NC: Columnist Calls for Independent Movement, Ballot Access Reform

From the News Record:

What North Carolina needs is a Charlie Crist. Crist is the Republican governor of Florida who last week said to heck with his party and announced he'll run for the U.S. Senate as an independent. Sure, the move makes Crist look like an opportunist who pulled out of the GOP primary race because he was getting drubbed in the polls by the more conservative candidate, Marco Rubio. So what? Crist answers with his new campaign slogan: Florida first. Which means: ahead of party. That's a message I'd like to see take hold in North Carolina someday. And that's why we need an independent pathfinder, too. If you only look at who wins elections, you'd think of North Carolina as a closely divided two-party state. Yet, voter-registration numbers tell a different story.