A record number of Americans claim to be independent. They're kidding themselves.

A Pew poll in 2012 showed a similar decline in genuinely persuadable voters. By April of that year, just 23 percent of people said they weren’t certain voters for either Democrats or Republicans. That was down from 33 percent in 2008 but slightly higher than the 21 percent who said so in 2004. In the prior three presidential elections, that number was between 27 percent and 32 percent.

If 43 percent of Americans are truly independent, why are only half of them actually persuadable seven months before a presidential election? Sure, you can be a reliable Republican voter while not wanting to be a member of the party; but the point is that, for all intents and (electoral) purposes, and practically speaking, you are a Republican.