By Ed Hornick, CNNAugust 20, 2010 12:32 p.m. EDT
Washington (CNN) -- The current ruckus over building an Islamic center and mosque near ground zero, calls to change the 14th Amendment and other so-called "wedge" issues are roiling up each party's base, but they're turning off independents, analysts say.
"This is party politics as usual with respect to all of these wedge issues," said Jacqueline Salit, president of independentvoting.org, a national strategy and organizing center for independents. "I think there's more and more of a steady recognition that these kind of wedge issues and political manipulation, sensationalism and opportunism is exactly what is degrading the American political process and our democracy."
Salit, who is also the executive editor of The Neo-Independent magazine, said that people are having a hard time understanding what's happening with the economy because of partisanship.
"I think people can't tell what's going on because the political environment is so polluted by partisanship," she said. "The parties are trying to change the subject from things they think can inflame voters on and win elections on. How does that help the country? That hurts the country. And that's what independents are deeply concerned about."
Independents are increasingly concerned by both parties, and it's evident in recent polls.
A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll from late June found that nearly six in 10 independent voters said they are angry at both parties, with 4 percent angry only at the GOP and 6 percent mad only at Democrats. Just over three in 10 say they are not angry at either party.
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