On Wednesday, the Public Religion Research Institute released its new American Values Atlas. It is full of information regarding the American public’s religious identity, political views on hot-button issues such as abortion and immigration, and demographic information for regions, states, and major metropolitan areas. This atlas should prove to be […] Read more »
Americans Aren’t Becoming More Politically Independent, They Just Like Saying They Are
Gallup reported Wednesday that 43 percent of Americans identify as political independents — a record high. Thirty percent call themselves Democrats, and 26 percent call themselves Republicans. So what does this mean for our political future? Absolutely nothing. … Political independence isn’t more popular, it’s just more fashionable. CONT. Harry […] Read more »
New Record 43% Are Political Independents
An average 43% of Americans identified politically as independents in 2014, establishing a new high in Gallup telephone poll trends back to 1988. In terms of national identification with the two major parties, Democrats continued to hold a modest edge over Republicans, 30% to 26%. CONT. Jeffrey M. Jones, Gallup Read more »
Swing Voters Hold Key to Immigration Debate
The winner of a political argument is often determined by two things: timing and framing. In the case of immigration reform—at least the specific battle over President Obama’s executive order last week—the policy is put in place, and it is unlikely that it will be successfully legislatively or judicially overturned […] Read more »
Independents didn’t decide the midterm election
Who won Tuesday’s election? Well, the Republicans for one. But, if you listen to the pundits and pollsters, it was really a victory for independents. … Why did these alleged swing voters swing right? It is because independents who voted for Republicans were simply Republicans all along. The election was […] Read more »
Voters, Especially Independents, Lack Interest in Election
Two of Gallup’s long-term indicators of voter turnout show that Americans are much less interested in the midterm election today than they were on the eve of the election in 2010. Moreover, the 41% of U.S. adults saying they have given “quite a lot” or “some” thought to this year’s […] Read more »