The presidential election was brutal, vicious and effective.
Conventional political wisdom would conclude that 2016 would trigger an exodus from the country’s two political parties. The opposite has occurred and now independent political identification is at its lowest in six years.
Each cycle, both parties compete for the independent vote, a demographic that has consistently outnumbered both Republicans and Democrats in the last decade. Gallup reports that 39 percent of Americans belong to this category, a three-point decrease since last year. At the same time, voter identification with major political parties increased to a 31-28 percent split between Democrats and Republicans, respectively.
Those numbers suggest that barbs from President-elect Trump and Hillary Clinton didn’t persuade independents to stay away from either campaign. Both were literally the most unpopular candidates in their respective parties’ modern history, and even that couldn’t persuade voters to abandon the party line. And if the polling is any indication, future elections aren’t likely to be much more civil.
Philip Wegmann is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
