The True Independent

Too liberal for the right. Too conservative for the left. Too skeptical for everyone. Quietly watching both sides lose their minds. 🔇📢

[The True Independent @AgainstTheEcho]

Maybe this is something ALL sides can agree on.

This is Major. He has spent more than 545 days locked away while his owner fights to save his life.

Major was hit by a vehicle and, while injured and scared, bit a woman who was trying to help him. Now he faces euthanasia.

Forget Democrat vs. Republican for a minute. This dog needs people to hear his story.

I have a tiny account, so I know my reach is limited—but maybe someone with a much bigger platform will see this and share it.

Please help get Major’s story in front of as many people as possible. Let’s save Major.

If there was ever a post of mine worth sharing, make it this one.

https://t.co/HJzjiZSdnh

[The True Independent @AgainstTheEcho]

Exactly! I’ve been an independent for about 15 years after leaving the Democratic Party, and somehow I’ve never been polled once in my entire adult life.

And the assumption that because I’m unhappy with Republicans right now, my vote automatically goes to Democrats is hilarious.

Every election cycle it’s the same thing. People hype up these polls like the outcome is already decided, take their victory laps, and then act shocked when the actual voters don’t necessarily follow the script.

Dissatisfaction with one party does not automatically equal support for the other. Some of us really are independent.

[The True Independent @AgainstTheEcho]

@LegendaryEnergy I hope people realize polls aren’t real life, and being unhappy with Trump doesn’t automatically mean voting Democrat. Some of us are unhappy with both parties.

Maybe hold off on the victory laps until November. The voters will have the final say.

[The True Independent @AgainstTheEcho]

Every election cycle it’s the same song and dance. A few favorable polls come out and suddenly “the tide is turning!” or “this election is different!”

Meanwhile, I’ve somehow made it my entire adult life without ever being polled. These polls apparently know what independents are thinking, yet they keep eluding this independent.

And no, I’m not sitting this election out. I’ll vote like I always do. I just don’t assume Democrats are automatically the answer because I’m unhappy with Republicans—or vice versa.

Maybe everyone should save the victory laps until people actually vote.

[The True Independent @AgainstTheEcho]

I agree the economy is terrible and affordability is a very real problem. But spare me the “Democrats are fighting hard for you” line.

I don’t like Trump either, but “putting a check on Trump” isn’t a solution for lowering my grocery bill, housing costs or healthcare.

If Democrats take the House and Senate, you’re still going to have to work with this guy for another two years. So what’s the actual plan? What specifically are you going to pass to lower costs, and how are you going to get it done?

Democrats had power too and people were struggling then. That’s part of why some of us left the party in the first place.

I’m tired of hearing Trump, Trump, Trump. Tell me what you’re going to do. Give people something more than “the other guy is terrible.” Being anti-Trump isn’t an economic plan.

[The True Independent @AgainstTheEcho]

@EvanAKilgore Yes, I am an independent , I do not fit neatly into any of these categories.

[The True Independent @AgainstTheEcho]

I have a feeling a lot of people on BOTH sides are going to be surprised by the midterms.

Once again, everyone is treating polls like election results and their social media feeds like they’re representative of the entire country.

Democrats see favorable polls and think they have it in the bag. Republicans see favorable polls and do the exact same thing.

Maybe we should stop taking victory laps before people actually vote. Polls are estimates. X isn’t real life. And neither one gets the final say.

The voters do.

See you in November.

[The True Independent @AgainstTheEcho]

@TheModerateCase This. But I’d apply the warning to both sides. Anger at one party shouldn’t make us stop scrutinizing the people promising to replace them. This is exactly what I was getting at here.

https://t.co/BUTDQYXUWF

[The True Independent @AgainstTheEcho]

Since everyone is talking 24/7 about Iran, I’ve been thinking a lot about Iran in 1979.

The revolution wasn’t simply a country unanimously deciding it wanted the government that exists today. Very different groups united around something much simpler: they were angry with the government they already had and wanted it gone.

Islamists, liberals, leftists, students and others could agree on the enemy even though they couldn’t agree on what should replace him.

The Shah fell. Khomeini’s movement consolidated power. Many of the people who helped bring about the revolution eventually discovered that the new government had very different plans for Iran than they did.

And Iran has paid an enormous political and economic price in the decades since—although war, sanctions and other factors are also part of that history.

I’m not saying America is Iran in 1979. I’m saying history repeatedly teaches the same lesson: anger is not a governing philosophy.

“The people in power failed us, so give these people a chance” is not enough.

What exactly do they believe? What happens if they actually get power? What are their economic policies? What institutions are they willing to tear down? And what happens if they can’t deliver what they promised?

Don’t become so angry at the people who disappointed you that you stop scrutinizing the people promising to replace them.

Being against something tells me almost nothing about what you’re for.

[The True Independent @AgainstTheEcho]

Since everyone is talking 24/7 about Iran, I’ve been thinking a lot about Iran in 1979.

The revolution wasn’t simply a country unanimously deciding it wanted the government that exists today. Very different groups united around something much simpler: they were angry with the government they already had and wanted it gone.

Islamists, liberals, leftists, students and others could agree on the enemy even though they couldn’t agree on what should replace him.

The Shah fell. Khomeini’s movement consolidated power. Many of the people who helped bring about the revolution eventually discovered that the new government had very different plans for Iran than they did.

And Iran has paid an enormous political and economic price in the decades since—although war, sanctions and other factors are also part of that history.

I’m not saying America is Iran in 1979. I’m saying history repeatedly teaches the same lesson: anger is not a governing philosophy.

“The people in power failed us, so give these people a chance” is not enough.

What exactly do they believe? What happens if they actually get power? What are their economic policies? What institutions are they willing to tear down? And what happens if they can’t deliver what they promised?

Don’t become so angry at the people who disappointed you that you stop scrutinizing the people promising to replace them.

Being against something tells me almost nothing about what you’re for.

[The True Independent @AgainstTheEcho]

Wait, I was reliably informed that only MAGA is a cult and people aren’t allowed to think for themselves. 😂

So why is there allegedly a push to punish a Democrat for… voting with Republicans?

God forbid an elected representative occasionally thinks for herself instead of checking which letter is next to everyone else’s name.

[The True Independent @AgainstTheEcho]

I commend you for speaking your mind. Unfortunately, the second you don’t fall completely in line, you get called every name in the book and suddenly you’re MAGA. That’s been my own experience since leaving the Democratic Party and becoming an independent. Apparently disagreeing with Democrats on anything means you must be a Republican. There’s no room for nuance anymore.

[The True Independent @AgainstTheEcho]

And this right here is one of the reasons I left the Democratic Party and became an independent: the arrogance and bullying when you simply don’t see things their way.

Apparently, you can’t dislike Trump and disagree with Democrats. If you don’t fall completely in line, suddenly you’re MAGA, a grifter, stupid, or whatever label comes next.

I have plenty of disagreements with Republicans too. But in my own experience, I haven’t encountered nearly this level of hostility from them simply for expressing a different opinion.

Calling someone a “grifter” simply because he’s a Black conservative who supports Trump doesn’t prove he’s a grifter. Disagree with his argument. Challenge his beliefs. But the man is allowed to think for himself.

This kind of condescension is exactly what pushed me away in the first place.

[The True Independent @AgainstTheEcho]

@AezzieUwU Poll favors your side: WE’RE WINNING!
Election: Poll was wrong.
Everyone: How did this happen?!
Two years later:
New poll favors your side: Tides are turning, WE’RE WINNING!

When are people going to realize SOCIAL MEDIA ISN’T REAL LIFE?

[The True Independent @AgainstTheEcho]

I have been an independent for about 15 years and was a Democrat before that. I’ve never been polled in my life.

Maybe I’m just old-fashioned, but I’ll wait for the actual votes.

Polls are snapshots based on models, weighting and assumptions about who will actually vote. X isn’t real life either. Yet every election cycle people get incredibly confident because their favorite polls and their social-media bubble tell them what’s going to happen.

Then Election Day comes and occasionally everyone discovers the electorate had other ideas.

[The True Independent @AgainstTheEcho]

Democrats, after 10 years, “Trump is bad” is not enough.

Trump was voted back into office. Many Americans are unhappy with the current administration—including me. But that doesn’t automatically mean we’re ready to vote Democrat.

I’m an independent. Tell me how you’re going to make housing affordable. Tell me what you’re going to do about healthcare costs. Tell me how you’re going to create good jobs and bring down the cost of living. And give me concrete plans, not slogans.

You had four years under Biden, and many people still felt financially squeezed. So explain what you learned and what you would do differently.

And stop treating X and every favorable poll like they’re reality. X is not America, and polls are estimates—not votes. I personally don’t put much faith in them. I want to know who was surveyed, where they were from, how respondents were selected, how the questions were worded, how the results were weighted and what the margin of error was.

We’ve watched elections where polling—especially in decisive states—failed to capture the final result accurately. So getting comfortable because a poll says you’re ahead or because everyone in your X feed agrees with you is a mistake.

I don’t speak for all independents or swing voters. I can only tell you what would persuade me, and so far nothing I’ve seen has convinced me to come back.

If your pitch is simply, “Trump is terrible, therefore vote for us,” you’re assuming dissatisfaction with Republicans automatically equals support for Democrats.

For some of us, it doesn’t. Give us something to vote FOR.

[The True Independent @AgainstTheEcho]

Yes, THIS is surely what politically homeless and independent voters have been waiting for. A raffle to knock down Trump’s arch.

I’m an independent. I want to hear about affordability, jobs, housing, healthcare and what you’re actually going to do to improve people’s lives.

Instead, once again: Trump, Trump, Trump.

You may despise the man. I’m no fan of his either. Fine. But eventually you have to give people a reason to vote for you, not just a reason to hate him.

I don’t know when Democrats are going to realize that many of us who used to be Democrats are tired of every political conversation revolving around Trump. What are you offering us beyond being against him?

[The True Independent @AgainstTheEcho]

This is exactly why I’m skeptical of headlines like this. “49% Democrats/Democratic-leaning” sounds a lot different than saying how many actually identify as Democrats and then separately showing how independents answered a follow-up “lean” question.

I’ve been an independent for 15 years and don’t lean toward either party. I know plenty of others who feel the same.

Show me the sample size, the exact questions, how many identified as independent, how many said neither, and the margin of error. Then let the data speak instead of turning independents into Democrats or Republicans for a headline.

[The True Independent @AgainstTheEcho]

This is incredibly tone-deaf. Thousands of people have been laid off, many have been unemployed for 6+ months, and others have stopped looking altogether—meaning they aren’t even counted as unemployed anymore.

And no, people who didn’t trust these numbers under Biden don’t suddenly have to trust them under Trump. Some of us have questioned government statistics for MANY years, through both Democratic and Republican administrations. We aren’t going to start blindly trusting them today because the letter next to the president’s name changed.

A “great jobs number” means very little to someone who has been searching for work for months, some years!

[The True Independent @AgainstTheEcho]

And? So because Biden didn’t fire anyone, we were supposed to blindly trust the numbers? I didn’t even blindly trust the government under Bush. This isn’t new for some of us.

Government skepticism shouldn’t depend on whether your preferred party occupies the White House. If “they didn’t fire anyone” is now the standard for unquestioning trust, that’s an incredibly low bar.

[The True Independent @AgainstTheEcho]

Hilarious. Did you have this same skepticism under previous administrations, or is it only acceptable now because you hate the guy in office?

Some of us questioned government narratives under Democrats AND Republicans years ago and were called conspiracy theorists for it.

That’s how a lot of us became politically homeless. Not because “our side” was always right, but because we stopped believing everything our side told us—and got attacked for questioning it.

Now suddenly government skepticism is acceptable because the other team is in charge? Spare me. If these institutions deserve scrutiny today, they deserved scrutiny yesterday too.