The Power of the independents...

In Toledo two of the five main mayoral candidates are independents, one is a Republican and two are Democrats. Some have made a big deal out of the rise of the independent candidates for mayor and for City Council yet the reality is Toledo has non-partisan municipal elections so here, the whole party label or no label really is not as critical as on a partisan election basis.

That said, while there is some truth to tomorrow's column by Charlie Cook, Bleeding Independents it's not quite beyond the bandage point. The reality that most like to ignore is that more people who vote are of no party than of D or R. It's something I keep pointing out on my local blog that people love to ignore when they proclaim that "Toledo is a Democrat town" -- No it's not...People in Toledo vote for Democrats but registered Democrats in Toledo do not hold a majority, though there are quite a bit more of them than registered Republicans most voters don't declare a party, which means they don't vote in the partisan primaries. Which realistically leaves them with no voice until the general election where they are forced to decide between the Democrat elected by more voters or the Republican elected by less voters. Simple common sense should dictate how that plays out most times...

Toledo is not some strange microcosm, though some may want to believe that, independents who felt their chances were better with Obama over McCain are not going to abandon ship unless there is a better alternative to what we have now. For Republicans to score big in 2010 they have to do something more than just say "No" -- and political parties know how important 2010 is when it comes to the apportionment boards...Which means both Democrats and Republicans will have their game faces on and be raising money as well as spending money to win and to try to convince a disgusted, at times apathetic public that they are the lesser of two evils...