On the other hand:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/mon ... lly-arent/This uses parties instead of ideology, but it shows the reality of why counting self-identified moderates or independents is going to give you bullshit numbers. It's like all these f**k who say "I vote the person, not the party." Yeah, and the person just happened to be Romney and before that McCain and before that Bush twice and before that Dole. These same people will likely tell a pollster that they are politically moderate. And they surely are not extreme ideologues, but they certainly are, in fact, firmly in line with either the left-leaning or right-leaning party, not in between the two.
If people wanted a truly moderate choice, they are likely to get one in Clinton. Unfortunately, she's extremely unpopular and most Americans consider her highly dishonest, even by politician standards. And Bloomberg is likely to take votes away from her more than from Trump if he runs.