What other choice does this group of voters who make up 40% or a bit more of the electorate have? They’re not members nor do they affiliate themselves with either major party. Most fall somewhere in-between the ideology of the two major parties. Or they support one party on somethings, support the other party on other things. They don’t fall in-line with either major party’s ideology or wants.
Something has always bugged me about this tripartite perspective. It’s a bananas, apples, and oranges comparison.
First, you have Reeps, who in recent decades have been a fairly cohesive ideological voting bloc - now they have become nearly monolithic Death Star with strict enforcement of loyalty, no matter how moronic. It has a largely authoritarian inclination.
Next you have Dems, who have a well-earned reputation for being fragmented and are resistant to pulling together as a disciplined team. But they share a bent towards collaboration.
Then you have Independents, who don’t share any particular ideology in a large bloc, and span the spectrum of extreme progressivism and socialism to radical rightwingers who think that the Constitution grants them the right to overthrow the government by force. What we call Independents are not a a cohesive bloc at all, and there is no organization. I’d say if they share anything in large measure, it is a desire to be left alone (they aren’t joiners) and not have to think too hard.
The are lots of valid observations about trends for these groups, but they really need to be evaluated differently- Reeps are like a military prep school, Dems are like a city council, and Indies are like… like… I don’t know, a homeless camp?
