In the 2022 midterms post-mortem, some Republicans went for the Democratic candidate over their Trump-endorsed alternative, much more impactful was the a majority of Independents voted for the Democratic candidate. The power of the Independents has risen alongside their numbers–at 42% of the electorate, they far outnumber Dems (25%) and Republicans (32%).

Samara Klar has studied Independents as part of her work at University of Arizona, and shares her findings, which complicate the conventional view of polarization, in this episode.