Independent Voters Tilt Democrat

Can't say we didn't tell you so.

So why didn't the GOP know this was happening? Could it be because Karl Rove convinced them that Bush actually won the 2004 election because of a last minute out-pouring of "values-voters?" Patently ridiculous on it's face, this argument doesn't hold water for a number of reasons.

So-called Values Voters did not come out in any last minute surge. Voting to them is a religious duty and the nightmarish corruption among the GOP had not hit the news in the Fall of 2004.

The only party that is really gaining adherents is the (i)ndependent (un)party. The latest generation to gain voting rights are registering independent in huge numbers and the vast majority of them are anti-establishment to varying degrees. They see both major political parties as establishment parties.

Neither major party can count on their loyalty. They are thinking people, anti-ideology and -dogma.

By ALAN FRAM, Associated Press Writer

Sun Sep 23, 4:59 AM ET

Michael Brooks is exactly the kind of voter the Republican Party can ill afford to lose. But in a foreboding omen for 2008, it may have already done just that.

The auto parts store worker from St. Charles, Mo., says he used to be a Republican but felt abandoned and is now an independent.

"For some reason or other, they didn't seem to be for the masses anymore," said Brooks, 59, citing a lack of help for middle-income earners. He said he voted for George W. Bush in 2000, thinking the Republican was "more middle of the road, for the people. Obviously I was incorrect."

Brooks is not alone. From coast to coast, independent voters tilt tellingly toward Democrats in their opposition to the Iraq war, their displeasure with Bush and their feeling that the country is moving in the wrong direction, according to data from recent Associated Press-Ipsos polls.

That could be decisive in next year's contests for the White House and Congress, starting with the crucial early presidential primaries in New Hampshire.

The portion of that state's registered voters not enrolled in a political party has grown to 44 percent. While people can vote in either major party's primary, more are expected to choose the Democratic contest. That potentially would boost antiestablishment candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., while leaving the GOP race more in the hands of the party's traditional conservative voters.

National exit polls show that after leaning toward Republicans by 48 percent to 45 percent as recently as the 2002 elections, independents began shifting toward Democrats.

"This is a serious problem" for Republicans, says GOP pollster Neil Newhouse. "We didn't get where we are among independents overnight. The data does suggest that it's going to take us some time to earn those votes back."

Copyright © 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. I.U. has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is I.U endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)


The Nazis, Fascists and Communists were political parties before they became enemies of liberty and mass murderers.