I love the sound of a ballot being cast; it rings true.

I'm so glad that NH was as big a "surprise" as Iowa. It demonstrates loudly and clearly that the people speak far more eloquently and accurately than any poll or pundit.

I've been very disheartened by the way the media has controlled this process through exclusion and selective coverage, and by discouraging voters from exercising their true feelings because they employ their Jedi mind control and tell us who we should view as electable and who is not worthy of our time, attention, or ballot choice.

Did anyone else notice that Ron Paul was the only candidate that networks (not C-Span) cut away from during his post-primary speech? These same networks have excluded legitimate presidential candidates from debates and repeatedly denied them the same attention and coverage that the other better funded candidates enjoyed ... despite the fact that those are the very opportunities (as Bill Richardson pointed out) that level the playing field for non-celebrity candidates and offer meaningful exposure to the electorate.

I hope the pollsters and the pundits (and the parties, sorry John) will stop being so controlling and let the people speak ... the candidates and the voters.

Thank you, John, for engaging in real conversation about whether party politics works and the role of independents and the primary process. This is the kind of conversation that needs to continue well beyond this election. As an independent I feel very fortunate to be able to participate in what is closed to many. We need to fix this primary (and campaign) process in so many ways, so more voices and more voters can be heard ... rather than dictated to or denied.