Independent voters are more likely to side with Republicans than with Democrats on issues facing Floridians, according to a poll conducted for The Miami Herald and St. Petersburg Times.

Whether it's opposing a so-called ``public option'' for government-run health insurance, supporting oil drilling or a general feeling that the nation is on the wrong track, independents are proving a key ally for conservatives.

The more conservative sentiment is a reversal from a year ago, when Herald/Times polls showed that independents leaned more Democratic.

Chief reasons for the public-opinion turnaround, according to poll respondents and pollsters: the rough economy and President Barack Obama's difficulty in quickly living up to his campaign slogan, hope and change.

``The Obama administration made a lot of promises that it can't execute on right now,'' said Carlton Hughes, a 31-year-old independent voter and poll respondent from Punta Gorda. ``With the economy the way it is, we're shelling out a lot of money on a federal basis on programs that we're not sure will work. Who has been stimulated by this stimulus bill?''

But don't call Hughes a conservative. He says he's socially liberal but fiscally conservative, and he says there's no room for voters like him in major political parties.

``You can call it conservative sentiment,'' he said, ``but we're really trying to find the middle. And right now, things aren't in the middle.''

The state Republican Party can't completely rejoice, either. Independent sentiment may be with them, but Republican numbers are declining.

After an election year in which Democrats walloped the GOP in signing up new voters, the Republican Party of Florida is bleeding voters. Since the November 2008 election, nearly 58,000 registered Republicans have either left the party or been removed from the voter rolls because they haven't voted in years. Democrats have lost only 20,000 voters.

At the same time, the number of no-party-affiliation voters has increased by 20,000.

Overall, Democrats comprise 42 percent of the 11.2 million registered voters in Florida, Republicans comprise 36 percent and those with no party affiliation account for 19 percent of the electorate.

Independent voters were the most likely to give Republican Gov. Charlie Crist a negative rating, with 67 percent saying Crist is doing a fair-to-poor job. That compares to 51 percent of Republicans and 54 percent of Democrats who viewed Crist negatively.

By a 49-30 percentage point spread, independents said they opposed Crist's decision in February to stump with Obama in support of the stimulus package. A majority of Democrats supported it.

Independents gave Obama's job performance a lukewarm review: About 41 percent said he was doing an excellent or good job while 57 percent said the president was doing a fair-to-poor job. Republicans were much more negative about the president. Democrats generally gave Obama positive marks.

But last year, in Herald/Times polls taken in October and September, independents were more likely to side with Democrats in how they perceived the direction of the state or the job performance of President Bush.

This year, because of independents, Floridians in the poll backed offshore oil drilling, 54-40 percent. Only Democrats opposed it. Independents were also crucial in Floridians overall opposing a ``public option'' health plan by a 47-40 margin. Only Democrats supported it.