Is there such a thing as an 'Independent'?

[renie408]

I got into a heated argument the other day with an acquaintance who claims that they are an Independent; that she was neither conservative, nor liberal. I said that I didn't really think that there was such a thing. That people leaned one way or the other and that I had noticed that whenever she made a comment, it was in defense of conservative ideas and viewpoints. I said that I thought she was probably a conservative at heart, but didn't want to identify with the Republican party.

Good lord, you would have thought that I had spit in her face. She went NUTS!

So, I am curious what you guys think...can someone REALLY be 'Independent', or do people have innate tendencies that make them tilt either conservative or liberal?

[RobertEarl]

1. Sounds like she's ashamed of being a con servant

She's on the road. Keep gassing her.

[leftstreet]

2. Ask Ross Perot

If not for all those 'independents' Clinton wouldn't have won

[PoliticAverse]

3. Did you ask her if she ever voted for a Democrat ? n/t

[Cirque du So-What]

4. Claiming to be an 'independent' is, IMO, a cop-out

In addition to having no viewpoint to defend, it has a bonus come election time: everyone attempts to woo them over to one side or the other. As long as they don't come down on one side or the other, they'll be lavished with attention.

[NaturalHigh]

5. I don't necessarily think of independents as liberal or conservative...

so much as people who don't really identify with either major party. They might be liberal on some issues, conservative on some, moderate on others.

[LWolf]

6. I think that either

you don't understand what "independent" means, or that maybe there is more than one definition.

"Independent" doesn't mean neither liberal nor conservative. It means not affiliated with a political party. There can be independents across the entire political spectrum. For the first 25 years of my voting life I was a left-leaning independent. I never registered with a political party. I had to mark "Decline to state" when I registered to vote.

I became a Democrat in 2001 to protest the selection. Being on the left, I'd voted for a lot of Democrats. I'd never knowingly voted for a Republican. So I've been a Democrat for a dozen years. That's my party affiliation. I still consider myself an independent: an independent Democrat. Why? Because I'm an issues voter. The only room in my political life for a party is to move the issues leftward. When the Democrats do that, they've got my support. When they don't, they don't.

Issues ALWAYS come before party with me. I'm not partisan. I'm independent.

[struggle4progress]

7. They exist, but they're a mish-mash politically. The unaffiliated voters

include rightwingers who regard the Republicans as a bunch of communist sellouts, leftwingers who regard the Democrats as a bunch of nazi sell-outs, and more generally a segment of voters whose political analysis might best be summarized by "They're all full of shizz!"

[enlightenment]

10. Pretty broad.

Unaffiliated voters have a wide variety of reasons for not affiliating with a political party; sometimes I'm sure it is as extreme as you characterize it - but often it is not.

Not everyone needs to "belong" - it has less to do with extreme perspectives or distaste for party politics than with simply not feeling the need to belong to a political party.

I'm not sure where you are speaking from, but I speak as someone who has never - in almost 40 years as a voter - registered with a political party (except for some odd occasions when I felt the need to vote in a closed primary - and then I switched back to unaffiliated).

It's not my bag. I don't feel the need to assign myself a title. I'm a life-long liberal, but as someone upthread said, it's about policy, not partisan politics.

[CK_John]

8. IMO, their is a group of people (33%) total unable to make a decision. The kind

you would love to have on a jury. The Ind gives them cover and is a social outlet for this group. Never ask them, "what should we do?" but "I think you should vote Dem.".

[demwing]

9. No, silly. Life is binary, and there are only 2

Political parties, philosophies, opinions, and goals.

And don't even talk to me about red states and blue states. I get confused by pretend colors that exist outside of my black and white pallette.

[cyberswede]

11. Some Independents are such because they're further left or right than the main parties.

A couple socialists I know are registered Independents, and I'm sure the same is true of some with far-right views. These types of voters obviously hold either liberal or conservative views, but they are "independent" with regard to party - neither one fits.

That said, an Independent who is an undecided voter is simply too lazy or unengaged to make an informed choice, imo.

[frylock]

14. i am a progressive and registered as independent

[NutmegYankee]

12. I have found a lot of "independents" who were closet Republicans.

Generally you will lean one way or the other, but sometimes you have conflicting views or no allegiance to any cause.

[Egalitarian Thug]

13. Although I have yet to change my registration, and so am officially a Democrat, I've claimed

independent in conversation simply as shorthand for not owing any allegiance to any specific party. I'm far to the left of the most devoted DUers, but pretty far right on some other issues.

I despise the Democratic Party, but I loathe the republicans. Back before the red team went completely bat-shit crazy, I would listen to and argue with their candidates and, once or twice, I voted for one.

I'll vote for an honest, reasonable, and sane republican over the corporate lackeys the Democratic Party allows us any time. Fortunately for the Democrats, the republicans haven't put up any reasonable, sane candidates for a very long time.