Welcome to Free Agent Politics!
Free Agent Politics is a newsletter focused on the values, attitudes, policy positions, and electoral behavior of America’s rising number of political independents.
Who are these independent voters? What do they believe? How do they view the two major parties and their candidates? Are they open to third parties? Where do they diverge from one another? On what do they agree? How do independents process complex public policy issues and make decisions in a two-party system?
Free Agent Politics is a newsletter for those who follow no party line or those who may be interested in other Americans who do not identify with either of the two major political parties. A newsletter of, by, and for political independents and those thinking about becoming independent or understanding them better.
What to expect at Free Agent Politics
As a brand new political newsletter, I plan to spend the first few months examining the contours of what we know and don’t know about independent voters—political “free agents” who do not identify with either major party and make choices in elections and on public policy matters based on their individual values rather than the party consensus of Democrats or Republicans.
Independents are not a uniform bloc of people. As I’ve written about in the past, I see three major types of independents based on available research and knowledge of this diverse group: about half of independents are common-sense moderates who don’t like the extremism and partisan blindness of the two major parties; another quarter are anti-status quo left- and right-populists holding a mix of more radical, ideologically diffuse, or other anti-establishment opinions; and the final quarter are disaffected and disengaged Americans who mainly do not pay attention to or participate much in politics.
Free Agent Politics will dive into each of these various independent groups and explore their attitudes and voting behavior over time.
I also plan to cover the world of actual independent political leaders and organizations dedicated to representing independent Americans and the structural political reforms that would support their efforts. Who are these leaders and organizations? Who do they claim to represent? What are the values and core beliefs of independent leaders and groups? What is their policy agenda? What is their strategy for building support and moving political reforms?
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.
****
Free Agent Politics will start out with two regular free posts per week on Tuesday and Friday (beginning August 18) and build from there depending on interest and engagement. The newsletter itself is independent and has no outside funding or institutional affiliation. It’s just my research, analysis, and opinions offered directly to readers.
Thanks for checking out Free Agent Politics, and I hope you like it!
Take care - John Halpin
Looking forward to this. Really miss the liberal patriot.
Wow! I was sad when TLP went dark. This is a great pice of news.
Cheers!
Dan
(A non-liberal, mostly libertarian but still patriotic free agent of sorts.)
P.S. Will Ruy be part of the new team?