Republicans playing hardball may find themselves in a game-point match...

There wasn't much in this article that came as a surprise to me, with the exception of Vermont's Republican Party challenging Howard Dean to "come clean" by allowing public access to his gubernatorial records. I'd say "I'll show you mine, if you show me yours", know what I mean? It's common knowledge among people with above an 8th-grade level education that Papa Bush is holding Sonny Bush's records in his library at his ranch in Texas. And somehow I doubt that Dean's records are any more important than the CURRENT president's when it comes down to "coming clean". Can't stand the heat, get outta' the kitchen. The Republicans opened up this can of worms. I hope they don't get away with it...


By EMILY FREDRIX, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Independents, who outnumber Democrats or Republicans, need a good reason to head to the voting booth, according to a survey released Thursday.



The poll, conducted for the New Democratic Network, found that slightly more than 40 percent identify themselves as independents, 32 percent called themselves Republicans and 27 percent said they were Democrats.


But these so-called "swing voters" were more than twice as likely not to vote than people who consider themselves Republican or Democrat, a factor for the candidates running in the 2004 election.


"They have to be appealed to in a nonpartisan way in order to overcome their hesitance of politics itself," said Mark Penn, who did the poll for the centrist organization.


Penn is the former pollster for President Clinton (news - web sites) and currently is working for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Lieberman (news - web sites), one of the more conservative contenders in the nine-candidate field.


Penn's survey of 1,001 likely presidential election voters provided some demographic information. Independents are usually white suburbanites, between ages 25 and 49, and likely to use a computer at work. They list the news as their favorite television show and football as their preferred sport.


Seven of 10 swing voters consider themselves moderate or conservative, making them potential backers of either party.


"The American electorate is fairly volatile, probably more volatile now because of less affiliation with parties and more contact with national media," Penn said.


Among the subgroup, according to Penn, are "office-park dads," men apt to be workaholics and likely to volunteer with civic ventures, reflecting an interest in community just not in politics.


Penn said the influence of "office-park dads" could echo that of "soccer moms," whose support for Democrats in 1996 helped secure a second-term for Clinton.


The poll was done June 8-15 and had an error margin of plus or minus 3.1 percent.


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The head of the Republican Party in Vermont called on Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean to open all his gubernatorial records, including those he had sealed for a decade.


A little more than half of the thousands of records Dean accumulated during his nearly 12 years as Vermont governor are available to the public; the rest are sealed and will not be opened until 2013, 10 years after Dean's tenure ended.


"If Howard Dean plans to run on his record in Vermont, he needs to share that record with the public," Vermont Republican Chairman Jim Barnett said. "The American people should not just have to take his word for it."


Dean spokeswoman Tricia Enright said Barnett's call was politically motivated and Dean had followed the practice of previous governors, including Republicans.


"The vast majority of his records have been made public, including all official correspondence, proclamations, declarations, pardons, extraditions and appointments," Enright said.





Vermont governors typically ask that a portion of their records remain private for several years after they leave office. In Dean's case, the time — a decade — is longer than other former governors. Former Govs. Richard Snelling, a Republican, and Madeleine Kunin, a Democrat, set six years before all their papers were opened to public scrutiny.

Shortly before he left office in January, Dean said he wanted a longer period because of his White House bid.

"Well, there are future political considerations," he said at a news conference. "We didn't want anything embarrassing appearing in the papers at a critical time in any future endeavor."

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Associated Press Writer Ross Sneyd in Montpelier, Vt., contributed to this report.

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