Hankster First Read: Colorado Open Records Act Goes to Senate

CORA [Colorado Open Records Act] black-out bill goes to senate (Center Post Dispatch) Despite concerns voiced by election activists, a Senate committee passed a bi-partisan bill last Wednesday that will black out Colorado elections, preventing reporters and concerned citizens from viewing voted ballots and election records during the two-month election cycle... Election integrity activists Marilyn Marks of Pitkin County, Harvie Branscomb of Eagle County, Joe Richey and Mary Eberle of Boulder County, Kathleen Curry of Gunnison County and others also testified against the bill.  


INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Make independent voting easier  and Independents don't want partisan candidates:  Independents speak out about the election process in letters to the editor, while American Prospect puts its head in the sand...
• Linda Killian, Independent Rock Star! Maine Festival of the Book: Read on! (By Bob Keyes, Press Herald) With Snowe's announcement, Cecil found herself with a hot topic and a timely talking point for the festival. On Saturday, former U.S. Rep. Tom Allen and Washington political insider Linda Killian will present a panel discussion, "Politics Today: Swing and Independent Voters, Party Divides and Ideological Convictions."

OPEN PRIMARIES
Keep open primaries in S.C. (Post and Courier - SC) The hard-core party faithful might approve of legislation to require party registration in primary elections, since eliminating open primaries could strenghten their influence over the outcome. But it would remove a moderating influence that South Carolina needs as it elects its leaders.


WFP AND ALL THINGS NEW YORK

• Working Families Party raises for Hakeem Jeffries against Towns, citing CAFTA and Issa (By Reid Pillifant, CAPITAL NEW YORK)
• Pension and redistricting dominate the Albany conversation (By STEPHON JOHNSON, Amsterdam News)
• Boro pols slam new district lines - Accuse Gov. Cuomo of retreating on promise to veto (by Anna Gustafson, Senior Editor, Queens Chronicle) Some good government groups, including Citizens Union and the League of Women Voters, have praised the constitutional amendment, though Citizens Union has emphasized it did not support the 2012 lines as drawn. "Given the long standing resistance to enacting redistricting reform, and the high stakes involved, we applaud them in finding common ground on an issue that is at the core of political power in Albany and results in the legislature giving up power in the drawing of lines," Citizens Union said in a prepared statement.
  

PARTY-ISM
Have "outside" interested PR men hijacked the Republican Party? Kevin Baker explores the outsourcing of the body and soul of the Repubs...

EDUCATION
Eva Moskowitz expands Success Charter Schools network into middle-class Manhattan and Brooklyn neighborhoods.


INDEPENDENT CULTURE
Charles E. Rogers, Amsterdam News, sez: Trust me you, your family and friends don’t want to miss the Castillo Theater’s fantastic “Sally and Tom (The American Way).”
   Full disclosure: The Hankster is a very big BIG fan of the Castillo Theatre and I could not agree more with Charles Rogers -- trust us, you do NOT want to miss this show -- and the run has been extended, so you get another chance. Watch for new dates in April/May

Tea Party: Republican and Unpopular

Lots of ink lately about the unpopularity of the tea party among American voters, particularly independents, and discussion of the tea party's location as the right wing of the Repub Party:

TEA PARTY

• Study: Tea Party Is Least Popular Group (Pensito Review) Early on tea partiers were often described as non-partisan politic neophytes. Actually, the tea party’s supporters today were highly partisan Republicans long before the tea party was born. In fact, past Republican affiliation is the single strongest predictor of tea party support today. Next to being a Republican, the strongest predictor of being tea party supporter today was a desire, back in 2006, to see religion play a prominent role in politics … They were disproportionately social conservatives in 2006…


• VIDEO Rachel Maddow with David E. Campbell

2012: What Are the Repubs To Do?

2012

• Paging Reasonable Republicans (Mark McKinnon, The Daily Beast) Long-shot presidential candidate Jon Huntsman is stirring the pot by challenging the far-right lunacy of the GOP primary race. Mark McKinnon says the grown-up talk is just what the party needs—and why it’s not too late for a reasonable conservative to jump in.


• Ex-NY Gov. Pataki mulls possible presidential run (Wall Street Journal, Associated Press) Among them are what Pataki considers Obama's lack of a serious plan to deal with the nation's debt, and Pataki's own moderate views that could attract independent voters in the important New Hampshire primary.