THE DEATH OF PARTISAN AFFILIATION
Americans are increasingly shunning partisan affiliation. Gallup — an analytics and advisory company — found that two decades ago, the percentage of voters who called themselves Independents were less than 30 percent of the population. However, in January 2024, FORTY-FIVE PERCENT (45%) of Americans called themselves Independents, as opposed to 25 percent who identified as Republican and 27 percent who identified as Democrat.
Better yet, these unaffiliated voters are truly independent thinkers, meaning they don’t necessarily “lean” toward one major party or the other and are much more ideologically flexible. Observing voters in North Carolina offers a great example. A study led by a group of political scientists revealed that:
"Unaffiliated” voters in North Carolina — the “fastest growing group of party registrants in the state” — are not “simply closet partisans. They hold distinct political beliefs that fall somewhere between the two major parties on most issues. Indeed, the only example where they do not fall within the two major parties is on the question of the two-party system itself, where Unaffiliated voters are, perhaps not surprisingly, less than enthralled with the current system.
In March 2022, the number of unaffiliated voters in North Carolina surpassed the number of registered Democrats to become the largest voting bloc in the state. Read more here and here.
Another awesome thing about Independents is their refusal to get caught up in the game of politics. In 2021, a Meredith Poll asked voters in North Carolina “what word or phrase would you associate with Critical Race Theory?” Democrats responded with “necessary,” “truth” and “honest” while Republicans responded “reverse discrimination,” “brainwashing” and “bullshit.”
On the other hand, unaffiliated voters responded with “divisive,” “confusing” and “ridiculous,” a commentary not on Critical Race Theory itself, but on how the topic is being weaponized to cause maximum angst and division. Well done, Independents!!