U.S. Political Independents Don't Exist, and If We Do Exist, We Don't Matter

[drone]

So other than a registered Democrat/Republican the registered Independent does not get the right to actively participate in the nomination of a candidate - but the registration rather serves the purpose tto demonstrate that you consciously did not register as Democrat/Republican as opposed to not registering because you are not interested in the whole election process anyway?

Just paraphrasing to make sure I understood it

Here in Virginia, we have open primaries. Independents can vote in one party's primary (chosen when they get to the polls), which allows us to add votes for a more moderate candidate that may not appeal to the hardcore base.