Independent

The term Independent (with a capital "I") refers to a question of party affiliation, not, as some suppose, a question of emotional or intellectual independence. Indeed, many, if not most, members of the grouping known as "Independent" are anything but independent thinkers.

Since it's sexy to say "I'm an Independent," lot's of people who normally vote Democratic call themselves Independent. These people are actually "liberals," but the term "liberal" isn't sexy. I mean, what could possibly be sexy about believing you should call down the power of the federal government to penalize people who dare to drink more than 16 ounces of a soft drink at a time? And, clearly, the term "Yellow Dog Democrat" isn't sexy. Who wants to be considered a "yellow" anything?

This kind of reflexive antipathy toward control freaks represents a mere complication to progressives, who are masters at manipulating fear. Thus, Independents hardly ever vote Republican because they're afraid to be called nasty names and they're afraid to be considered control freaks. Besides, Republicans are idiots when it comes to defining themselves (in part because they're afraid of alienating Independents and in part because they're afraid of alienating Republicans), so they usually wait for progressives to do it for them.

The last Republican candidate for president who was able to attract the votes of Independents was the late Ronald Reagan. His success was due, in part, to his innate sex appeal (which helped him become a big Hollywood star, and which, in turn, helped him become President) and in part to his unique ability to make the obvious seem obvious even to the oblivous. By contrast, his conservative predecessor, Barry Goldwater (who was actually a social liberal and precursor neo-con, but who's counting?) was anything but sexy and even Lyndon Baines Johnson (who no one in their right mind - sorry, Lady Bird - would consider sexy) beat him in a landslide 1964 presidential election victory.

This history complicates the task of Republican thinkers (and their progressive political consultants), who remain clueless regarding the true mindset and motives of Independents. The biggest mistake these gurus make, of course, is to regard it as a "mind" set.