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That leaves the dredded independents. What do independents hate more than anything? Politicians yelling at each other, negative advertising, vicious attacks.

I think this is absolutely untrue. It may be what people say in response to polls, but lets look at what they actually do.

Those Independents had to be the ones responsible for Clinton's sky high polls during impeachment. Who was negative and vicious? It wasn't Ken Starr, it wasn't Republicans. How many people, besides us, were really outraged by the James Byrd ads?

I think what people really mean when they answer this way is that they are tired of the lack of real substance in political debate. Look back to the Contract With America. There were goals, issues were explained. The same with the "third rail" of politics, social security. Pundits claimed that Bush would be creamed if he took that on, but he did and it was well received.

That leaves the dredded independents. What do independents hate more than anything? Politicians yelling at each other, negative advertising, vicious attacks.

I think this is absolutely untrue. It may be what people say in response to polls, but lets look at what they actually do.

You make this too easy. Who was vicious and negative? Virtually all knowledgeable people, including those in GOP Leadership, admit that the impeachment process died when congress released the Starr report to the public. Once all the trash was out there, the non-ideological, i.e., the independents were turned off by the Republicans pushing the trash on them and Starr for spending his time researching all the sordid sex. The independents skipped right over the issues of law breaking because all the sex and affair crap was in their face. Especially harmful to impeachment was the video of Clinton's testimony to Starr. You may have ate it up as did I but it backfired as far as the public (and subsequently the Senate).