Sarah Palin’s husband and son are registered independents!

Democrats may be blasting Sarah Palin as a doctrinaire conservative, and Republicans may be embracing her for the same reason, but her husband and oldest son are independents,” according to Politico.com.

“Todd Palin, husband of the Alaska governor, hasn’t been affiliated with a party since he first registered to vote while he was in his early 20s, in 1989 — the year after he married Sarah Palin. And Track Palin, their 19-year-old son, registered as undeclared when he became eligible to vote last year.”

In California, the state’s percentage of registered independent voters grew from about 9.5 percent in 1992 to 19.3 percent in December.  Meanwhile, the share of Republicans and Democrats declined statewide from 45.4 percent in 1992 to 42 percent last month for Democrats, and from 37.4 percent to 33 percent for Republicans in the same time period, according to the secretary of state, according to an online news source.

Here is what prominent pollster John Zogby had to say about the impact of independent voters in our presidential elections this year, in an online article:

In the early primary races, it has been the independent voter who has defined the race for the White House 2008, and, as we move toward the nominations and the general election, there is no reason to believe that will change. This begs the question, “Who are these voters, and what kind of candidate do they support?”

In Iowa and New Hampshire, independents are much like the rest of the electorate. They are as likely to be women as men. They live in cities, suburbs and rural areas in roughly the same proportions as mere partisans. Their annual incomes are comparable to the others in their state.

But there are certain differences, and those differences have had an impact.

In both states, independent voters were slightly less likely than others to have firmly chosen a candidate before the election. They also hovered around the middle of the ideological spectrum. Other Zogby polling of the American electorate last year gives us a clue as to why — independents are more moderate because they do not hold strong opinions on political issues. When they do consume a meal of politics, they bypass spicy dishes and consume mild servings that won’t cause indigestion. You see that in their choices in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Voters have given us every indication that they are tired of the bickering. They want solutions. They want good management. They want someone who will not fight with the opposition, but instead will work with the opposition. They want a commander in chief.

Not coincidentally, what is clear thus far is that independents are showing up in large numbers in Iowa, New Hampshire and beyond. They have given their support to candidates who represent a change — not necessarily a radical or ideological change, but instead a change that doesn’t necessarily result in one party winning while the other loses. That’s a theme prominently voiced by Obama, which accounts for his ability to win widespread support. Republican John McCain is in the same category, and rode to victory in New Hampshire largely on that appeal, with the help of independent voters. And while Mike Huckabee won the Iowa caucuses, he won as much for his populist message and comforting demeanor as for his championing of a single big idea or theme.

I’ve been saying for over a year that this election will be won in the center, meaning that it will be more of a traditional election, as opposed to 2004, which was hyper-partisan. Independents are a major force in this trend. Our statistics from Iowa and New Hampshire show that voters who registered without a party affiliation were far more likely to call themselves moderates. In Iowa, 39.5 percent of them placed themselves in that category, while just 25 percent of all voters did. In New Hampshire, that difference was even more pronounced, with 45.6 percent of independents calling themselves moderate, compared to 31 percent of all voters. In both states, independents were less likely to classify themselves as conservative, but were as likely to be liberal as everyone else.

As we move toward the general election this fall, independents in each state, each with a slightly different demographic makeup, will make their voices heard. The candidate who listens to this group and most effectively responds to their political concerns is most likely to come out ahead on Election Day.