This question has pushed me to become a first time diarist because after close to two years of running for President, I can’t grasp how a person doesn’t know who they will vote for. I’ve seen polls from AP/Yahoo, the Pew Research and any other news outlet that’s tracking the elections and everyone agrees the range runs from 6%-10% of voters are undecided. My question is simply why?
My personal idea is that if a person hasn’t made up their mind yet after a solid year of hearing candidates in the primaries and the transition into the general election, they must be waiting for the slime aspect to take root. This election has been so clear cut as Barack Obama has been clear in his desire to keep his campaign focused on the positive as he easily could have responded in Republican fashion through use of the negative robo calls, guilt by association (Charles Keating, Gordon Liddy, John Hagee, Jack Abramoff and the list goes on), hidden meanings (color, religion, nationalities) that incite their crowds to clearly outrageous reactions at their rallies. Obama chose not to, which in all honesty has at times had me hand wringing yelling out to respond back and put them back on the defensive.
If you haven’t decided by now who you intend to vote for, my guess is you literally are prepared to stand in the voter’s booth flipping a coin because you have to believe either candidate is acceptable to you as President. That is a curious concept because the two men couldn’t possibly be any more opposite than the other. To me, a vote for McCain says you have no problem with the direction the country has been moving because he bragged about voting in lockstep with George Bush. A vote for Obama stands for going in a new direction and trusting this guy has the sound judgement to take us in a new direction and taking everyone’s interests to heart.
This issue of undecided voters has my head spinning, but I have to respect everyone will make the best decision for themselves in voting for President. It seems to be agreed in most circles that undecided voters tend to break for the demographic group they fall into, which ultimately again makes no sense for the wavering and indecision on a candidate. How a Democrat votes McCain is beyond me, but it’s not for me to make the undecided voters mind for them and understand what’s important in their lives.
Either way, get out and vote on Election Day and let your voice be heard.