I read an article yesterday from David Broder of the Washington Post in which he claims that there is a large number of undecided voters still out there. I found this surprising. Maybe it’s because I live in Mississippi — of the 30% of the people who still think Bush is a good president, 99% of them live here; the remaining 1% are his wife and one of his daughters — but I feel like there are very few people who are undecided.
Yesterday, I was commenting on a political post on another blog. One of the commenters stated that Obama was a socialist and “he’ll raise my taxes.” First, this is the standard line about all Democrats. Second, if people still think this about Obama, after all the evidence to the contrary, I just want to give up.
If facts no longer matter, if facts are secondary to facile labeling, if facts no longer play a part in how one votes, what real hope is there that we’re ever going to move away from partisan politics? If facts don’t matter, all we’re really doing is looking for the D and the R beside the candidates’ names and voting accordingly.
It’s really quite discouraging.
Yes, Obama will raise my taxes. He may reduce my federal income tax slightly, but his other tax increases will take far more than that small gain away from me.
What other tax increases are you referring to?
Capital gains taxes, inheritance taxes, gas taxes, the surcharges caused by “cap & trade” emission legislation, etc…
Capital gains and inheritance taxes directly affect what percentage of the population? Further, not that I don’t trust you, but could you point me to some cites concerning gas taxes and the emission legislation? I’m always eager to learn.
SC, why are there cricket sounds coming from my computer when I’m on your site?
Yes, discouraging. Let’s not forget taxes to pay for the deficit and debt created by Bush. No matter who wins, that’s gotta be paid, sooner or later.
Your original post topic is an interesting one. I also can’t believe people are undecided. But I’m out of touch with what’s going on in America. Seriously. I don’t know people who are being foreclosed on or losing their retirements because of investments in supposed blue chips like Merrill, Freddie and Fannie, Lehman, Bear Stearns et al. But I know they are out there. I don’t know people that don’t follow the campaign or at least have developed positions on most issues. I guess they are out there too, but if they can’t make up their mind, are they really going to vote. I really can’t imagine who these people are. You know, if I’m this out of touch, how far out there is the beer heir-in-law?
B- dont read this.
I have an event that happened last night while I was teaching that I must convey: students were introducing themselves and I asked them to NOT use the same old demographic approach. I challenged them to reveal themselves because in a “zero-history” group like a night class, we have to accelerate the social learning curve (im not sure if they gave a crap about that I just get really bored listening to name, age, major, hometown shit). Anyhoo, a lady (divorced with two children) stood up and was really creative in her approach. Admitted that she was a real “girly-girl” (her words) and not twenty seconds later she said that she believed that women should not be president because “they are the weaker sex. It’s a man’s job.”
At least I know she isnt undecided.
B,
Your question was are people really undecided about the election. After that, I lost you.
While pointing out Bush’s abysmal approval ratings and the rants of the far right against Obama you didn’t mention the other side.
Far left Kooks attach similar labels to McCain. And the Democrat controlled House and Senate has approval ratings worse than Bush’s or MSU’s scoring offense!
Add up Bush’s poor ratings, Dems in Congress poor rating, Kooks on the left and right and that equals undecided voters. There are a lot of people out there right now that don’t believe in Washington anymore.
Obama’s a fresh face with a nice slogan (Change), but where’s the real substance and experience? McCain’s a war hero, yet he’s been in Washington longer than Trent Lott! He’s also allied with Bush on many issues.
IMHO, I think people are more torn over this election than in many years. If you follow the polls on RCP, you can see the flucuations almost daily.
Never before will the debates mean so much for either candidate than they will this year.
It’s a great topic and you nailed the point about Mississippi. We have very few undecideds here. Ohio, PN, FL, COL…have many.
TB, I have the highest ratio of page views to comments on the web.
Janey, did you take a picture of this woman? She could go in the Smithsonian.
Yack, my post was not a rant on Republicans and their supporters. These are just the people I find myself surrounded by in Mississippi. I readily admit that there are kooks on the Left. This is one of the reasons I remain a Disgruntled Independent. For example, I unsubscribed from MoveOn.org’s mailing list because some of the emails were getting too shrill and, frankly, misleading; not all of them, but enough to cause me to unsubscribe.
My overall point is that someone from far outside Mississippi wrote that there are lots of undecided voters remaining. However, here in Mississippi, we have few undecided voters. And many of those who have decided did so based on outdated, factually-incorrect labels and that discourages me.
Yes, there are people in California, NYC, and some here in Mississippi, who sum up McCain with outdated, factually-incorrect labels, which also discourages me. But I was writing about my particular experiences here in the reddest of red states, which experience has for far too long been this: “Democrat equals tax and spend liberal heathen. That bad. Obama equals Democrat. Obama bad. Republicans say values. Values good. Me like values.” Then with knuckles scratched and bleeding from having drug the ground, they go vote.
I’m sure if I lived in the most left-leaning state, I’d write about the excesses there.
Okay I totally missed your point. I agree people in Mississippi lean right in their views and support. I appreciate anyone who votes, no matter who they vote for, assuming that person has made an educated vote. However, the majority of voters have no clue what candidates actually support…at least the details. Thus they vote the R or the D.
You say you are an independent which I believe. Since there are so few independent candidates, what party to you vote most for. I hate to say, but I cannot remember the last Democrat I supported.
“However, the majority of voters have no clue what candidates actually support…at least the details. Thus they vote the R or the D.” This is my point and I find it hard not to get, in turns, outraged, discouraged, angry, and sad. One of the many undesirable by-products of this ignorance is the efficacy of negative campaigning. I don’t watch TV without a remote control in my hand so that I can change the channel the moment a political ad comes on.
Regarding my voting patterns, they are directly proportional to how corporatist and religiously fundamental the Republican Party has become — and this goes far beyond tort reform. Despite that, I voted for some Republicans in the most recent statewide and local elections.
B
Part II of my student comment that I forgot to include: ” It is the White House not the hen house.”
Now, how do I mask my disdain?
[...] really curious. SC addressed the question of who is left that’s undecided a few weeks ago here, but what I want to post about this afternoon is what would make the debates worth watching. Here [...]
Not sure why my post pinged over here, maybe because I linked you. Anyway, I didn’t mean for that to go in your comments. Sorry SC.