The Sioux Falls Argus Leader today had a story about voter registration figures for South Dakota.  Here is a link to the entire story:  http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080530/UPDATES/80530048   In short:  Registered Democrats in South Dakota have increased 5% since 2006, while Republicans have increased less than 1%.  Meanwhile, registered Independents have increased 10%.   In real figures instead of percentages, registered Republicans still outnumber Democrats by 40,000 voters in South Dakota.  However, the nearly 76,000 registered Independents comprise 15% of the state's voters.    Key figure:  Democrats + Independents together outnumber Republicans by 35,000 in South Dakota.  That's out of a total of 508,000 registered voters.   Just food for thought, especially in an election where Independents are very much up for grabs.  Possibly it won't mean anything in the grand scheme of swinging South Dakota from "red" to "blue."  However, with that many Independents in play, and with public sentiment generally unhappy with Republicans, it's a stat that shouldn't be ignored.   Also, don't discount the number of South Dakotans who are dissatisfied with the war, and who personally know someone who has been sent on repeated tours of duty, or who has been killed or maimed.  South Dakota is a small state, and the war has had a disproportionate impact here.  Not even all the Republicans are eager to vote for four more years of Bush policies in the form of John McCain.  I have yet to see a single McCain campaign sign, but I've seen dozens of Ron Paul signs.  Again, that's not a firm indication that people will do anything more than register a "protest" vote in the primary, but it bears watching.