Sanders was liked by unaffiliated, independent voters. Although the growth of number of independents is at the expense of Republicans, Democrats are also topped in numbers.
By nature, independents are anti-establishment … this holds the key to Trump winning the November election. Representing the establishment in Washington and Wall Street, HRC will be facing an uphill battle, or should we say … an insurmountable obstacle in her path to the White House. Years of “experience” will work against her.
○ Record-High 40% of Americans Identify as Independents in 2011
○ Greenberg Quinlan Rosner – Defining the GOP base
Why Sanders Does Better With Independents | FiveThirtyEight |
… since self-identified Democrats are more liberal than independents, we’d expect a candidate from the left to do better with them.
Twelve years after Gov. Howard Dean, another presidential candidate from Vermont is seeking the Democratic nomination. Like Dean, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders aims to outflank his opponent from the left. But unlike Dean, Sanders does much better among independents than among Democrats. In New Hampshire, for instance, Sanders won Democrats by 4 percentage points while winning independents by nearly 50 percentage points, a split we’ve seen repeatedly since then. Some of Sanders’s strongest performances in primaries have come in places such as New Hampshire, Michigan and Wisconsin, states whose rules allow independents to vote in either primary. In fact, to date Sanders has compiled an unexpected record, performing very well in caucuses but having won just a single closed primary (Oklahoma’s).
So why is Sanders doing so well among independents? It appears to be driven not by their ideology so much as their dislike of partisan politics.
He’s part of the problem then.
Searching BooMan’s Archive:
On foreign policy of the White House, this too has been my experience … quite sad. Lately new members gives me hope.
“…driven not by their ideology so much as their dislike of partisan politics.”
Cafeteria voters would not seem to be a reliable bloc. I hope some education has been happening…
If cafeteria voters are offered a choice that really looks attractive (Bernie Sanders), they will vote.
This assertion is not empirically proven and is based on a linear model of politics. Silver should know better about this sort of pundritry.
Interesting data. Clinton gets independents only in Georgia and Mississippi. Anti-Trump Republicans?
Sanders has a difficult time getting a majority of self-identifying Democrats.
Meanwhile the Democratic establishment seems hidebound to limiting itself to long-term Democratic Party members. And redoing rules in some arcane fashion that puts the convention power with the Chair and the venue security guards no doubt. And the Chair will be whom?
Some independents are more equal than others.
Yes. Putting independents into one box is both ignorant and naive. Add to that that self-identification of anything that isn’t easily and objectively quantifiable is deeply flawed.
Seems spot on. Hard to know exactly how individuals are self-identifying. A self-identified Democrat could be registered and vote regularly, maybe is registered Democratic but barely votes, etc. A self-identified independent can mean so many things it’s ridiculous, although typically those who are “independents” tend to lean towards one of the two major parties. As for how folks self-identify as “liberal” or whatever, all sorts of problems there – the measurement error must be insane. On a personal note I’ve completed surveys where I’ve wanted to ask, liberal compared to what? Liberal in what sense of the term? Economic? Social? Heck half the time I just want to say that I’m not liberal, not conservative, not moderate, but something else altogether that does not neatly fit into the little Likert scale the surveyor is working with. I may be atypical, but doubt I’m alone.
Yes. I’ve very conservative wrt to waste and wastefulness. It’s one of those middle/working-class behaviors. I’ve observed how unconscious it can be at the local library. The doors can be opened manually or for those with small children or a disability, automatically (electrically) by pushing a button. Seniors that appear to be middle-income never use the button unless they’re in a scooter or use a walker and they also hold the door open for anyone that’s right behind them. Poorer and younger make more use of the button.
Speaking of wastefulness, as children we were taught, “Willful Waste, Woeful Want”. I’m a coupon queen and proud of it. However, a consumer driven economy results in a lot of waste. Just look at the storage unit business. New ones are going up all the time in my area.
I got “waste not; want not.”
Coupons never worked for me because they are always for things that I don’t buy.
US houses have continued to get larger and larger because we need more space to store all the crap we’re accumulating. Storage units can pick up the overflow or serve as a temporary location for the stuff when we lose our houses.
We used to have a sense of quality over quantity.
A lot of storage units are used by homeless people. We had a “problem” here with that. $100 a month for a storage unit is cheaper than $1200 for a one bedroom apartment or $1000 for an efficiency. Some of those homeless are Millenials not living in the unit but with their parents.
No wonder so many storage units are being built. It sounds as if it is another validation for our increased inequality. People who just can’t let go of their stuff when they buy more and the homeless or the displaced people who must temporarily live with family and friends. Sad situation.
https:/www.sparefoot.com/self-storage/blog/7099-how-common-is-living-in-a-storage-unit
How libertarian have indies become. Cause Trump seems to be winning a slight edge in the WaMo poll.
Since Independents are a majority of the voters, as compared to either Democrats or Republicans, what are the long term effects of minority rule over the majority of the people? Is this another reason why people are so angry at the establishment? I know the MSM wants to paint this year as the year of the anti-establishment. Speaking of MSM election year descriptions, remember the year of the soccer moms? IMO, these are very supeficial explanations which result in trivializing the election of a U.S.president.
http://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/27/magazine/soccer-moms.html