Most political talking heads always bring up the issue of how many democrats versus republicans will show up in the 2026 midterms.
But they always forget to mention group of voters that can make and break elections, that is registered Independents.
“45% of the American electorate now identifies as independent. It is the largest political bloc in the United States, and it is growing,” says conservative author Adam Brandon.
Brandon who was influential during the Tea Party days, was the former president of FreedomWorks and now is a senior advisor at the Independent Center.
In Brandons new book, “The Exhausted Majority: Building a Home for the Politically Homeless” argues that a small number of independent members of Congress from just 20-30 swing districts could break Washington’s corrupt incentive structure and set policy back into the center.
In his book, Brandon lays out some interesting observations on what is shaping up politically for 2028 and beyond.
He says the independent bloc is fueling a shift that is colliding with the political rise of millennials and Gen Z.
Why both parties are ignoring the fact that the national debt is growing by $1 trillion every 100 days and Social Security and Medicare will be insolvent in the 2030s.
How a small bloc of independent legislators could turn Washington politics away from the partisan extremes and toward a functioning, sensible majority.
In 2024, Brandon told Politico.com (https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/05/08/freedomworks-is-closing-and-blaming-trump-00156784) that there was a disconnect between conservatives and the MAGA crowd’s populist movement.
In the interview, Brandon pointed out that some conservative groups like FreedomWorks supported free trade and smaller government but these positions were contrary to a MAGA base that supported Trumps views on tariffs on imported goods and those who stayed quiet as the Trump’s administration put $8 trillion on to the national debt.
