I was surprised to see this in my inbox, but I'm glad I gave it a read-through. I've been a conservative independent for the majority of my adult life, though since 2016 the boundaries shifted so I am more centrist now even though I didn't really move closer to the center so much as the extremes pulled farther away, leaving me closer to the center by default. Even so, I recognize that politics is about compromise (not compromising beliefs, but making adjustments where possible in order to reach a place of agreement with someone who has different ideas on how government should work), and that someone with different ideas or beliefs is not automatically my enemy. As a nation we used to be better at this, but we also have been worse. Maybe it's suitably ironic that a self-proclaimed independent longs for people to work together.
I vote for the candidate that would best represent my district or state. However, politicians from both party appear to be under more pressure than in the past to vote as a block instead of the best interests of their constituents. Starting in 2000, I feel that the Democrat party has strayed further than the Republicans on what’s best for their constituents and instead, has tried to appease all their activists (open borders, defund the police, gender affirming care, DEI, socialism). I am happy they are backtracking on some of these policies, but it shows poor judgement that they ever adopted these views in the first place. I still try to vote for the best candidate but it is becoming harder for me to vote for Democrats at the national level.
I'd like to vote for an individual and their positions more than a party.
The problem for me is that almost all votes cast by legislators are done straight party.
In Washington the same dozen or less decide which way a bill goes, the usual suspects, and the rest could be predicted with almost 100% certainty based on which party introduced the bill.
I'm a libertarian-leaning independent. I have always voted for Republicans (often hold-my-nose) as the opposition to even worse policies of the Democrats. Additionally, Democrats act/vote as a machine and push their ideas into law. Republicans are never effective at that, so less risky.
I'm an independent who is furious by POTUS' open embrace of Russia and North Korea but horrified at the open antisemitism and espouse of socialism and communism I see ascendant on the left. Where the blankety-blank do I go in November when both parties appear to be pure poison?
It's not easy being purple in a red and blue world; to be a shade of grey in a world of black and white. Sometimes there is an "And" in the "Either-Or" and a "Maybe" in the "Yes or No." It's not always easy living life between the lines, but between the lines is where real Life happens.
A good start, but please keep in mind that you come to your task with your own latent political bias / predisposition (it’s visible in what you just wrote, how you use statistics, how you frame things, and the conclusions you draw).
That said, good luck with your endeavor; Ruy is, in my opinion, one of the best political voices around. Perhaps you should tell us how long you were a democrat, and why you are transitioning?
I would like to see a deep dive on our two party system; a discussion re why western “democracies” are so unresponsive to the wants and needs of citizens; some ideas about how we can greatly reduce government spending, and better stipulate / curtail the powers of those who “govern” us. Again, good luck!
The 50-point net job approval decline among independents isn’t made up or framed in a biased way. It’s what these voters think. My background is in the welcome post if you’re interested. I registered as unaffiliated in 2024 when I voted for the Democrat for president and the Republican for Senate. No idea what I’ll do in 2028.
I’ve been analyzing U.S. and international politics for nearly 30 years through my own work on political campaigns, public opinion research, public policy development, and political journalism. I was the co-founder of The Liberal Patriot newsletter with my old pal Ruy Teixeira and served as TLP’s executive editor from 2020 to 2026.
I got into politics in high school in Lynchburg, VA, where I grew up, and knocked on doors for George H. W. Bush during the 1988 election. In college and grad school, I volunteered for both of Bill Clinton’s presidential campaigns; started my professional career doing polling and voter research for Al Gore, Tony Blair, Ehud Barak, and other center-left leaders; later worked on public policy and supported Barack Obama; and then was a big Bernie Sanders supporter in 2016 but not in 2020 when I backed Joe Biden.
At TLP, we tried to help Biden and the Democrats get back on track with America’s working-class majority through a “pro-worker, pro-family, pro-America” agenda, but alas, there was not much interest, and the party is going in a different direction.
I’ve lived in Baltimore City for more than two decades, and today I am one of the more than one million unaffiliated voters in the state of Maryland."
Being an Independent is like finding a new freedom.
No longer must we make red or blue decisions.
We can think for ourselves instead of being told what to think.
We are tired of every two, four or six years be spread with fertilizer and harvested like garden vegetables.
We hope for the day when the number of Independents in Congress will be large enough to force common sense bipartisan legislation to go through an Independent Caucus to get passed.
more than a decade now…” Yes. I would go back to 1964. My civics teacher (freshman high school included a year of civics) told us that the US was moving somewhat left of center and that there was more difference within each party than there was between the parties. There were the conservative southern Democrats and the Northeast limousine liberals, as well as Country Club Republicans and the western farmers. This was discussed at length as a significant problem. It was difficult a party agenda when members regularly crossing party lines.
Over the decades people self selected, moving into the party that better fit them or becoming an independent. Fewer and fewer people have chosen to remain or become Democrats. Democrats make me think of those who go to a foreign country, not knowing the language, and just speak English louder and louder.
At 76 youthful years, I’ve seen a lot. I was a lifelong Republican until very recently. I think the last GOP presidential candidate who really addressed many of the issues I cared about and truly represented our country in its best light was John McCain, may he rest in peace. Our current glorious leader is the worst of the worst and the Demos can’t get much right. I’ve since changed to the Forward Party and will now vote for the least worst of the candidates we have a choice of. Unfortunately, the number of the GOP brand are just slightly above zero. Keep subordinating your people needs and you will become the minimalist party very soon.
I was consistently voting Republican until 2016, but that was because of a single issue. That issue is gone, so now I am theoretically open to both parties. The problem for me is that I do not see either party addressing the big questions facing us. I feel like we have wasted the first 25 years of the 21st century.
So I guess I could call myself an independent, and I think a lot of our current issues, like immigration, probably could be resolved by moving away from the partisan extremes and meeting somewhere in the middle. But that does not mean that independence by itself provides a vision for where the country needs to go.
That may be the piece I am struggling with in the “free agent” idea. Independents can be an enormously valuable corrective force. They can reject bad ideas, punish parties that lose touch with reality, and push both sides toward common sense. But some of the most important challenges facing the country are not primarily problems of partisan polarization and do not have a sensible midpoint waiting to be discovered.
Questions such as how the United States responds to AI, rebuilds its industrial capacity, provides the energy required for that transformation, and maintains the military and technological capability necessary to compete in this century require a coherent long-term strategy. They require choices about where we are trying to go, not simply freedom from the existing partisan teams.
I am therefore wondering whether “free agents” are better understood as a corrective mechanism in American politics than as the source of a new governing vision. Perhaps they can create the political space for that vision, and decide which party or leaders deserve the opportunity to pursue it. But somebody still has to articulate the destination and organize the country sufficiently to get there.
Glad you are back. This was very informative, but wonder how many people are truly Independent or just afraid to mention they lean one way or the other, in the current climate, out of self preservation.
Granted, with daily new lows on both sides, actual Independents are likely to grow. How else does one express the thought "a pox on both your houses"?
Eventually ,Election Day rolls around, and unless one chooses to stay home, they have to check one box or the another.
Independent candidates in Congress are always, or nearly always, just Dems in disguise. That seems rather underhanded. If people know they will always vote Dem, just own your intentions. Campaigns via Cloaking, like VA's Spanberger, just make elections that much more confusing for voters, but that is, obviously, the intention.
I think the growth of independents reflects less of a rejection of “team politics,” and more the decline of genuinely big-tent political parties. There was a time when both parties contained much wider ideological ranges, giving voters with cross-cutting views a place within one coalition or the other and more competitive district and states. In a two-party system, I’d rather have two broad, internally diverse parties than one with two increasingly narrow ideological parties and a very large group of independents who don’t fit comfortably into either but still tend to reliably vote for one party or the other.
I was surprised to see this in my inbox, but I'm glad I gave it a read-through. I've been a conservative independent for the majority of my adult life, though since 2016 the boundaries shifted so I am more centrist now even though I didn't really move closer to the center so much as the extremes pulled farther away, leaving me closer to the center by default. Even so, I recognize that politics is about compromise (not compromising beliefs, but making adjustments where possible in order to reach a place of agreement with someone who has different ideas on how government should work), and that someone with different ideas or beliefs is not automatically my enemy. As a nation we used to be better at this, but we also have been worse. Maybe it's suitably ironic that a self-proclaimed independent longs for people to work together.
Admirable qualities sir!
I vote for the candidate that would best represent my district or state. However, politicians from both party appear to be under more pressure than in the past to vote as a block instead of the best interests of their constituents. Starting in 2000, I feel that the Democrat party has strayed further than the Republicans on what’s best for their constituents and instead, has tried to appease all their activists (open borders, defund the police, gender affirming care, DEI, socialism). I am happy they are backtracking on some of these policies, but it shows poor judgement that they ever adopted these views in the first place. I still try to vote for the best candidate but it is becoming harder for me to vote for Democrats at the national level.
I am so happy you and Ruy are back!
Thanks! Good insights
I'd like to vote for an individual and their positions more than a party.
The problem for me is that almost all votes cast by legislators are done straight party.
In Washington the same dozen or less decide which way a bill goes, the usual suspects, and the rest could be predicted with almost 100% certainty based on which party introduced the bill.
So each election I go vote while holding my nose.
I think you speak for many other Americans!
I'm a libertarian-leaning independent. I have always voted for Republicans (often hold-my-nose) as the opposition to even worse policies of the Democrats. Additionally, Democrats act/vote as a machine and push their ideas into law. Republicans are never effective at that, so less risky.
I'm an independent who is furious by POTUS' open embrace of Russia and North Korea but horrified at the open antisemitism and espouse of socialism and communism I see ascendant on the left. Where the blankety-blank do I go in November when both parties appear to be pure poison?
Good question!
It's not easy being purple in a red and blue world; to be a shade of grey in a world of black and white. Sometimes there is an "And" in the "Either-Or" and a "Maybe" in the "Yes or No." It's not always easy living life between the lines, but between the lines is where real Life happens.
Well said!
A good start, but please keep in mind that you come to your task with your own latent political bias / predisposition (it’s visible in what you just wrote, how you use statistics, how you frame things, and the conclusions you draw).
That said, good luck with your endeavor; Ruy is, in my opinion, one of the best political voices around. Perhaps you should tell us how long you were a democrat, and why you are transitioning?
I would like to see a deep dive on our two party system; a discussion re why western “democracies” are so unresponsive to the wants and needs of citizens; some ideas about how we can greatly reduce government spending, and better stipulate / curtail the powers of those who “govern” us. Again, good luck!
Those are excellent ideas for topics, thanks!
The 50-point net job approval decline among independents isn’t made up or framed in a biased way. It’s what these voters think. My background is in the welcome post if you’re interested. I registered as unaffiliated in 2024 when I voted for the Democrat for president and the Republican for Senate. No idea what I’ll do in 2028.
What about prior to 2024?
"A Bit More About My Political Background
I’ve been analyzing U.S. and international politics for nearly 30 years through my own work on political campaigns, public opinion research, public policy development, and political journalism. I was the co-founder of The Liberal Patriot newsletter with my old pal Ruy Teixeira and served as TLP’s executive editor from 2020 to 2026.
I got into politics in high school in Lynchburg, VA, where I grew up, and knocked on doors for George H. W. Bush during the 1988 election. In college and grad school, I volunteered for both of Bill Clinton’s presidential campaigns; started my professional career doing polling and voter research for Al Gore, Tony Blair, Ehud Barak, and other center-left leaders; later worked on public policy and supported Barack Obama; and then was a big Bernie Sanders supporter in 2016 but not in 2020 when I backed Joe Biden.
At TLP, we tried to help Biden and the Democrats get back on track with America’s working-class majority through a “pro-worker, pro-family, pro-America” agenda, but alas, there was not much interest, and the party is going in a different direction.
I’ve lived in Baltimore City for more than two decades, and today I am one of the more than one million unaffiliated voters in the state of Maryland."
Thanks, Baltimore is an interesting place.
I was with you until you endorsed the Orioles, at which time I realized you are the scum of the earth!
Excellent. Don't worry, Elias will sell off the team in short order and we won't be a threat to anyone.
Being an Independent is like finding a new freedom.
No longer must we make red or blue decisions.
We can think for ourselves instead of being told what to think.
We are tired of every two, four or six years be spread with fertilizer and harvested like garden vegetables.
We hope for the day when the number of Independents in Congress will be large enough to force common sense bipartisan legislation to go through an Independent Caucus to get passed.
Well said!
more than a decade now…” Yes. I would go back to 1964. My civics teacher (freshman high school included a year of civics) told us that the US was moving somewhat left of center and that there was more difference within each party than there was between the parties. There were the conservative southern Democrats and the Northeast limousine liberals, as well as Country Club Republicans and the western farmers. This was discussed at length as a significant problem. It was difficult a party agenda when members regularly crossing party lines.
Over the decades people self selected, moving into the party that better fit them or becoming an independent. Fewer and fewer people have chosen to remain or become Democrats. Democrats make me think of those who go to a foreign country, not knowing the language, and just speak English louder and louder.
At 76 youthful years, I’ve seen a lot. I was a lifelong Republican until very recently. I think the last GOP presidential candidate who really addressed many of the issues I cared about and truly represented our country in its best light was John McCain, may he rest in peace. Our current glorious leader is the worst of the worst and the Demos can’t get much right. I’ve since changed to the Forward Party and will now vote for the least worst of the candidates we have a choice of. Unfortunately, the number of the GOP brand are just slightly above zero. Keep subordinating your people needs and you will become the minimalist party very soon.
McCain was liked and admired by many.
I was consistently voting Republican until 2016, but that was because of a single issue. That issue is gone, so now I am theoretically open to both parties. The problem for me is that I do not see either party addressing the big questions facing us. I feel like we have wasted the first 25 years of the 21st century.
So I guess I could call myself an independent, and I think a lot of our current issues, like immigration, probably could be resolved by moving away from the partisan extremes and meeting somewhere in the middle. But that does not mean that independence by itself provides a vision for where the country needs to go.
That may be the piece I am struggling with in the “free agent” idea. Independents can be an enormously valuable corrective force. They can reject bad ideas, punish parties that lose touch with reality, and push both sides toward common sense. But some of the most important challenges facing the country are not primarily problems of partisan polarization and do not have a sensible midpoint waiting to be discovered.
Questions such as how the United States responds to AI, rebuilds its industrial capacity, provides the energy required for that transformation, and maintains the military and technological capability necessary to compete in this century require a coherent long-term strategy. They require choices about where we are trying to go, not simply freedom from the existing partisan teams.
I am therefore wondering whether “free agents” are better understood as a corrective mechanism in American politics than as the source of a new governing vision. Perhaps they can create the political space for that vision, and decide which party or leaders deserve the opportunity to pursue it. But somebody still has to articulate the destination and organize the country sufficiently to get there.
Astute observations, thanks. Good material for future posts.
When people ask me what my politics are I give them an honest answer. I hate everybody.
Concise, heartfelt, justified. Nice work!
Glad you are back. This was very informative, but wonder how many people are truly Independent or just afraid to mention they lean one way or the other, in the current climate, out of self preservation.
Granted, with daily new lows on both sides, actual Independents are likely to grow. How else does one express the thought "a pox on both your houses"?
Eventually ,Election Day rolls around, and unless one chooses to stay home, they have to check one box or the another.
Independent candidates in Congress are always, or nearly always, just Dems in disguise. That seems rather underhanded. If people know they will always vote Dem, just own your intentions. Campaigns via Cloaking, like VA's Spanberger, just make elections that much more confusing for voters, but that is, obviously, the intention.
Thank you, Ronda. Good points. I hope to cover most of these questions/issues at some point.
In the choice between Democrat and Republican, Capitalist or Communist, I choose Surrealism.
Solid.
I think the growth of independents reflects less of a rejection of “team politics,” and more the decline of genuinely big-tent political parties. There was a time when both parties contained much wider ideological ranges, giving voters with cross-cutting views a place within one coalition or the other and more competitive district and states. In a two-party system, I’d rather have two broad, internally diverse parties than one with two increasingly narrow ideological parties and a very large group of independents who don’t fit comfortably into either but still tend to reliably vote for one party or the other.
That certainly would be better than the situation today. Thanks!