Barack Obama Rally in Grant Park, Nov. 4, 2008
In January 2026, a Gallup poll found that 45% of U.S. adults identify as “independent” voters, an all-time high, up from 43% the year prior. The remaining respondents who identified as having a party affiliation were split equally between Democrats and Republicans at 27% apiece.
Nearly half of those polled did not believe their political views aligned with either the Democrats or the Republicans. It is independent voters, and not those committed to the right or left “no matter what,” who decide elections.
What caused this continuing shift away from the traditional political parties? My personal belief is that adults have grown weary of the fact that both the Democrats and the Republicans are bludgeoning voters with hatred.
It’s not hard to identify the hatred coming from the right. One need look no further than the brutal and sometimes random enforcement of immigration laws, or the irreverence placed on addressing the obvious science of global warming, to see that Republicans are not at all pleased with the immutable progress being made in and by the United States, and will impose any pain to turn back the clock.
But what of Democrats? Do you believe they are incapable of selling unhinged hatred, since their sole mission in life seems to be to oppose the hatred manifested by Republicans?
Listen closely to what Democratic leaders are telling you. Not the substance of what they’re hating, but the tone of the comments, shouting down and dehumanizing anyone who dares to disagree, throwing around such labels as “Nazis,” “Fascists,” and “garbage.”
Democrats scrawl hand-drawn messages, proudly proclaiming their hatred of Trump during their march around our public parks, often sprinkling their signs with profanity to convey their full sense of hatred, children in attendance be damned.
I do not believe that independent voters are swayed by hatred, however loudly or profanely it is shouted. I believe they are tired of non-stop hatred from the extremes of both political parties, and that “fatigue with the extremes” brought growing number of adults to identify as independent voters in the first place.
What do I think sways independent voters? Something neither side has any interest in selling, from what I can tell.
Hope.
Are you old enough to remember July 27, 2004? I had to look up the date, but I will never forget the event. On that evening, in Boston, Illinois Senator Barack Obama delivered the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention. The words “Nazi,” “Fascist” and “garbage” did not appear anywhere in the text of the speech. In fact, he reserved perhaps the most memorable passage in his speech to rebuke “the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes,” telling them in no uncertain terms:
“There’s not a liberal America and a conservative America — there’s the United States of America. There’s not a Black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there’s the United States of America.”
He titled his speech, “The Audacity of Hope,” and it filled me with hope. Hope for this great man, and hope for this great country.
Now fast forward to Nov. 4, 2008. On that evening, Barack Obama gave his victory speech acknowledging his election. Do you remember the intense pride you felt as he strode across the rainy Grant Park stage that night? He did not reach that pinnacle through hatred. In fact, the hope he rekindled in so many had overcome decades upon decades of ingrained, fierce, and unrelenting hatred so that he could reach the presidency.
Please recall, embrace and cherish the feelings Barack Obama inspired in you as you search for a presidential candidate for the 2028 election. Hold those feeling close, and use them as a litmus test for the spectacle that has been made of national politics. Measure each political party by its willingness to acknowledge and value the ties that bind, and their professed appreciation for concepts like diversity and inclusion for all. Measure each candidate by their ability to reach that exacting standard.
Democratic voters, please. MAGA Republicans may be irredeemable, but you aren’t. Find your better selves. Put down the vulgar homemade signs, and quit the hatred of the other and the name-calling. Go find your next Obama.
Tom Healey is a former Oak Park resident who recently moved to Kansas City.