In my home state of Montana, former University of Montana President Seth Bodnar is running for the US Senate as an “independent.”
In Nebraska, the Democrat who won the party’s primary for US Senate this week plans to drop out of the general-election race and throw her support to “independent” Dan Osborn.
This rapidly developing trend in Republican-heavy states is not about independence: It’s about big-government policies being deliberately repackaged for voters who have grown skeptical of the liberal brand. 
And the left is using party labels to mask what should be a genuine debate about policy direction.
In American politics, the core divide still revolves around the size, scope and role of government.
Conservatives generally argue for decentralization, lower taxes, lighter regulation, domestic energy production and more decision-making authority at the state, local, family and individual level.
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