Is there really anyone “undecided” left in this country when it comes to who they are going to vote for in November? Myself, I’ve been pretty well decided since, oh, December 2000: Anybody But Bush. Firmly so since this campaign started, anyway, once we knew for sure that only a Democrat opponent would have a chance of winning and that such could be no worse than Bush.
But what about other people? Are any of them truly “Undecided”, or is that a myth? As I think about, they are probably real, but not in the way the term is usually batted around.
- I suspect that anyone who voted Democrat in 2000 — and most who voted Green (Nader) — is in the “No question” camp. Polls indicate that there are a number of people who voted for Bush last time who are at least questioning it this time. So some “Undecideds” are actually “Undecided whether they will vote for Bush again.”
- I’m on record as being less than thrilled with Kerry as a nominee (although no worse than I was with Gore in 2000), but I know that I will swallow and vote for him anyway, as the candidate who will do my pet issues the least harm, and because not voting for him is 1/2 a vote for someone who will do those issues some harm. I’m sure, however, that there are people who genuinely can’t stand either Kerry or Bush, who think that neither one is good for the country, and thus they are “Undecided whether they will vote for either guy.”
- As we all know, there are many who are apathetic about the entire thing. This is especially the younger crowd, the ones who are old enough to be cynical without being wise, or who simply don’t care. These are “Undecided whether they will bother to vote at all.”
- Everyone likes to be a winner, or at least on the winning side. Look at sports fans, who are gleefully happy if “their team” wins (even when they don’t live where that team is based). I’m sure there are people out there who just want to say they voted for the winner (or maybe gripe because their candidate didn’t win; sometimes they want griping rights more than a winning candidate, because they know they’ll never be happy with whomever wins). And thus they are “Undecided which way they will throw their vote until the last minute, when they can see who is apt to be the winner.”
Updated on April 4, 2011
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