Via Ben Smith comes this delightful focus group by the St. Petersburg Times, following up on 11 Undecided voters (most of them, elderly) over the last 5 weeks.
Their strong distrust of Barack Obama suggested it was a group ripe for John McCain to win over.
Not anymore. The group has swung dramatically, if unenthusiastically, toward Democrat Obama. Most of them this week cited the same reason: Sarah Palin.
I think part of why Palin does so poorly in Florida is that she really takes away the whole experience wedge that works so well with elderly voters. They really seem to see right through her.
Some choice quotes:
"And that ticks me off because I do not want Obama,'' said Democrat Annette Kocsis, 68, a former Hillary Rodham Clinton supporter from Clearwater, scoffing at "the pit bull in lipstick," as Palin has called herself.
"That was almost insulting," Democrat Rhonda Laris of Temple Terrace, another strong Clinton backer skeptical of Obama, said of the Palin pick. "Do they think we're really stupid? ... I'm definitely leaning toward the Democratic side now. Sarah Palin scares the crap out of me."
He likes and trusts Obama but not Obama's party. Democrats have done nothing of consequence while controlling Congress, Chever said, but he's particularly bothered that the Palins are not cooperating in the "Troopergate" investigation into whether she fired the state police chief for not firing her former brother-in-law from the Alaska state police.
"Here we go with Dick Cheney and his group that's not going to talk to anybody," Chever said. "She is Dick Cheney with a dress on."
So there ya go! If you want a reason for all the polls that show Florida in a dead heat (whereas it used to be Mccain with a clear lead) it's these sensible folk who now have a reason to vote for Obama.
The article mentions that a lot of them are waiting for the debates to make up their minds. I think that's the case for a LOT of people. And despite whatever the CW is...I know Barack is a GREAT debater and a truly impressive person, especially to the many who will be seeing him for the first time.
I fully expect next week's debate to be the end of Mccain/Failing.
(Please note this is my first diary in quite some time! I took a break from politics because the possibility of Mccain winning loomed too large for my frazzled brain. But now the universe is back to normal and I'm back to the Kos!)