I don't get the point of being registered "independent"- particularly in states where you can only vote in primaries for the party you're registered in. There's no binding commitment, you can change affiliation at will and you get to participated in primaries.... Seems like a big trade-off just to be able to claim you're "above" party politics.

Hell, I've considered registering Democrat so I could try to help keep their next nominee from being another total ass-clown. At least when there are no particularly appealing Republicans in the running, I could try to keep the most unsavory Dem from getting the nod.