What are the similarities between Republican and independent?

Answer 1

An *Independent* typically favors less gov't. If you consider a Republican to the right and a Liberal to the left, an Independent falls someplace in the middle. However, the term "Independent" is very vague and since there is not an actual political party, there are no specific political positions.

In reality, the label "Independent" is a bit of a farce. If you look into the voting records of a politician who is labeled as such, you will find that they vote towards the views of one of the main 2 parties.

In Europe, their are several parties and their politicians range from much farther right than a typical U.S. Republican and much farther left than a U.S. Democrat / Liberal. In reality, the differences in political position between Republican and Democrat is very minimal when you look at the wide range of views of a European group of politicians. Therefore, a U.S. Independent is typically a politician who is breaking from their original party, but doesn't want to make the leap to the *other* party.