Power To The 'Independents!

The weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal featured a long passage from the book "Pennsylvania Avenue, Profiles In Backroom Power," by John Harwood and Gerald Seib.

I paid particular attention to some data that the authors provided on party registrations.

According to them, New Hampshire registered voters went more than 4 in 10 as independents. They note this is slightly more than double the 20% in 1992.

They add that nearly a quarter of California's voters are now registered as independent, and the fastest-growing segment, as well.

I don't know how much these numbers were affected by the current campaign's tendency to attract crossover voters from the other party. If a state allows independents to choose, on the day of the primary, in which party's primary they will vote, then these numbers might mean less.

Where I grew up, in Illinois, you could be independent, but I don't recall whether you could vote in primaries as one, or whether you simply changed party affiliations.

In any case, the general thrust of the article was that there is real growth in the non-partisan middle of the electorate, represented by independent voters registering in neither major party.

I think that's a great sign. It has, no doubt, led to McCain's nomination, but it wouldn't seem to be doing anything to influence the Democrats. As usual, recently, they are deciding between two pretty liberal candidates.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if every state allowed voters registered as independents to simply walk into the polls on election day, choose their preferred primary, and vote in it without party affiliation?