Independents and the "Mushy Middle"

In response to my post on political moderates, Rich Harwood writes

... I do believe that moderates fail themselves -- and thus the public --
in their inability to articulate a values-based vision of their views; to tap
into and exhibit passion; to stand tall and make an arugment for moving in a
particular direction.

Here I think it is useful to draw a distinction between moderates and independents. In my original post the basic point that I was trying to make is that we often conflate independents and moderates when talking about American politics. Such is the temptation in a two-party system to lump everyone who doesn't fit neatly into either party into a third-party "other" designation. in doing this, however, we lose much of the nuance that is the hallmark of political independents.

Rich's comments, when applied to everyone who doesn't consider themselves to be part of one political party or the other, seem a bit unfair. Rich's comments apply mostly to what could be called "the mushy middle" - those who don't particularily care enough to fully form or articulate a position on an issue - even issues that deeply affect their daily lives.

But, and I think Rich would agree with me, there is a large number of people who do have clear views on an variety of issues, feel strongly about them, but don't see the totality of their views reflected in either party. These are the independents. Often, they feel pressure to fall in line with one political party or the other because of expediency and the desire to see some of their beliefs carried through in policy. As polarization of the political elites grows more intense, these are the people who are going to be the first to depart. Unlike members of "the mushy middle" who would be content to vote a party line if it didn't require them to think or invest too much, independents be more likely to take the stance that they're "mad as hell and they're not going to take it anymore."

How independents respond to the polarization of the elites is going to be one of the most important trends to watch in the upcoming election cycles. Whether they choose to stand by their party of choice, form a new coalition party, or opt of the process altogether could have a profound impact on the state of politics and public life in the coming years.

Opting out is the most potentially damaging option, forcing more people into the retreat that Rich himself has chronicled in his work, though as far as I know he hasn't written too much about the varying stripes of people that make up the center, or whether he sees much of a distinction between moderates and independents.

To my eye, though it can be easy to conflate the two, when we're thinking about change, we should be looking to the independents - not the moderates.