The American Spectator

Reader Mail

ALL ABOUT UNDIES
Re: Manon McKinnon's The Undecideds:

This is exactly why I think it was very unwise of McCain to try to appeal to the "undies." Every landslide we've had has been for a very conservative candidate. Appealing to the middle, as McCain has done, will water down our party, and probably lose more voters than not.
-- Deane Pradzinski
Highland, California

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In my humble opinion, anyone who has not made up their mind at this late date probably doesn't deserve to have the franchise. What type of ignoramus cannot form an opinion and take a stand with one of the candidates after nearly two years of nonstop campaigning? If a voter can't make this relatively simple decision, then that person should not be a voter! Make up your mind people, the day is far spent! The choice is rather simple...so make one already!
-- Eric Edwards
Walnut Cove, North Carolina

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The term "Undecided Voters" is largely a misnomer. I suspect that there are very few potential voters who are truly undecided. The large majority of the "I Don't Know" crowd do know, they just won't publicly commit to a position. The reasons for this vary with the individual.

Some of these people just do not want to impart what they believe to be personal information. Others fear peer ridicule or resentment. And some do not want to be seen as backing a loser.

Of those who are truly undecided; there are those who need so much information on any subject before making a decision that their chances of making an incorrect decision are statistically zero, those who are simply waiting for someone else to tell them what decision to make [who is usually the last person that they talk to] and those who are psychologically unable to make any decision. We need not concern ourselves with those who just don't care about the question, as they will not participate anyway.

So the group of people lumped together to form the class called "undecided voters" by pollsters, should probably be split into two groups, undecided and uncommitted. These are the groups that politicians usually court the hardest. Unfortunately, most are already secretly committed and nothing a candidate can say or do will sway them. And of the rest, many will be unable to come to a decision on Election Day and the rest will make their decision once they step into the booth and probably based upon the opinion of the last person to voice it to them. The undecideds do not decide elections, the decided do.

For this reason, undecided voters are of interest only to pollsters because they have to balance the mathematical equations upon which their polls are based. For politicians, the base is most important and this is where you should spend the most time and effort convincing people not only to support you, but to go to the polls and vote for you. Excessively courting the "undecided voter" is simply an exercise in futility.
-- Michael Tobias

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I find it a shame that Manon McKinnon has no understanding of the show Dirty Jobs, so maybe I can help. The show is, along with Mythbusters, one of the more truly enjoyable offerings of Discovery Channel. It rides solely on the charm and affable wit of host (and former opera singer) Mike Rowe who "explore[s] the country looking for people who aren't afraid to get dirty -- hard-working men and women who earn an honest living doing the kinds of jobs that make civilized life possible for the rest of us." It tends to take a rather jovial attitude about the horrors that Mike and his subjects face on a day-to-day basis but also invariably shows these people off as the embodiment of the American work ethic -- people who are perfectly comfortable working in a sewer or cleaning roadkill for a paycheck and not lining up for the government dole, espousing the value that "it's a dirty job but someone's gotta do it." It's entertaining, it's family friendly (there are enough pooh related episodes to keep your four-year-old snickering for days) and now and then a viewer just might learn something about what goes into keeping the underbelly of our country's infrastructure working. Maybe Manon out to check it out.

Now as to undecided voters, I have no clue.
-- Fred Schendel

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Manon McKinnon writes: "Do these undies wrestle with internal arguments such as "Gee, which do I like better: higher taxes or lower taxes? I can't decide. What about foreign policy? I don't know whether I want to be real nice to the bad guys or be real strong to the bad guys. I just can't figure it out."