In your personal experience, people who self-identify as "politically independent" are...

[Orrex]

I ask because every single person I've known who's claimed to be politically independent has, in fact, been pretty unambiguously Republican, voting Republican in every election and endorsing Conservative at every turn.

Is this generally true? Or is it simply a function of my (admittedly limited) sample size?

[seabeyond]

1. who i am and how i vote are two different things. depends if you are saying how do you vote

or what do you believe

[Lost4words]

2. you left out: Are most likely to feel disenfranchised by the 2 party system

[Coyote_Bandit]

3. +1,000,000 n/t

[Orrex]

11. If only I'd included some sort of "Other (Please specify)" category...

:evilgrin:

[Lost4words]

21. But you did! And I did specify! But I think it deserved its own line rather than other

as if it was just a small percentage of independants. Do I detect a little snarkieness there?! I deserved it I guess.

:hi:

[Orrex]

27. A little snarkiness, maybe.

But only a little! :pals:

[Scuba]

30. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 1,000

[Greyhound]

34. "Ignore what they say, watch what they do".

And what they do is keep us on this path to destruction.
:thumbsup:

[Angry Dragon]

42. I will go with this post

[rurallib]

4. used to be that they tended to be liberal IMHO

but recently, since there are less and less real liberal candidates the tide seems to be turning.

[vi5]

5. My opinion is the same as yours...

...as is my experience. My father in law is the perfect example. Claims up and down to be an independent yet at every turn always supports republicans and will never support a dem. And I know many others like him.

In my experience liberals who do not like to consider themselves dem tend to be more likely to affiliate with another, smaller party (Green, etc.)

[Love Bug]

6. I agree with you

I'm finding lately that those who claim to be independent voted for Bush and regret it. They just don't want to admit it because they know what fools they look like.

I don't think there is someone who is truly independent anyway. They may claim to "vote for the person, not the party" but they almost always lean one way or the other. I think they are naive, too, if they think the party doesn't matter.

[Orrex]

16. I have a friend who's a lifelong Conservative, but he insists that he didn't support Bush

However, when I ask if he voted for Gore and then Kerry, he says "who I voted for is nobody's business but mine."

I take that to mean what you describe--voted for W and regretted it!

[zipplewrath]

7. Three categories

1) Afraid to take a stand
2) Just basically inattentive and unaware
3) Feeling they don't belong anywhere.


They can have fairly consistent leanings in either direction. Right now I think the GOP is seeing more folks use the independent label to avoid the right wing nuts/baggers/birthers and social conservatives. About the time a democratic president gets a hummer from an intern, you see alot of moderate democrats leaning towards the label.

[fishwax]

8. I think it might be your sample size -- I've known "independents" of all stripes

A few who were basically straight republicans. My father, for instance, has at times claimed to be an independent, but he's really very republican except for on a few issues (such as reproductive rights). My mother, on the other hand, calls herself an independent--She voted for poppa bush in '92, but then voted for Clinton, Gore, and (I assume) Kerry in the next three elections. She voted for McCain this last time around, though. I've also known independents who were really on the edges of the democratic party, but were either personally too conservative--or found the party too conservative--to commit to it fully.

[pipi_k]

9. I'm politically Independent but vote Democrat most of the time

I don't know about anyone else, though.

:shrug:

[Orrex]

14. I used small-i independent on purpose, though

I'm not talking about how you're registered, but rather how you identify your political philosophy. There are many reasons to register as an Independent regardless of one's true political leanings.

But if you identify as politically independent and vote Dem, then I'm glad to hear it!

[pipi_k]

23. Yep, I had that distinction in mind as I was replying

I'm a registered Independent, but also independent as far as not always voting for the "D" after the name.

Which, judging from another discussion going on in the vicinity, is a big "no-no" if one wants to call him/her self a "Progressive".

:+

[nadinbrzezinski]

39. We are too

[old guy]

10. It has been my experience,

"Independent" voters tend to be single issue voters.

[HughMoran]

12. I register as "undeclared" because I don't want anybody to take my vote for granted

...although I haven't voted for a Republican in 30 years, I want the Democrats to stay motivated & not 'assume' anything.

[TexasObserver]

13. are ... Republicans

[proudohioan]

15. I voted 'other' for the reason stated in response #2....

disenfranchised by the 2 party system.

[Orrex]

17. All right, but how do you generally vote?

Do you gravitate toward a different Left party, or do you still vote Dem?

If the latter, then I'd say that you fall under poll option #2.

[proudohioan]

25. I started gravitating to a different left party about 11 years ago.

However, when there is only the choice between Dem and repuke, I almost always go for the Dem.

There was an instance where I actually did vote for for a repuke; it was for the local county sheriff, and the incumbent was a registered repuke, but he did his job very well and was very well respected. In that instance, the Dem candidate just didn't have much going for him.

Most folks I know that consider themselves 'Independent' are from both parties, and just seem to be disenfranchised with the 2 main parties.

Take it as either an option #2 or an 'other'.....

[MineralMan]

18. Other: Generalizations are most often incorrect.

[Dappleganger]

19. Registered NPA here.

The blue dogs smell as nasty as the repukes as far as I'm concerned. Unfortunately in Florida it comes down to voting for whomever will keep this party boat of idiots from going over the waterfall the fastest.

:shrug:

[Echo In Light]

20. Many here will say "con" as a means of enforcing the notion that one should only vote Dem

Although most of the minor % of those I know/have known who self apply the term Indie, myself included, do so b/c the Dem party as a whole doesn't lean left, and so opt Indie as a way of distinguishing the moral and ideological reasons behind one's affiliation.

[AngryAmish]

22. other: assholes

[disillusioned73]

24. I voted other..

because, although my sample size is small as well. They tend to be completely ignorant of what is going on so I don't know what category to put them under.. It seems to me they are dependent on others to form their political opinions for them - not much critical thinking/analysis of the issues.


I guess I was one of them not too long ago, even though I always knew there was something quite not right about the Repubs

[izzybeans]

26. They are most likely Republicans who fashion themselves as

"Faux-rugged individualists" in my area. "I'm not beholden to nobody." ...which of course means that they are. Always vote Republican, always will. Though I do know a few apolitical types that twist with the winds and have no real discernible opinions of their own. These are the "swing voters" who believe the last campaign infomercial they saw or vote the way their friends tell them to. That's the other type of independent I know.

The disenfranchised don't participate so I'm not sure how they fit in this poll and I wouldn't include them with independents - because most of the people who feel disenfranchised aren't as apolitical as most independents. They have specific grievances that are unaddressed by the political system and so do not vote. Independents vote, so...

[jberryhill]

28. Uninformed /nt

[dem mba]

29. this has become more true over the years

especially when the more aware Republicans realized Bush was a disaster (circa Harriet Miers nomination). Once they realized Bush wasn't "Da Man!!" they backed off and declared themselves to be independant or libertarian or whatever bullshit they now tell themselves.

Those same people were the ones sending death threats to the Dixie Chicks way back when, by and large.

[Carolina]

31. Was a die hard, yellow dog Dem

now I consider myself Independent because the party as a whole no longer speaks for me. Yeah, it gives lip service to traditional Dem values but the rising influence of the DLC means that it's lip service ONLY. There are very few profiles in courage and it's sad that the last liberal President was Tricky Dick.

[nyc 4 Biden]

32. embarrassed republicans. n/t

[ctaylors6]

33. The independent I know generally distrust politicians and political parties

Most, if not all, of the people I know who say they're independent are the "I'm sick of all political parties" types. They distrust politicians and political parties. Most of the independent people I know are pretty moderate. One of my sisters, who refuses to ever register for any party affiliation, is really moderate.

[mimitabby]

35. other: apolitical or apathetic

[Echo In Light]

40. See, that's so odd. My experience is the exact opposite

Apolitical or apathetic types I know don't even have the political wherewithal to come up w/the term "politically independent." They wouldn't know the meaning, nor care either way, as where those few, myself included, who do cast themselves as Indie tend to do so for very specific reasons that are antithetical to overall indifference.

[one_voice]

36. I picked other...

I think there is a small percentage of Independents that are truly "independent", in that, they look at each candidate carefully. I also think there is a percentage that are tired of the two parties we now have.

But in recent years I think they've made a major swing to the right. Part of that is, at least in my opinion-they're too chickenshit to admit they're Republicans. Much like we've seen a surge in "Conservatives" who make sure to point out there's a difference between them and Repugs.

The Republicans are "damaged" goods, at least for right now.

When I've cruised other sites, where political affiliation is noted, I see many Independents that are very far to the right. I've even asked a couple of them if they've ever voted for a Dem, most often they haven't. :shrug:

[KamaAina]

37. Conservative, and ashamed to admit it

the reductio ad absurdum: "very independent" RW radio host Michael Reagan. :puke:

[NNN0LHI]

38. All the people I know who self-identify as "politically independent" are huge Lou Dobbs fans

Ain't that strange?

Don

[leftstreet]

41. Many are Vote The Bastard Out-ers

but both parties don't like talking about the implications there

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

43. Either conservatives...

or just the sort of people Rahm Emanuel was talking about.

[Green_Lantern]

44. I say I'm independent because I think it makes my views...

More credible because if I say I'm a Democrat it may make me seem biased.

I know independents who are very conservative, moderate but the few very liberal people I know are openly Democrats.

[Tailormyst]

45. I am now an independant

I am a Liberal without a party, as my party has left me behind. As for what "most" would be classified as, I can even guess these days.

[ItNerd4life]

46. Socially liberal, fiscally responsible = independent

Neither party is fiscally responsible. Both are spending whores.

Socially, I believe in gay marriage, legalizing drugs (at least marijuana), things like that.

[jberryhill]

53. "spending whores" - now there's a phrase

I humbly suggest you not go into the prostitution business.

I mean, dang, where does one find one of those!

[MattBaggins]

47. Other: Dumb as a thousand boxes of rocks

or just so wishy-washy that if you told them 1+1=3 and I told them 1+1=2 they would insist 1+1=2.5; just so they could roll their pathetic little eyes and brag about being "middle of the road".

[Laelth]

48. I concur with the majority.

Most thinking people know that the Republican Party is evil and does not have their best interests at heart, but many of them can't (for various reasons) bring themselves to vote for Democrats or even claim to be a Democrat, so they will claim, instead, to be "independent." That way they don't have to take any responsibility for the evil that the modern Republican Party both creates and represents.

I have seen that a lot.

:dem:

-Laelth

[Kaleva]

49. I don't know the politics of the great majority of people I am acquainted with

[Ardent15]

50. In the Bay Area, since it is heavily Democratic...

..people who vote Republican but don't want to identify as Republicans (for fear of being ostracized a bit) tend to be Independent.

[Spike89]

51. uncomfortable/unwilling/unable to defend their party

Of course, during the later parts of the Bushco years, that was mainly republicans. During a democratic administration, you're likely to see a rise in the number of democrats using that dodge. It isn't always about "lying"...in my experience it is about not wanting to be identified with the current "hot" topic and perhaps have to discuss that topic. For instance, during Clinton's administration, I know people that avowed "independence" just because they didn't want to talk about blow jobs. I know a lot of liberals on this board have mixed feelings about identifying with the Democratic party.

[dorkulon]

52. It's a way for Republicans not to have to carry their party's baggage.

See Bill O'Reilly.