In 2011, a record-high 40 percent of Americans distanced themselves from Democrats and Republicans, instead identifying themselves as independents, according to a Gallup survey released Monday. Democratic registration held steady at 31 percent last year, while GOP identification dropped from 29 percent in 2010 to 27 percent in 2011. People often drift independent ahead of a presidential election, Gallup said, "but the sluggish economy, record levels of distrust in government, and unfavorable views of both parties" made the exodus even more pronounced this time. What should we make of these numbers?
Tea Partiers are turning off Republicans: This is a big blow to rabid partisans who think you're "stupid" if you aren't "liberal or conservative enough," says Joe Gandelman at The Moderate Voice. But it's also an indictment of the Right. There are far more independents and Democrats than there are Republicans, showing that many Americans reject "the current dominance of the Republican Party by the Tea Party movement and the talk radio political culture."
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