I was signing for permanent mail in ballot and found these stats in my county re: registered voters:

Democrat - 119,409

Republican - 111,207

Independent - 107,778

This makes me very happy. Politicians here have to stay on their toes...

Do you live in an area dominated by one political party?  Which one?  Are you with the pack or no?

wow - that's an impressively distributed mix!

my state is definitely republican. my county is more mixed, though, because I live close to KU. i know we have a stronger democratic pocket here and some independent, too. haven't been able to find the stats yet though.

Yeah, goddess it's fantastic. You really have to work to keep your job here.

One thing about the soldier in his truck, he's all over the map and reports on the local radio.  For example, in Oregon he heard one commercial joking about blowing up Texas and making it a parking lot as if this were normal... so many people in the area feel that way.

Nobody here ever assumes another person's thoughts on anything and I have lived here a long time so am still really shocked when people write me (due this blog) with the assumption I share their political views.  But this shows how it can happen.

I mean if you live somewhere where the concentration of one party or the other dominates it is probably pretty easy to forget that roughly half the people outside your realm disagree with you.

As for the climate here, I expect independents to overtake both dems and repubs by 2010. I am super proud to live here.

re the stats, I found ours going to the website to request a mail in ballot...

My state (the county is exactly the same)

40% Democrat

11% Republican

49% Unenrolled (Independent or other)

I registered "unenrolled", so I guess I'm with the pack, whatever that pack may be. :)

nationwide:

"Forty-three percent of Americans now consider themselves independents – the highest percentage in nearly three decades, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll last month...."

source CSM

Note the 30 years coming up again. Saturn cycle..

I'm registered as an independent.  My city, Philadelphia, leans heavily Democrat.  I couldn't find the statistics on independents, but based on the reported trends, I'd say the percentage of them is rising.  If anyone knows where to get Philly or PA stats without it being an excel doc, let me know!  :-)

PA otherwise tends to be more to the left on either side, and more conservative in the middle.

I consider myself an Independent but the state I live in doesn't offer that option when registering to vote. Absolutely refuse to vote a straight party ticket though.

The county where i live is more Republican than Democrat and most of the state reps from the district are Republican. 

I have too much Libra not to be able to see both sides of just about any issue which is why I read the fine print in the voter's pamphlet before voting.  Horrors! An informed voter!! 

I'm very curious about this trend toward independent, and of course where this is implied in astrological terms...

 I personally that I don't agree with all issues on either side (leaning one way or the other or even completely opposite both-- dependent on the issue). 

Woot! I'm an independent too. I can't imagine being anything else.

The only thing that sucks about it is that in some states (like mine), independents can't vote in the primaries. I imagine that will change, with more people becoming independent. On occasion, I've registered with a party just to vote in the primary, and then registered back to independent.

My state is heavily Republican, but my city seems to be more mixed Democrat/Republican.

alicia, I agree.

Perhaps this is a good example of Saturn/Uranus. Instead of there being fewer independents, with people polarizing on one side or the other, you've got more people who are willing to entertain both polarities.

I live in the democratic center of Idaho, which is a staunchly republican state. I would call myself an independent or a libertarian (which also has some following in the state).

Personally I hate how political views are trying to be like big magnets. It's assumed that there are only two polarities and each one is trying to pull more and more people to them. Each side already has a lot, but there's also a lot of people sitting between the fields just kinda hovering there. In this model there is no room for a little to one side really. If you're on one side you're obviously near the magnet because for one reason or another you got sucked there. That's how I view the *perception* of the political spectrum.

The reality is probably more like gravity with everyone near the middle and a couple of weak magnets pulling at the fringes. In fact reality is probably a model in three dimensions...

blue county in a red state.  massive cultural mixer- first majority minority state. also one of the least populated.

 i just worked to vote someone out of office (our mayor, what a self absorbed piece of work) who belongs to the same party i sgned up for.

i only signed up so i could vote in the primaries. previously i was an independent.

I'm pretty much an anarchist, so I never get counted. :-}

Six months later

Democrat - 119,583 (very slight gain)

Republican - 110,195 (loss)

Independent - 110,189 (notable gain)