The Term "Independent Voter" Is Completely Meaningless

Several hardcore, right wing, and reliably Republican voters are labeling themselves these days as "Independent", in an effort to distance themselves from the failed Bush presidency.

These so called, newly independent voter skew all of the major polling data that you're seeing.

Independent means just that: not registered with any party affiliation.

Why do you think it skews the polling data?

Calling themselves independent. So, when a poll states that Obama's standing among Independents is low, the label "Independents" is skewed because it contains many far-right, reliably Republican voters who just lable themselves that way instead of Republicans.

They are reliable GOP voters. And they will continue to vote GOP, and then also claim it was an "Independent" decision.

I've been thinking about going Indie for a couple weeks now.

The media wants to portray independents as people with no political party affiliation nor ideology.

In your case, you're not an Independent. You are a Liberal that does not identify with a political party, and you should be labeled as such. You should not be labeled as independent.

I still believe the vast majority of independents are people that identify with the Dem's on some issues and the Repubs on others. I was registered as an independent voter for the first four years after I became eligible to vote. I just didn't really trust either of the parties and hadn't quite formed my own political beliefs to that point.

I do think that quite a few very reliable GOP voters changed to independent during the Bush years as the true idiocy of the party's leaders became apparent. They will probably flock back to the party if a sane candidate or leader emerges. But, I don't think the numbers are large enough to skew the data anymore than a few percentage points.

Overall, I think independent voters are angry with both parties and government in general. They see a lot of sound bites, but very little substantial action. They are angry that their government, be it Repub or Dem, is failing to address their concerns. That is why we see so many otherwise sane people identifying with fringe anti-government movements like the tea bag morons or Ron Paul.

1. You have people that identify with a political party and an ideology.

2. You have people that identity with a political party, but not an ideology.

3. You have people that neither identify with a political party nor a particular ideology.


That last group should be considered Independent.

In your case, you would be identified as a Progressive with no strong political party affiliation.

calls himself an Independent...

Tea parties are Republican too. Steal the media... two for one. They can own the day by being two different parties.

There have always been right-leaning independents, left-leaning independents, libertarian independents, and just plain old garden variety "I'll vote for whoever I'd like to have a beer with" independents.

If anything, my perception has always been that independents always consisted of more conservatives than liberals.

People always confuse 'independent' with being, perhaps, centrist, between conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats. Not in the least bit true.