Independents Clearly One Third of Electorate, Racially Diverse

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Partisan Trends: 33.5% of Americans are Republicans, 33.5% Unaffiliated, 33.0% Democrats (Rasmussen Reports) While the ranks of unaffiliateds grew during the month of the debt ceiling debate, the number in the president’s party declined. Now, 33.0% consider themselves to be Democrats, down from 34.8% in July and the lowest level measured in seven years.
• Rasmussen: Unaffiliated voters rise to their highest level ever (by Christopher A. Guzman, CAIVN)
• Independent voters: Disenfranchised and racially diverse (Public Radio International) Taeku Lee, a political scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, told The Takeaway: What struck me was the overwhelming presumption that when speaking of independent voters, you're speaking of a predominantly white segment of the electorate, which all the exit polls from 2008 show that clearly, independent voters today in the United States are a far more demographically diverse segment of the electorate. iTunes AUDIO

Obama Wants to Talk to Independents, But Is He Listening?

Lots of people want to give advice to Pres. Obama. But who is he listening to? If he were listening to independent voters (now clearly one third of the electorate, even according to Rasmussen), he might change his tune -- America needs political reforms like open primaries in order for ordinary people to be heard. Hey, Mr. President, could you lend a hand? It just might change your game!


OBAMA

• How Obama Can Be a Non-Partisan President (Jacqueline Salit, Huffington Post)  For many independents, it's not enough for Obama to simply criticize Congressional leaders for their partisan intransigence. He has to show that he's willing to back certain structural changes in the political process that make such intransigence more difficult. This means taking a stand in support of open primaries where independents can vote, which are currently under fire from right wing Republicans. And, imagine the shock waves that would follow an Obama appointment (in consultation with leaders of the independent movement) of two independents to vacant seats on the Federal Election Commission.
• Obama's problem? No one fears him (By Roland S. Martin, CNN Contributor) Maybe White House senior adviser David Plouffe and campaign manager Jim Messina think the tactic the president is taking is appealing to independent voters. But the unwillingness to go to the mat on anything has angered some of his ardent supporters, who feel the White House will leave them hanging in the wind when it's time to fight.
• How Obama could be the leader in the room (By David Gergen, CNN Contributor) There is a third course that does seem to have at least a possibility of working. That is: Let the president come forward with a detailed plan that he favors. Having taken the lead, let him then ask the Republicans to come to the White House in 10 days with their own plan. (Boehner is giving a speech on the economy and jobs in Washington on September 15.) And then let them sit down at Blair House and see if they can agree on a package -- three items from the Democratic column, three from the Republican.
• CNN Poll: 8 in 10 think we're in a recession (By: CNN's Adam Levy) Don’t expect Republicans to stop demanding more budget cuts though. Almost half of GOPers surveyed say deficit reduction is just as important as creating more jobs, including those who identify themselves as tea party supporters. Democrats strongly disagree. Eighty-three percent want the president to focus more on job growth, and two-thirds of independents say the same.
• South Carolina Independents Would Vote for Colbert Over Obama (By Adam Clark Estes, National Journal) With the support of 24 percent of the state's independent votes, Colbert is beating Obama's 22 percent but he's still trailing Republican frontrunner Rick Perry by three points.

Americans Don't Think the Federal Government Has 'Consent of the Governed'

Expect a Third-Party Candidate in 2012 - Ross Perot in 1992 and John Anderson in 1980 garnered exceptionally high levels of support.  (By PATRICK H. CADDELL And DOUGLAS E. SCHOEN, Wall Street Journal)  The United States is in the midst of what we would both call a prerevolutionary moment, and there is widespread support for fundamental change in the system. An increasing number of Americans are now searching beyond the two parties for bold and effective leadership.

A Rasmussen Reports poll conducted earlier this month found that "just 17% of likely U.S. voters think that the federal government today has the consent of the governed," while an extraordinary 69% "believe the government does not have that consent." 

2012

• The Democratic Jobs Debate As Mass Denial (Jonathan Chait, The New Republic) But his plan needs to be understood as a political strategy, not as a legislative strategy. The point of it is to propose something that is popular and which Obama can blame Republicans for blocking. There is no upside in blaming the opposition for blocking a bill that voters don't want to pass.
• Margin Favoring Repeal Hits 20 Points (By JEFFREY H. ANDERSON, The Weekly Standard/The Blog) If this news weren’t bad enough for the White House’s current occupant, independent voters are even less fond of Obamacare than voters as a whole. By a tally of 58 to 37 percent, independents support repeal. Among independents who feel “strongly” (either way), 49 percent support repeal, while only 21 percent oppose it — nearly one-half to barely one-fifth.
• Jay Carney: Obama helping African-Americans (By REID J. EPSTEIN, Politico)
• Cornyn: 'WH wishes' Huntsman would run as Independent (By Michael O'Brien, The Hill/Twitter Room) Cornyn, one of the GOP's campaign gurus who heads the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), mused on Twitter that it would be in President Obama's interest for Huntsman to seek the presidency as an Independent candidate.
• Huntsman, best candidate for a third party (By LZ Granderson, CNN) But then I look at the field of Republican candidates and I just feel trapped, as our election process has become less about which candidate you prefer and more like which limb you want to cut off.
• Obama appeals to black voters amid criticism from lawmakers, rights leaders (in Cleveland Plain Dealer) "And it's important for us to make sure that we're following through on those commitments, even if it's slow and frustrating sometimes."

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

Independent voters are being used at a football in the current partisan power struggle:

Town Hall "Is Obama the Next Jimmy Carter?" and Gary Andres slams "fickle independent voters" in the Weekly Standard. Consider this a compliment! It's no wonder that conservatives and Repub reps are trying to use independents as a hammer -- they have to counter the fact that the Dems are trying to insert independents into that party en masse... There's more conservative press here and here's what some of the Libertarians think...

Rasmussen reports and The Moderate Voice explains

Tuscon Skinny: Arizona independent registration is up.

California looks to open primaries to break up partisan gridlock

And btw, if you haven't seen this -- The Hankster got a nod from The Moderate Voice -- along with lots of other worthy smaller blogs -- check it out!

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Congressional scandal-Nation nearly unanimous in loathing the legislative branch (Augusta Chronicle) The most startling and telling breakout fact from the Rasmussen poll is that among independent voters, only 3 percent think this Congress is doing a good job.... This is the most serious indictment of Congress in memory. Making it an even more spectacular insult is the fact that no discernible scandal was necessary to bring on this sweeping censure.
• Congressional Approval Falls to 9% (Donklephant) Independent voters lead the pack

REFORM:

Washington "Top Two" open primary;

California redistricting with nonpartisan commission

• WA: Parties should accept primary system that voters clearly prefer (The Daily News)
• CA: Experts Expound (Capitol Weekly Readers) It's back: A ballot initiative to take redistricting away from the Legislature and turn it over to an independent commission.
• WA: Restoring Primary Power to the People (Kitsap Sun Editorial) That's the bottom line in Washington state's historic "top two" primary election, to be held Aug. 19.

CAMPAIGN

• Dems follow Obama down centrist path (The Hill) Democrats have decided to focus on economic and security issues designed to appeal to a wide range of voters, especially independents who are concerned about soaring gas prices and the slumping stock and housing markets.
• What to do about Iraq? Obama's getting a lot of advice (Minneapolis Post)
• The Stand That Obama Can't Fudge (By E. J. Dionne Jr., Washington Post)
• The Three Party System - The New Political Party is Conservative Democrats (American Chronicle)

LOCAL INDEPENDENT POLITICS
KY: Laurel resident running for Congress (Times-Tribune) Independent candidate Jim Holbert files for Congressional run saying, "We've got to stop 'politics as usual' and start bringing common sense to our regional and national problems.

THIRD PARTY POLITICS

• Characters provides 3rd option (The Hill) Dr. Death, Jesse the Body and the Peace Mom. Oh, my.
• Minnesota's Ventura May Bid to Pin Down Senate Seat (CQ Politics)
• Cynthia McKinney Names V-P Running Mate (Ballot Access News) Zentronix blog [SEE BELOW] says that the McKinney-Clemente ticket would be the first in U.S. history of two women of color. However, in 1992, the New Alliance Party ticket was Lenora Fulani and Maria Elizabeth Munoz.
• Green Party Taps Hip-Hop Activist Rosa Clemente For VP (Zentronix) This is an interesting read on current Green Party politics viz Ralph Nader

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• DEBATE SUNDAY: Iraq, Economy May Be Key Issues In Debate (WMUR)
• Mackinaw Policy Conference: Who will be next president? D.C. pundits unsure-In the last election, when Congress' control swung to the Democrats, independent voters favored Democrats by an 18-point margin, largely because of the war. (Detroit News)
• Rasmussen Poll on How Voters Self-Identify (Ballot Access News)
• Texas Governor Vetoes Voting Rights Bill HB 770 (Ballot Access News)

News EXTRA for Independent Voters

• Number of Republicans in U.S. Hits New Low, Number of Democrats Also Decline (Rasmussen Reports)
• 27% Likely to Vote for Bloomberg as Third Party Candidate (Rasmussen Reports)

EXTRA Conversations on Independence

The Moderate Voice was among several blogs today to feature the May Rasmussen poll showing the decline in party identifiers. Independents Rising--Sort Of by Chris Bowers on MyDD shows the long-term independent voter registration figures from 1961 to 2004 rising from 1.6 to 21.7%. Chris also shows the decline in third party registration. American Taíno (nice blog, by the way) tells us that "Fifty-eight percent (58%) of American adults say it would be good for the United States to have a truly competitive third political party."

A new political reality in America (or is that one of the "original" American realities?) is that most people don't like political parties. I don't think the 58% figure contradicts this. Given the dismal record of our political parties (corruption, coersion, control), it's no wonder we're not so hot on the party structure as a way of representing US. But if there was another party that could take on the Big Guys, we love a good fight. That's what happened in 1860. Tragically, that played out in a costly Civil War in this country. Will it ever happen again? Maybe. I suspect the "lives" lost will be more like the political "jobs" lost, as in a patronage system that is so deep we can't begin to imagine. In the meantime, check out a national network of independent voters who are not counting on a party structure, or the Big Shots, to carry the ball to the finish line.....

Rasmussen reports

Poll: Most Americans think a third political party would be good for U.S. from Blogger News Network