Writing on Talking Points Memo, Steve Benen bashes self-described independents who told the Washington Post that they wouldn’t seriously consider supporting an independent presidential candidate:

There was, however, one piece of information from the report that struck me as odd.

While these independents swung substantially to the Democratic side in 2006, 77 percent of them say they would seriously consider voting for an independent if one were running.

Is it me, or is 77% a little low? Nearly one-in-four self-described independents wouldn’t consider voting for an independent? Then why even consider yourself an independent?

Must be part of that no-idea-what-they’re-talking-about bloc.

Many of these voters may be confused partisans who call themselves independents, but isn’t it also possible that some of them recognize the futility of independent candidacies? Why should they have to waste their vote out of principle?