Are independents anti-incumbent?

[Sir Mohamed]

Are Independents a pretty anti-incumbent bloc in general? Biden's approvals are pretty bad with them, favorales are atrocious. Trump while in office also had miserable numbers with them. All incumbent presidents of the 21th century lost Indies in their reelection bids. Even Bush and Obama, despite winning a 2nd term with an absolute majority of the vote.

Somehow it seems indies just don't like incumbent presidents, regardless of party. Is that because they are dissatisfied with both parties and just dislike the one in power more? Or what else is behind it?

[Born to Slay. Forced to Work.]

No they’re just not plugged in and passive voters who mostly just sway with the vibes of their area and the stories the nightly media plays

[ottermax]

Most independents are not swing voters to begin with, especially in the past decade.

Those who are truly independent are generally less informed, less engaged, and in this era that means generally quite pessimistic about government and skeptical. They aren't drawn to politics in the first place so if they do vote it is mostly out of habit or the social pressure of others, and they don't really spend much time thinking about the policies or consequences of their vote.

There are some geographic areas where actual swing voters exist more commonly like New England, but some of the previous swingy areas like the Midwest, Pacific Northwest, and parts of the Mountain West have become so polarized at this point that the swing vote doesn't exist in the same way. It really has shifted to turnout on each side.