We spend our days captivated by people with the most power and the biggest mouths.

• But it turns out a rising number of Americans want something else — political independence.

Gallup polling last month found that a record 49% of Americans see themselves as politically independent — the same as the two major parties put together.

• By far the dominant U.S. party isn't Democrats or Republicans. It's: "I'll shop around, thank you."

Why it matters: This trend means rising future challenges to the might and money of the two traditional parties, and helps explain how volatile and evenly split our politics are. There's no sign either will ebb any time soon.

🧠 What's happening: Gallup analyst Jeff Jones tells me a big reason for this change is driven by younger generation.

• "It was never unusual for younger adults to have higher percentages of independents than older adults," Jones said. "What is unusual is that as Gen X and millennials get older, they are staying independent rather than picking a party, as older generations tended to do."

🖼️ The big picture: Jones also points to a megatrend — "the disillusionment with the political system, U.S. institutions and the two parties, which are seen as ineffectual, too political and too extreme."

Fun fact: Every election since 2004 — except 2012 — has seen the White House, Senate or House flip control. Antsy, unsatisfied independent voters are the reason.

• Go deeper ... Explore the data.

Ron Klain, two months after leaving as White House chief of staff, today will "return home" to the global legal giant O’Melveny as partner in its Litigation Department, based in Washington and New York, and as a member of the firm’s Executive Committee.

• Why it matters: Klain, an O’Melveny partner from 1999 to 2004, will have the flexibility to be an informal senior adviser to Biden's reelection campaign.

Klain — a Harvard Law grad who spent nearly four decades in public service, including serving three presidents — will head the firm’s Strategic Counseling and Crisis Management Practice.

• He'll advise C-suite executives and boards of directors in complex industries — including technology, healthcare, infrastructure, national security, transportation, and finance.

Klain also will handle important pro bono matters and help recruit lawyers to the firm," the announcement says.

• "Throughout my years in public service," Klain said, "I have felt the support of the O’Melveny community, including mentors Warren Christopher, Bill Coleman, Walter Dellinger, and A.B. Culvahouse. I am delighted to rejoin many friends and former colleagues at the firm."

What's happening: Klain, 61, told me that since leaving the White House, he's been reconnecting with normal life — walking the dogs, and walking himself.

• "I'm on the 'no more White House Mess cheeseburgers' diet," he said.
• His blood pressure is down, he's lost 15 pounds and he's sleeping better.

💡 Lessons learned: In an exit interview with The New Yorker's Evan Osnos just before leaving the West Wing, Klain said the biggest thing he learned in the job was the power of “persistence and not panicking.”

• Osnos wrote that the Indianapolis native "is a case study in the slow accumulation of expertise."

🔮 What's next: Look for Klain to deploy his superpower as debate-prep guru during the general-election campaign, assuming there are debates.

• Klain spent Biden's first presidential inauguration in the Situation Room. If there's a second one, Klain hopes to be cheering on the podium.

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Some blue states are busily stockpiling a widely used abortion pill in anticipation of a time when it might no longer be easily accessible, Axios' Oriana González reports.

• Why it matters: Medication abortion accounts for 54% of abortions in the U.S. 98% of those used mifepristone, an abortion drug normally used alongside a second pill, misoprostol.

State of play: The Supreme Court said Friday that it will temporarily keep access in place while a legal challenge to the FDA;'s authority plays out.

What's happening: In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said the state "secured an emergency stockpile" of up to 2 million doses of misoprostol.

• Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) asked the University of Massachusetts to purchase around 15,000 doses of mifepristone, and has directed individual health providers to do so as well. The state says that will "ensure sufficient coverage ... for more than a year."
• New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) stockpiled 150,000 doses of misoprostol, a projected five-year supply.
• In Washington State, Gov. Jay Inslee (D) purchased a three-year supply of mifepristone through the state's Department of Corrections, which has a pharmacy license.

🔮 What's next: Newsom's office shared its misoprostol purchase agreement with other states in the Reproductive Freedom Alliance, which includes about 20 Democratic governors. So other blue states could follow.

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Companies have committed more than $200 billion to U.S. manufacturing projects as President Biden’s "effort to spark a new industrial revolution gains momentum," the Financial Times reports on today's front page (subscription).

• Why it matters: "The investment in semiconductor and clean tech investments is almost double the commitments made in the same sectors in the whole of 2021, and nearly 20 times the amount in 2019," the FT calculates.

Manufacturing is a huge part of Biden's reelection message, and the gains are spread across the country:

• The White House points to huge semiconductor-manufacturing plans for North Carolina, Ohio, Arizona and upstate New York.
• The Commerce Department announced Friday that 200+ companies have submitted statements of interest for CHIPS and Science Act funding for projects in 35 states.

💬 White House chief of staff Jeff Zients said in a statement to Axios: "[T]his is just the beginning. President Biden has given his team a clear mandate to continue this momentum by implementing pro-worker policies and investing in all of America."

Axios Indianapolis — by Arika Herron and James Briggs, both alumni of the Indy Star — debuts today as the 27th Axios Local city, with three more coming soon (New Orleans, Portland and San Diego).

• Coming this morning: The NRA rolled out of town after a noticeably smaller national convention than usual. Indianapolis hotels offered deep discounts, rare during big events, with one four-star hotel listed Friday on Hotwire for $136 — 45% off the regular price.

Get Axios Indianapolis ... More Axios Local cities.

Chinese surveillance giant Hikvision has repeatedly denied reports that the company is complicit in human rights abuses targeting Uyghurs in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang.

• But new details from an internal review of its contracts with police agencies in the region reveal the company — which is restricted in the U.S. — has known since at least 2020 that some of its Xinjiang contracts were a "problem," Axios China author Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian reports.

The contracts included language about targeting Uyghurs as a group, according to a recording of a private company meeting obtained by technology trade publication IPVM, and shared exclusively with Axios.

• Keep reading ... Get Axios China.

Joe Scarborough of "Morning Joe" interviewed President Biden in County Mayo, Ireland, for a prime-time special, "Joe Scarborough Presents," airing on MSNBC a week from tonight, Monday, April 24, at 8 p.m. ET.

• Scarborough tells me Biden "was buoyed by the hero's welcome he received with the people he met and on the front pages of the newspapers here. His message that U.S. investment would pour into Northern Ireland once the post-Brexit political crisis was resolved seemed to have an impact."
• "And as with most American presidents visiting the Emerald Isle, Ireland had an impact on Biden, serving as a four-day respite from the daily slog of D.C. politics."

Scarborough also sits down with former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams.

The final curtain came down last night on "The Phantom of the Opera," ending Broadway's longest-running show with thunderous standing ovations, champagne toasts, and gold and silver confetti bursting from its famous chandelier, AP's Mark Kennedy writes.

• Show No. 13,981 at the Majestic Theatre ended with a reprise of "The Music of the Night," performed by the current cast, previous actors in the show — including original star Sarah Brightman — and crew members in street clothes.

Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical — a fixture on Broadway since opening Jan. 26, 1988 — has weathered recessions, war, terrorism and cultural shifts.

• But the pandemic may have been the last straw: It's a costly musical to sustain, with elaborate sets and costumes as well as a large cast and orchestra.

The curtain call showed how out of step "Phantom" is with the rest of Broadway — but also how glorious a big, splashy musical can be.

• More photos.