1.45 million Arizonans register to vote as … fakes
Paperwork filed with the Arizona Secretary of State’s office suggests that independent voters exist.
Not only that, but we know from this paperwork that independent voters now make up the largest group of Arizona voters, more than Republicans or Democrats.
We also know — because we are not idiots — that this is total BS.
A charade.
An illusion.
Because there is no such thing as an “independent” voter.
Independent voters are 'closet partisans'
Sure, there are now said to be 1.45 million registered independent voters in Arizona. But registering as an independent and being one are completely different things.
The first is possible. The second is not.
Nationwide, a Gallup poll last year said two-fifths of Americans identified as independents, more than enough to control American politics if they were able to coalesce.
Which will never happen.
Independent voters are what one political scientist called “closet partisans.”
They're like fans of the New Orleans 'Aints'
They remind me of a time in the 1980s when the New Orleans Saints were so bad their fans started coming to the stadium wearing paper bags over their heads with eye holes cut out, and calling themselves the “Aints.”
They were still Saints fans. They still went to the games. They just didn’t want to be identified as Saints fans.
Emory University political scientist Alan Abramowitz put it this way in an interview with The New Republic, “I think what this reflects is that most Americans have a pretty negative view of the party system in general and of what’s happening in our politics. There’s a reluctance to openly identify oneself as a partisan and to say, come right out and say, ‘I think of myself as a Republican or a Democrat.’ ”
Registering as independent is putting a paper bag over your head.
It doesn’t mean you no longer support your former political party. It just means you’re not thrilled with the current roster. Or maybe not fond, at all, of the coach.
No wonder many independents don't vote
In the end, we are who we are.
There are times when we challenge our tendencies. Our candidate may be particularly bad. The other side’s candidate might be good enough.
So, we go with our gut instead of our political leanings. But that doesn’t happen very often.
Arizona doesn’t make it easy for independent voters, either.
They can’t vote in presidential preference elections unless they join a party. And with primaries, they must notify election officials which party’s ballot they want for each election.
Red, blue, purple? What is Arizona's political identity?
I’d guess this causes a number of them to ignore some elections completely.
Their frustration is understandable
I understand their frustration.
Just as I understand the decision to leave a political party in the first place and become an “independent,” even if it is in name only.
I read an article once in which a reporter asked a downtrodden fan at a football game why he was wearing a paper bag over his head.
The fan said, “Because sometimes alcohol is not enough.”
Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Independent voters in Arizona don't really exist. They're all fakes
