Republican or Democrat?
It may seem like these are the only viable political parties to choose from in the U.S., but voters are increasingly voting independent of them and seeing their role in presidential elections expand.
“These are the people who decide elections,” said Barry Steiner, a Cal State Long Beach political science professor. “They make politics exciting.”
It is these voters who are actively courted as election campaigns draw to a close, with politicians spending a lot of money on advertising to persuade them, Steiner said.
“It keeps candidates on their toes, and that’s a good thing,” he said. “They shouldn’t take the electorate for granted.”
These nonpartisan voters who pressure politicians choose to forgo joining the major parties for a variety of reasons. For instance, some people do not feel like they can relate to the major parties.
“I find myself relating more to actual candidates than … political parties because there are some things on both sides that … deter me from voting for a certain party or affiliating myself with a certain party,” said Kanayo Uchemefuna, an independent voter and a sophomore journalism major.
Moreover, nonpartisan voters, like many Americans, increasingly distrust politicians.
“They just … say what people want to hear wherever they go instead of remaining solid,” said Daniel Goldsbary, an independent voter and sophomore journalism major.
These voters do not feel connected to the two major parties, and are often jaded and disaffected, Steiner said. With politics in Washington often deadlocked and increasingly hyper-partisan, independent voters want something new, he continued.
But the alienation among the nonpartisan electorate will be difficult for politicians to deal with, especially since their distrust of the government and politics in general runs deep.
Honesty is only one issue to independent voters. For some independent voters, like Uchemefuna and Goldsbary, issues like funding for higher education and spending are important, much as they are to Republican and Democratic voters.
In order to appeal to these nonpartisan voters, presidential candidates will not only have to discuss issues like those mentioned, but they will also have to employ the correct strategy in luring these voters. However, the strategies vary, Steiner said.
“A candidate, especially in the primaries … will appeal to his base, but when it comes to the run-off … you have no choice but to appeal to the center, to these swing voters, to the independents,” Steiner said.
However, there is a way in which candidates can negate the effects that independent voters have on the political systems by discouraging their vote with dirty advertising, Steiner said.
