After the Trump/Newsmax debacle, this isn’t a surprise. Still, does The Donald really believe he has a chance? From The Hill: Donald Trump changed his voter registration Thursday to Independent, his special counsel confirmed to The Hill. “[Trump registered] in order to preserve his right to run as an Independent after the finale of ‘The [...]

Charlie Cook runs the numbers and sees the tide turning against the “less government” crowd. From National Journal: Why is this important? Because independent voters are the ones who matter most in American politics. More than 90 percent of Democratic voters can be expected to vote Democratic, just as more than 90 percent of Republicans [...]

The initial reports today speculated about presidential aspirations. But what tomorrow’s press conference is really about is his intentions for the Senate. Politico has the story… Lieberman will announce that he will not seek re-election Wednesday in Stamford, Conn., ending months of speculation about whether Lieberman would run as an independent, a Republican, a Democrat, [...]

As we somberly walk with the funeral procession following the midterm election, the air is filled with cries, lamentations, rending of garments, and portents of doom from Democrats and liberals, much as we heard from Republicans and conservatives after the Republican Party was buried following the 2008 results.

Under the mountain of navel gazing, finger-pointing, self-serving spin, and bitter invective found in the left-o-sphere, we can still find a few gems of sparkling analysis, insight and useful advice. For your consideration – two examples of Progressive postmortems that caught my attention. But to mine a rich vein of solid gold analysis, we must first separate and dispose of the slag. There are two very different Progressive perspectives of the election, electorate, and, most importantly, the way forward. Consider which of the two is informed by common sense, logic and data and which is informed by rhetoric, sophistry and rage. I submit they are representative of two significant and incompatible constituencies within the Democratic Party. The schism has been there all along, but was papered over in 2006 and 2008 by the unifying principle of Bush Hate. Regardless of how skilled Axelrod, Gibbs, and Plouffe may be skilled at “triangulation”, the Obama administration cannot simultaneously turn left and turn toward the center. I hope Democrats choose wisely, as I really don’t want to see us return to one party Republican rule in 2013. they shouldn’t rely on Palin and Tea Party to hand the 2012 election to the Democrats. They just may disappoint them. Again.

It’s jumped considerably since the 2008 election. But do people really want the Tea Party to be the third way? Gallup with more… My gut tells me that most folks understand that the Tea Partiers are just really angry conservatives who are lashing out at their own for supporting fiscally irresponsible behavior. And yes, there [...]

USA Today highlights an interesting trend that may be good news for the centrists, indies, moderate repubs and moderate dems out there. A taste… WARWICK, R.I. — Lincoln Chafee comes from a long line of Rhode Island governors, three in the previous four generations, all of them Republicans. Now the former Republican senator and mayor [...]

I wont be nearly the first person to be writing about California’s Proposition 14. I’m coming late into the game, having only listened to the vague positive talking points of the California Independent Voter Network (CAIVN), and their allies, who have talked this proposition up. But I began to see some dissent, and took at [...]

For some people, the development of the new Coffee Party USA organization seemed like a godsend in response to the more extreme elements in the Tea Party movement. At first I thought that this could be the grassroots movement I’d been waiting for – one that actually included moderates independents, and actively worked across ideological [...]

Heard about this? Well, you will. Basically, open primaries are where the top two vote getters move on to the general, with the hopeful net result being that Dems and Repubs wouldn’t have to appeal to the more extreme elements of their party to get to the big show. Here’s more… So, no more party [...]

The gap has shrunk a bit, but the economy is turning around so in a year’s time it’s unlikely we’ll have the problems we’re having today. Basically, the question will then be… “Who is responsible for the economic growth in this country?” Gallup has more on that… Obama has stated that he “inherited the most [...]

If you dig into the demographics of approval/disapproval on the health care question, some interesting trends emerge… As expected, those who have health care don’t like reform. Because it won’t mean much for them and Dems haven’t made a compelling case that it will drive down their premiums. Well, not yet anyway. However, those who [...]

Latest and greatest news and views about California’s open primary initiative, Proposition 14, on the ballot June 8. Partisans showed their true colors last week with back-room deals and litigation on the ballot wording. Prominent independent attorney Harry Kresky’s commentary on HuffPo “Words Matter” sheds lots of light on the nature of our democracy. And [...]

SEIU prez Andrew Stern is threatening to “go independent” on local races to oppose Dems who oppose Prez Obama’s healthcare reform bill. One enabling factor in New York is fusion voting, which has empowered third parties like the New York Independence Party, Conservative Party and Working Families Party. Meanwhile, former Dem La Plata County Colorado [...]

California Court of Appeals says no to Proposition 14 opponents, which is good news for independent voters. From CAIVN: “The Court rejected the CSEA language, preserved the lower court’s language, and ordered the restoration of the Legislative Analyst’s prediction of cost savings associated with the measure.” And open primaries gaining support in Pennsylvania and Illinois. [...]

More commentary this weekend on California’s Proposition 14 “top two” open primary referendum after Judge Allen Sumner’s ballot wording ruling on Friday. The ruling was seen as a win for independent voters by attorney Harry Kresky of IndependentVoting and by Californians for an Open Primary/Yes on 14… Meanwhile, state Rep. Hunter Greene, a Republican who [...]

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Allen Sumner is expected to rule today on the ballot language for Prop 14. Leading independent Attorney Harry Kresky speaks out on the legal fight over the “top two” open primaries referendum: “When the California legislature voted to put Proposition 14 on the ballot this June, it crafted a summary of [...]

Independent voters in California (aka “decline to state”) vote in primaries at the whim of the party big-shots. And California Dems (including the school employees union) are playing some bad language games trying to dissuade voters from supporting Proposition 14, the “Top Two” open primary referendum on the ballot for a vote in June that [...]

The Massachusetts special election to fill Ted Kennedy’s seat continues to reverberate (or is that ricochet?) in the media [for a quick round-up of latest Charlie Cook in National Journal, Robert Reich on Huffington Post, Dan Balz in Washington Post and Kristi Keck on CNN, see today's Hankster] and independent voters remain center stage (the [...]

For my money, Scarborough is one of the best political talking heads around. He’s sincere, thoughtful and genuinely seems like he wants to get to the bottom of the issues. Recently he penned a must read column over at Huffington Post that’s already feels timeless. Here’s how he starts… Ten years ago, Charles Krauthammer took [...]

While Dem and Repub parties are bleeding members, ranks of independents continue to rise… The nation’s foremost ballot access expert Richard Winger continues to wage a formidable effort against the popular open “Top Two” primary referendum that will be on the June ballot in California. While I’m on the other side of the issue, I [...]