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Who Are These Independents?
In the Democratic nomination process, entrance polls have shown that Hilary Clinton has been supported by the majority of registered Democratic Party voters while Bernie Sanders has done better among who self identify as independent. In fact, Hilary has won almost every caucuses and primary which was “closed”, where only registered Democrats were allow to vote. Sanders has done much better in caucuses and primaries which were “open” to all voters meaning that independents and Republicans could also vote. So that brought up a question in my mind – who are these independents who are voting for Bernie Sanders.I used to think that all of the independents voters were moderates. I assumed they are people who did not want to be associated with either political party either because they are tired to the partisan gridlock in Washington and/or because they were unhappy with move of the Republican Party further to the right and the Democrats further to the left.
There are a lot of these so called independents out there. Gallup has done annual polling on the subject for years and currently 29% of Americans self identify as Democrats, 26% as Republicans, and 42% identify as independents. That leaves about 3% who I assume belong to third parties or never bother to vote.
I said “so called independents” because while they may not want to be identified as Democrats or Republicans 16% of those polled said they were independents who voted reliably for Democrats and another 16% were independents who voted reliably with the Republicans. So when we add in the 29% Democrats from above we come up with 45% who vote reliably for Democratic candidates. In the same manner we come with 26% + 16% = 42% of Americans who vote reliably Republican. That leaves only 10% of Americans who are truly independent, who might vote for a Democratic candidate in one election and a Republican in the next. I used to think that all of the independents were moderates. It looks like these 10% are only ones who are the true moderate independents in the middle.
Over the last few months have come to realize that there are a number of independents who are politically on the far left and have left the Democratic Party because it wasn’t liberal enough for their tastes.
Rest of article here: Who Are These Independents?
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