Independent Voters Look Like Dimwits

Most political polls these days emphasize what the all-important bloc of independent voters is thinking, but a closer reading suggests they may not be thinking at all, writes Michael Kazin in the New Republic. He notes a recent survey by Democracy Corps in which independents agreed with GOP talking points on the budget, taxes, etc.—and also with Democratic talking points that directly contradicted them in the very same survey.

"I think it demonstrates a basic thoughtlessness," writes Kazin. "At a time of economic peril, when one party wants to protect the essential structure of our limited welfare state and the other party seeks to destroy it, most independents, according to this poll, appear to be seduced by the last thing they have heard. Scariest of all, come 2012, they just might be the ones to decide the future course of the republic." (More independent voters stories.)