Today, IWF’s sister organization, IWV, released a really unique poll of Independents, revealing that while this important voter group hasn’t embraced the Republican party, they are increasingly embracing a conservative philosophy of more limited government and greater freedom and control for individuals.


Here’s some highlights from a piece IWV’s chairwoman, Heather Higgins, wrote for the Wall Street Journal, along with pollster Doug Schoen:



A new comprehensive national survey shows that independent voters-who voted for Barack Obama by a 52%-to-44% margin in the 2008 presidential election-are now moving strongly in the direction of the Republican Party….


Today, independents say they lean more toward the Republican Party than the Democratic Party, 50% to 25%, and that the Republican Party is closer to their views by 52% to 30%. This movement comes in spite of independents’ generally negative views of the GOP-a majority of independents (54%) view the Republicans unfavorably, compared to 39% who have a favorable impression. (The poll also revealed that 48% of independents were either “sympathetic to or supporters of the tea party.”)…


More generally, independents made clear in the survey what they want candidates to do: Decrease the size and scope of government, cut spending and taxes, balance the budget, reduce the federal debt, reduce the power of special interests and unions, repeal and replace the health-care legislation, and decrease partisanship. The survey also showed that independents believe they aren’t getting any of this from the current representatives in Washington.


Read more results from this ground-breaking poll here.