i think "independents" are more likely to be people who think both parties—including the one they usually vote for—have sold out values important to them than to be "moderates" who see both parties as "too extreme" along some conventional spectrum. am i wrong?
Depends. But I think the need to locate independents in some space in relation to the two parties is part of the problem. To a large extent political bundles are arbitrary, but the political class tends to act is if they have great meaning