The surge of centrist Independents

Pew Research Polls have shown that there has been a marked rise in the number of Independents who identify as Centrist. A full reading can be found at: http://themoderatevoice.com/32764/pew-poll-independent-voter-identification-and-centrism-are-surging/
But, the crux of the findings are:

1. Neither party can take independent voters for granted.
2. The party that wins over the bulk of independent voters will likely win elections.
3. If you follow political news, it’s clear Obama is facing rumblings of disappointment on his party’s left flank, but if he moves too far to the left he could lose independent voters.
4. For the GOP to make a genuine comeback it has to move beyond Rush Limbaugh, Dick Cheney, Newt Gingrich and others who already have the adoration of the conservative base choir and talk in exclusionary, small-tent terms, and start appealing to independent and moderate voters — which suggests that telling former Secretary of State Colin Powell to go take a hike may not be the wisest strategy.
5. The GOP will want to continue to hammer on issues that make independents uneasy about Obama and the Democrats, and Obama and the Democrats will want to keep reminding voters why they turned away from the Republicans — particularly because many Republicans are now in the ranks of that growing and vital segment of voters called independent voters.