Most Independents in 75 Years

According to a new poll out, 38% of Americans consider themselves "independent" when it comes to politics. That's up from 32% in in 2008 and 30% in 2000. In a political arena that is becoming more and more partisan, it's not too surprising to see the number of people who back away from one party or the other.

While the percentage of Americans who consider themselves a member of either political party has been shrinking, Pew also found that conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats have been on the rise, indicating an increasingly partisan landscape.

This year, 68 percent of Republicans said they consider themselves conservative – a rise from the 60 percent of GOPers who said the same back in 2000. On the other hand, 38 percent of Democrats currently say they are liberal – also a notable rise from just 28 percent of the party that said this 12 years ago.

Meanwhile, independents are most likely to describe themselves as “moderate,” with 43 percent of them describing themselves this way, compared to 30 percent of independents who say they are conservative and 22 percent who say they are liberal.

According to Pew’s analysis, swing voters – consisting of those who are either undecided, only lean toward a candidate or favor one candidate but may still change their minds before Election Day – make up 23 percent of all registered voters.

What do you think? Why are we seeing more people describe themselves as independents? With 38% of American's now classifying themselves that way, it will be a huge voting block for either Romney or Obama to try and win over.