Poll Watch: The Rise of the Independent Voter
There has been much discussion as of late as to the declining Republican Party and its demise as a “regional” party. Of course, this is bull and Flap has shown you why.
Now, Mark Blumenthal over at Pollster has his latest Party ID Chart.
- Democrats – 36.7%
- Independents – 33.5%
- Republicans – 26.4%
And, here are the most recent trends:
The most striking feature of the chart is not the drop in Republicans, but rather the increase in independent identification. The decline in Republican ID is a nearly parallel decline for the Democrats. That trend is not surprising, as partisan identification often increases slightly during the last few months of an election year and fade afterward. However, note that the Pew Research report labels the magnitude of increase among independents as “noteworthy” as it appears much greater than what they observed in 2005.
Why more independent voters?
Well, for one, why register with a party when in some states you can vote in whichever primary election you wish.
Or, perhaps American voters are tired of labels.
In any case, the majority of elections will be won be appealing to the independents, on an election by election basis as their numbers increase. Judging success of a political party by its either increasing or decreasing registration numbers may not be that important any longer, especially since both major parties are shrinking.
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