It seems that much of our national politics is portrayed by journalists and media outlets framed in terms of the Washington "Conventional Wisdom" or "Beltway CW". Whatever the CW is, and wherever it comes from is somewhat of a mystery and the measurement of its accuracy subject to the opinion of pundits, pollsters and political satirists. That being said, the CW always seems to have its thumb on the political moment and a level of expertise that guarantees top billing in media punditry. However, it seems that a PEW research study released in May strongly suggests that only about 10% of voters are actually independent. The balance, often referred to as "up for grabs", are thought to be non-partisans who will vote for a person or issue rather than a partisan ideological purpose. In truth, the study shows that the vast majority of those who self-identify as independents are disaffected partisans. Even more surprising in this study - on many issues, independents feel more strongly than do self-identified partisans. The moral of the story: to win independent voters, appeal to the partisan issues that motivate your ideological base and the independents will get off the couch and go vote.
So, if the CW is truly so dramatically mistaken about the importance of "moderate independent voters" to a presidential election cycle, what else are they woefully wrong about?
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