Who are these undecideds? And what are they waiting for, anyway? Why are they still deciding?
At this point, are we just talking about a personality trait, one specific example of a more general indecisiveness? Are these the kinds of folks who have a hard time choosing anything, picking between all kinds of alternatives, no matter how different those options might be?
Is there really any good reason why some Americans haven’t made up their minds yet?
I just read a report this morning that Colin Powell is still not sure which candidate will get his vote. He is waiting for the debates. Fair enough, I guess. We have a series of head-to-head events that should give us even more data to work with, but do people really imagine that they don’t have enough already?
Of course, Powell knows that his particular choice, if made public, could be wielded by the media (and even his chosen ticket) as a big stick for pummeling the other side. Maybe he doesn’t want to be party to that. Fine. But still, why say you’re undecided? Just say, I’ve made up my mind, but I don’t want my choice to get politicized. Couldn’t that work?
Maybe, maybe not.
There’s no escaping the ubiquity of the media, right? If his not deciding is considered newsworthy, his not divulging a decision would probably have even more long-lasting legs as a news story. So, if you’re Powell, it makes sense not to give an inch. You just claim that you haven’t decided and hope that the news cycle spins itself on down the road without you.
But most of the folks donning the undecided banner with pollsters don’t have to worry about their individual notoriety transforming their presidential pick into an evening headline. And after such a long primary season, complete with hyper-spun daily doses of overexposure to the candidates’ opinions and personalities, what more information do people think they are going to get? The thud from what final shoe do they need to hear drop before they flush the toilet and turn out the light?
Seriously, if you’re a card-carrying Democrat, why are you still hedging over your party’s candidate? For longtime Republicans, what else does McCain need to do to knock you out of the “maybe” column? And for those registered Independents who aren’t as beholden to padded party loyalties to begin with, do these two candidates not starkly contrast with one another as those proverbial apples do with those oranges? If nothing else, think of the far-reaching impact of their radically different Supreme Court nominees? That doesn’t give you your pick?
I can buy the fact that people who don’t like the sexist way Hillary Clinton was treated in the primaries might want to take that anger out on the Obama ticket, but I imagine that they’d hesitate a little to desert their party’s choices for fear of cutting off their own noses (in terms of the actual Clintonian policies they support) to spite their offended faces. At the same time, I know that McCain isn’t the perfect candidate for many dyed-in-the-wool Republicans, but Obama is never going to end up so far in “the middle” (even as he inches closer and closer) that the two guys would be able to pass for one another in some dark political corridor. If you’re a Republican, wouldn’t McCain still be the poison you’d pick? Where’s the ambiguity?
Again, I’m not saying that there aren’t different variables to juggle, cost-benefit analyses to assess. But we’ve all been doing that for a long campaign season already, and I’m not sure any more information is going to help make things clearer. In fact, even if some major plot twist (of Sarah Palin-esque proportions) were to emerge between now and November, people are allowed to change their minds. So, what explains this massive evasion of electoral decision-making? I hope people aren’t just trying to artificially ratchet up the drama. The new TV season has already started, and I’m more than happy to get most of my drama there.
