How ‘Independents’ Distort Our Politics

Bernie Sanders, Ralph Nader, and Jesse Ventura have all identified as independents. That’s about the only thing they have in common.

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If you’re the kind of person who boasts about being a political independent, this may be hard to hear: You’re part of the problem.

This no doubt will come as a shock, in part because independents get such fantastic press. That in itself is odd, given that independents have no party, no official PR machine and no clear leader. They don’t even have a coherent ideological platform.

In recent decades, the most prominent independent politicians have been all over the map. Illinois Rep. John Anderson, once a liberal Republican, and Texas billionaire Ross Perot ran for president as independents in 1980 and 1992, respectively. They were hardly on the same page. In October 1999, Donald Trump, who has flipped parties again and again, changed his registration from Republican to the Reform Party for his initial 2000 presidential campaign (contrary to his own mythmaking about winning the presidency the first time he tried). Avowed socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders is an independent, even though he caucuses with Democrats and runs for president in their primaries. Former wrestler, Minnesota governor, and now professional crackpot Jesse Ventura has identified as an independent, too. Ditto Ralph Nader. Libertarians have also claimed the independent mantle.

Maybe you can find the theme in that pudding, but I can’t.

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  1. Avatar photo
    Devin H

    I need a better sell on an appeal to join a party. The Republican party today appalls me and I just disagree too much with Democrats. What power would I gain by joining a party that I don't have as an Independent?

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    David Chen

    As a former Democrat and someone who became disillusioned with the party, I now see the two main parties as the party of the Stupid vs the party of the Crazies. Why would I want to try to change that from the inside? If you met a bunch of stupid people, are you going to try to 'get in there' and average things out? No thanks. I rather join the party of the perennial losers so I joined the Libertarians.

    It's great. Nothing and nobody I vote for will ever win so I don't have take responsibility for passing anything dumb but I get to constantly say "I told you so." And when my DOGE go to the moon, I will peace out and leave you normies to your crapulance.

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  3. M M (Lee)

    Jonah, when Republicans lose Texas and Florida, the party will finally change. The losses of Arizona and Georgia were predictable. Trump ran on racial resentment precisely at the point that the Republicans' largest states (such as Arizona and Georgia) are falling below 50% non-Hispanic white.

    Texas is already well below 50% but some half of the Hispanics in Texas can't vote. However, their children are citizens, and each day more of them turn 18.

    Florida is also falling below 50%, but Cubans' and Venezuelans' dislike for the Democrats' enabling of dictators has bought Republicans more time. But if majorities of Hispanic and Asian voters continue to support Democrats, then due to immigration and birth rates Florida will switch to the Democrats also.

    The solution will be for Republicans to return to Reaganism (growth and defense) as a multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-confessional party that fully embraces all groups and fields candidates accordingly.

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  4. R. James

    What a load of crap. It's inside the beltway thinking like this that is the problem. As long as the Republican party insists on being a Trump personality cult, I'll gladly vote independent and not lose a moments sleep over it. The GOP needs to return to sanity before it can ask voters to vote for them again. And judging by Cheney getting kicked out of leadership and McCarthy and McConnell getting opposing the January 6th commission that is still along way off.

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    1. PaliMat

      I sympathize, but disagree. All the action these days is in fundraising, and primaries. If we non-hyperpartisans continue to sit those out, we’re going to keep being confronted by elections where our choices are nutjob (R) vs wacko (D)

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  5. Avatar photo
    Picov Andropov

    In Capitalist America, you can always find a party.

    In Soviet Russia, the Party finds YOU...

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  6. Avatar photo
    Cogitatio

    Jonah,
    While I get your point, I think you are painting with too broad a brush. I have never been a registered R or D. I have voted in every election in my lifetime, but I am an independent because no party fits my political views sufficiently for me to want to join. I know quite a few people just like me. Some are more conservative, others more left-leaning. The "problem" with independents, in my opinion, is that the term encompasses anyone not actively part of the R or D parties. Using that definition, you catch a huge swath of Americans, and they have opinions that span the political spectrum. Your issue seems to be with a particular slice of independents. Let us call them party loyalists that have abandoned the party.
    I do agree that the party loyalists (moderates and aligned independents) leaving the parties has made matters worse. But they left precisely because the parties have become more radical, and they are not coming back so long as the parties remain so hostile to anything but a thoroughly orthodox view-as defined by the base (or Mr. Trump, in the Republicans case). You and your fellows at the Dispatch are in the same boat, are you not?

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    Pat Riot

    Mr. Goldberg is probably getting tired of me saying this about his analyses, but this is pre-2000 thinking that no longer fits with today's political spectrum.

    Today we don't have two major political parties as much as we have two *realities* that people can live in. To take one example, on Planet A the event at 1/6 was some tourists who got a little rowdy, and on Planet B our country's democracy was attacked for the first time of this magnitude since the civil war. And of course neither Mr. Goldberg nor most political commentators on any side seem have have fully taken in the fact that 70% of Republicans say that Trump won by a landslide. To understand that is to understand why Republican lawmakers have switched their operations to be purely comms-driven: truth *absolutely* doesn't matter when you can simply make people believe whatever you want them to believe.

    I suspect true "independents" in our society are now only found almost exclusively among the politically unplugged--something that is getting harder and harder to do as our media is increasingly driven by politics.


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      Nate Dunlevy

      I can't speak for everyone, but I've left the Republican party and vote almost exclusively for "the least crazy candidate running at any one time." I'm not politically unplugged and vote for a range of candidates in different parties. I'm still a registered Republican, mostly so I could vote against Trump and Trump-like substances in the primaries. But I didn't vote for a single Republican in the general because I couldn't find any who weren't the craziest person running for that particular office.

      I'm deeply conservative and don't enjoy voting for Democrats. But I'll never vote for anyone who wasn't smart enough to see Trump for what he was and honest enough to stand against him.

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      1. Avatar photo
        Pat Riot

        I probably should have added a caveat about the *dozens* of us Americans who don't fit into the normal buckets :-). I was talking about above the "big movers" in elections.

        That said, with Project Lincoln (and now Project Franklin) and a bunch of anti-Trump conservative organizations like it cropping up, perhaps enough Americans can actually create a splinter party that could be the tie breaker between the two major parties.

        Know any deca-billionaires who want to enjoy the position Joe Manchin is in but as a whole political party and want to start sending out millions to win elections all over the country?

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    Cornelius O’Brien

    PFFT

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    Aylene Wright

    Ok while I understand this argument I find it a tad ironic because last I checked Jonah himself isn't a registered Republican nor does he identify as one. Steve also recently stated that he wasn't a Republican. Sarah used to be but unregistered after the Insurrection. Pretty sure David isn't a registered Republican either. And I don't know if any of the junior staffers are.

    Maybe Jonah is just referring to politicians who claim to be independent, not journalists? But that was my initial reaction to this.

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      jhc

      Touché!

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  10. Avatar photo
    Marian Cates

    I get your point that some people call themselves independent when they're clearly R or D. I know people like this. But surely you didn't mean to say that all U.S. citizens should align themselves with one of the two parties. If so, it's a big change. Especially when you don't align yourself with either party.

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