Independents, rise up

Forget the left, the right and all the ‘isms’. The U.S. political system clearly needs a shake-up. Perhaps unaffiliated voters can facilitate this earthquake.

By Don Campbell

Independent voters are taking over American politics — or so we repeatedly hear. In fact, independents voted 2-to-1 for the Republican winners in the New Jersey and Virginia governors' races this fall. If Democrats are alarmed, good. If Republicans want to gloat, don't.

If there really is a surge of independents, it's the best political news of my lifetime because 2010 could be the year when unaffiliated voters systematically take ownership of elections. Before your eyes roll back into your head because you've heard this song and dance before, hear me out.

One trait of independent voters is well known to pollsters: When pressed hard, most will admit to a secret affinity for one of the two major parties. The result is that hard-core independents probably make up no more than 15% of the electorate. So what? A voting bloc of 15%-20% can swing most elections if they break heavily for one candidate. This, to me, is intoxicating.

Whether they'll get off their duffs is another question. Though often viewed as aloof and uninformed, independents can give the lie to that image by borrowing a page from the tea-party activists and using the Internet and social networks to organize, ready to confront candidates in cyberspace and in town halls. Those fortunate enough to live in the handful of states with open primaries, as I do in Georgia, can influence whom the parties nominate.

So the best public service independents could perform in the next election cycle would be to force congressional candidates to drop the spin and talk straight about three overarching issues: the economy, national security and fiscal policy. That's it. The important issues facing the country — the broken economy, national defense and the war on terrorism, the suffocating debt — all fall under those headings. Topics such as abortion, gun control, gay marriage, immigration, the Middle East and climate change are mere distractions, in my book.

The incentive for independents to take control is maddeningly evident: Both Congress and President Obama have shown repeatedly this year — whether on health care or government spending or the terrorism trials — that they are willing to ignore public opinion. This at a time when approval of Congress among independents has plummeted to 14%.

Yet the most intractable cycle in American politics is the re-election of congressional incumbents: Congress is a collection of bums — except for myrepresentative, who's a dedicated public servant. That attitude helps explain why House members in the past 40 years have been re-elected nearly 95% of the time, on average, and except in a few dozen districts, have routinely received 60%-70% of the vote.

This is where the independent can step in and help America break out of this rut. We can adopt a philosophy of realism and ignore all the other "isms" that dominate political discourse, especially on talk radio: liberalism, conservatism, socialism, libertarianism, statism, capitalism, American exceptionalism, individualism, extremism, environmentalism and the rest.

Independents should arm themselves with voting records and campaign promises and not only demand that candidates defend their record and rhetoric, but also dictate what the debate is about. To my mind, it's not about "values" and "principles" or "hope" and "change"; it's about whether politicians are listening to the people on three key questions: how government revenue is raised and spent, how a strong and lean military is deployed, and what the government's role should be in regulating the marketplace.

If independent activists can organize and affect the vote in just a handful of congressional districts, the political world will take notice. (After all, remember how enamored the political class became with the special election in New York's 23rd congressional district?) And then who knows what happens from there?

In 40 years of covering and closely observing politics, I've never sensed that people are as fed up with Washington politicians as they are now. And that's saying something.

Independents are uniquely positioned to channel that anger without being dragged down by special interests and zealots on the left and right who want to force their agendas on the two parties. Any moderate Democrats and Republicans who are equally incensed should join the independents' cause.

The time is right, and so is the plan: In 2010, the parties get to pick the candidates, but independents get to decide who wins.

Are you with me?

Don Campbell, a former Washington-based reporter, editor and columnist, is a member of USA TODAY's board of contributors and lives in Atlanta.

Posted at 12:16 AM/ET, December 10, 2009 in Campbell, Forum commentary, Politics - Forum

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