-open primary, and although Obama split independent voters with Clinton in Ohio and Texas, political observers say independents in North Carolina appear likely to tilt back toward Obama, as they have done in other southern states.
• Lower numbers taking advantage of early voting (Blue Ridge Times-News) So far, Republican, Democratic and unaffiliated voters turned out in similar numbers in Henderson County. More than 480 unaffiliated voters turned out, compared to 432 Republicans and 474 Democrats.

CAMPAIGN

• Napolitano: Dems fight won't help McCain in long run (by KTAR Newsroom)
• Wu endorses Obama, tying up Oregon's superdelegate count (The Oregonian)

POLLS

• Harvard survey: Young voters favor Obama over Clinton (Boston Globe)
• Despite youth hoopla, it's seniors who vote (San Francisco Chronicle) In a national survey of 514 GOP and independent voters released Thursday, 52 percent of Republicans said they felt irritated while viewing the anti-Obama North Carolina ad. Regardless, 46 percent of Republicans felt it would help McCain's chances in the general election compared to 37 percent of independents, according to the HCD Research survey.

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS * Voter Suppression and the Major Parties (By Marcia Ford, Donklephant)

CAMPAIGN * Is McCain a Different Kind of Republican? (Dan Balz, Washington Post/The Trail) Independent voters tilt far more in the direction of Democrats than they did four years ago.

PENNSYLVANIA

• Independents upset about being shut out of today's election (The Morning Call)
• Voters encounter few glitches at polls (The Express-Times) Unaffiliated or registered independent voters came to the polls expecting to vote, said Julia Starke, a judge of elections in the Western District 2 at Forks Township Community Center.
• Obama Campaign Shrugs off Clinton Win (Christian Broadcasting Network) Obama: Independent voters – the group that will decide the general election and a group Obama is particularly strong with – were not able to vote
• Smooth sailing so far at polls, officials say (The Patriot-News) There were some snags -- many involving independent voters who did not realize they were barred from voting in the primary.
• Party switchers lean toward Obama, exit polls show (Fox News) About half the party-switchers had been registered Republicans, while the rest had been unaffiliated with either party, and even more were voting for the first time in Pennsylvania.
• For most, it was a quiet day at the polls (The Patriot-News) Meanwhile, the group Voter Action sought a court order to keep polls open until 10 p.m. in Philadelphia amid complaints about long lines at eight polling places and a lack of emergency ballots to replace malfunctioning machines.
• Election Protection Coalition Fields Over 1,000 Calls Reporting Scattered Problems Throughout Pennsylvania (By Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Sun Herald - MS)

WEST VIRGINIA

• The morning after: Is West Virginia the new presidential battleground? (Bluefield Daily Telegraph) The Associated Press reported last week there are roughly 151,000 voters in West Virginia with “no party affiliation.”
• W.Va. Early Voting Begins Today (The Intelligencer/Wheeling News Register) Independent voters who wish to cast ballots in the Republican or Democratic primary must request a Republican or Democratic ballot at their courthouse during early voting or at their polling place on Election Day.

NORTH CAROLINA

• Brunswick rolls grow ahead of Democrats' rally (MyrtleBeachOnline) The biggest jump has been among Republicans, which went from 20,684 registered in 2004 to 26,155 on Tuesday, and unaffiliated, which was 10,935 in '04 and 16,286 Tuesday. Democrats also saw a gain of about 3,000 registered voters, from 24,523 in '04 to 27,340 Tuesday. There were five registered Libertarians in 2004 and none this year.
• Fresh blood (YES! Weekly-Greensboro NC) everybody's getting a piece of the action: Of the 150,000 or so new voters - a 2.6 percent increase in just three months - the Democrats garnered more than half, and 37 percent registered as unaffiliated.

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• `Restless' Independents, Not Parties, May Select U.S. President (By Heidi Przybyla, Bloomberg.com) Independents are the ``restless and anxious moderates,'' and their profile has ``broadened significantly'' over the past decade, Democratic pollster Doug Schoen said.
• South Dakota: The New Voice of Independence Party (V.I.P.) is Forming (Press Release from emediawire.com)

NORTH CAROLINA

• About 600 Dukies register to vote (Duke Chronicle) According to statistics from the Board of Elections, 545 of the total individuals registered were either Democratic or unaffiliated, qualifying them to vote in the May 6 showdown between Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
• Business owner launches ballot bid (Fayetteville Observer - NC) David Lisenby, a 57-year-old small-business owner in Laurinburg, says he doesn’t have much use for any of the presidential candidates this year — or the two major parties.

OPEN PRIMARIES

• WA: Republicans may benefit from 'top two' primary format (Yakima Herald-Republic)
• Give more attention to state's 375,000 'unaffiliated' voters (Pennsylvania Patriot) Has the time come for Pennsylvania to consider allowing voters registered as nonpartisan to participate in party primaries?

RELIGION & POLITICS

• A Rapidly Changing Flock Losing Our Religion (From The Pew Forum On Religion And Public Life-The Tampa Tribune)
• Compassion Forum Clings to Religion (Christianity Today) Even the president of the Messiah College Republicans said the presumptive Republican nominee hurt himself, particularly with religious conservatives, by declining an invitation to participate. CNN transcript of Compassion Forum
• America is entering a secular era (E.J. Dionne - Statesman Journal) Obama has been explicit about the need to broker political peace between Democrats and believers. "If we don't reach out to evangelical Christians and other religious Americans and tell them what we stand for, then the Jerry Falwells and Pat Robertsons and Alan Keyeses will continue to hold sway," he said at a 2006 meeting organized by the progressive evangelical Jim Wallis.
• Clinton, Obama put politics aside to discuss faith (CNN Election Center) For years, the evangelical community has largely supported Republican presidential candidates. However this year, evangelical leaders have split over presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, who is struggling to mend fences with some evangelical luminaries like James Dobson who have expressed disappointment with his selection.
• FOR MORE ON THIS SUBJECT, see Marcia Ford's We The Purple: Faith, Politics and the Independent Voter

We the Purple: Faith, Politics and the Independent Voter

We the Purple: Faith, Politics and the Independent Voter, by Marcia Ford.

A look at how rabid partisanship is prompting voters to go independent. Buy here.

A Hankster Must Read!

Marcia Ford has really hit the nail on the head in this smart and important call to action for independent voters -- and all Americans -- as we make our way through the murky partisan waters of today's politics. In addition to being chock-full of the ordinary folks around the country who are carrying out the fight for non-partisan and independent politics, Marcia brings her own personal story of transformation to the pages of this book. A delightful read! --NH