I've been saying the same thing in this space for many, many months and have also observed many times that the "flight of the Independents" (to use Politico's phrase) from support of democrat party politicians very much began to take place throughout the summer of 2009. Many of us Independents strongly suspected that democrats would govern way too far to the left if they seized complete control of DC, and indeed that's precisely what's occurred since January 2009. Rampant far left or far right ideological governance doesn't play too well with Independents (the people who control your election outcomes). We're kind of funny like that. And bearing this out are some of the highlights from today's Politico article:
-"Republicans are on the verge of broad wins next week for one big reason: Independent voters are ready to boot [d]emocrats from office."
-"Republicans hold a 14-point edge among [I]ndependents."
-"In last year's Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial races, these [Independent] voters registered grave concerns and did it again by breaking for Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass) in his upset victory in January. Instead of heeding the warnings, [d]emocrats proceeded with the $1 trillion health care law and banked on an economic recovery that hasn't come."
-A measly 6% of Independents view the democrat party's health care legislation very favorably (after all, I don't call the day it passed Sunday Bloody Sunday for nothing).
-Obama's approval rating has tanked to 38% among Independents.
-"Only 30% of [I]ndependents think [r]epublicans have offered more specific solutions than [d]emocrats this year."
I throw in that last quote to illustrate another point that I've made over and over in this space. So many of us Independents are not voting for the republicans next Tuesday, but rather are voting against the democrat party (and very much look forward to doing so). We feel we have no choice. We feel it's our obligation. Some measure of power balance must be returned to DC. Gridlock is much better than either of these two extreme-controlled parties ever having unfettered control of DC again.
-"Republicans are on the verge of broad wins next week for one big reason: Independent voters are ready to boot [d]emocrats from office."
-"Republicans hold a 14-point edge among [I]ndependents."
-"In last year's Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial races, these [Independent] voters registered grave concerns and did it again by breaking for Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass) in his upset victory in January. Instead of heeding the warnings, [d]emocrats proceeded with the $1 trillion health care law and banked on an economic recovery that hasn't come."
-A measly 6% of Independents view the democrat party's health care legislation very favorably (after all, I don't call the day it passed Sunday Bloody Sunday for nothing).
-Obama's approval rating has tanked to 38% among Independents.
-"Only 30% of [I]ndependents think [r]epublicans have offered more specific solutions than [d]emocrats this year."
I throw in that last quote to illustrate another point that I've made over and over in this space. So many of us Independents are not voting for the republicans next Tuesday, but rather are voting against the democrat party (and very much look forward to doing so). We feel we have no choice. We feel it's our obligation. Some measure of power balance must be returned to DC. Gridlock is much better than either of these two extreme-controlled parties ever having unfettered control of DC again.
And if republicans spend the next couple of years doing what we saw during the Bush years, we will not hesitate in kicking their right-wing asses right back to the curb in 2012. It's called Independent Rage, since the days of Independent Indifference are over, although I don't think either party has quite gotten the message yet. But they will, beginning November 2, 2010.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1010/44092.html
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1010/44092.html
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