Voters Reject Parties; Primary Voters Not Representative of Overall Electorate

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Sub-par ratings for both major political parties, with most open to independent challenger in 2012 (By Jon Cohen and Scott Clement, Washington Post/ Behind the Numbers) Independent voters are broadly critical of the two sides: 55 percent have unfavorable views of the Democrats and Republicans alike. Again, with a notable fall-off for Democrats from August 2008 when 51 percent of independent voters had positive views of the party, 41 percent negative ones.
• Exhausting all other alternatives (Gene Fischer, York News-Times Nebraska) Low primary turnout is related to a decline in people who identify with a particular political party. I have often heard people say they vote for the person not for the political party. The problem with that position is that independent voters in the general election are making their choice from between two people preselected by primary voters. Secondly, those primary voters aren't representative of the overall electorate.