mugwump

noun ~ a person who is independent in plitics or who remains undecided or neutral

Ross’s campaign adviser was convinced that the Democratic and Republican votes were already decided and that those of the remaining mugwumps would decide the election.

Did you know? –> A 17th-century Massachusett Indian might not recognize his people’s word for “war leader” if he saw it used today. In colonial America, “mugwump” was used derisively to refer to someone who was a “big shot.” The first political mugwumps were Republicans in the presidential race of 1884 who chose to support Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland rather than their own party’s nominee. Their independence prompted one 1930s humorist to define a mugwump as “a bird who sits with its mug on one side of the fence and its wump on the other.”

Merriam-Webster’s 365 New Words Calendar, www.pageaday.com, Workman Publishing