This story seems a little overblown to me:
Casual voters heading to the polls in Indianapolis Tuesday could be forgiven for not already knowing which party Mayor Greg Ballard represents and whether challenger Melina Kennedy is a Democrat or a Republican.
Their respective lawn signs throughout the city bear no mention of their political affiliations.
[. . .]
The "unbranding" of the candidates is a clear political strategy as more voters tend to shed their party affiliation and identify themselves as independents.
[. . .]
Andrew Downs, director of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics in Fort Wayne, says there are a number of reasons candidates ditch the party tag in their wholesale pitch to voters. A shift away from parties, the rise of candidate-based campaigns over the last 40 years and voter disillusionment with both parties in Washington have all created a distaste for political elephants and donkeys, he said.
Unless Indianpolis is vastly different from Fort Wayne, this is nothing new. It's been going on for years, and to say it has something to do with the so-called rise in independents misses the point. Candidates know they can get a certain number of votes from the party faithful, who will know who the party's candidates are and don't need to be told. Avoiding the label has always been a way of soft-peddling to the other party, not just trying to lure those with no party. Given a chance, voters at the local level are just as likely to vote for a person or a name they know as the
