General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: 40% of voters identify themselves as Independent. [View all]KPN
(15,642 posts)Maybe because they don't feel the Democratic Party always represents their interests? Maybe because they vote for candidates, not parties? Maybe the Democratic Party has to win them over before they call themselves Democrats? Maybe because they don't feel like the two-party system doesn't work well for them and others in their socio-economic strata? Maybe because they actually do think the two parties are pretty similar when it comes to things that are important to them personally? Maybe because in the State they reside in they can pick which primary they want to vote in as an Independent? Maybe their State does not have party registrations (Vermont is one example)?
Seems like there are a lot of reasons people might choose to register as Independent. Strikes me that all of above are legitimate to the person making that choice.
Regarding your point about before we hold the doors open for them, it's really just a question of do we want Independents to vote for Democratic Party candidates isn't it?