“Where are you headed GLIMPSE?”
“Where you can’t
find me.”
“Ha. Funny. You’ll
have to run faster. Say, aren’t you going to tell what you think about the
second presidential campaign debate? Aren’t you going to comment?
“Sure I am. Like most democrats I know and have seen
interviewed, I think Mr. Obama was most impressive. I’m relieved that the intense, articulate, and
spunky President I have learned to appreciate is back from his slump, and loved
it when Candy Crowley corrected Mr. Romney—or ‘Mittens’ as New York Times
columnist Maureen Dowd calls him.
“You remember. Mr. Romney
challenged Mr. Obama’s truthfulness when the President said after the September
11 Libya embassy attack, that the following day he identified it as a terrorist
operation. Ms. Crowley told Mr. Romney the
President was correct. People clapped, and Mitt looked stunned. Her name probably won’t be listed among the ‘qualified’
in the would-be-president’s ‘binder full of women’ should he be elected.”
“Come on! You’ve
got to admit Romney did okay. He was aggressive.”
“Aggressive is
your word. ’Bullying’ is mine. However I’m certain you consider Mr. Romney
the winner. ”
“You got that
right.”
“A fascinating thing about the
debate is that the Gallup organization found such apparently informed
‘undecideds.’ Undecided voters typically are perceived as “low information”
voters.
Reuters news
service reporter Daniel Trotter notes that undecideds, who make up 6 percent of
the electorate, have been the subject of pundits’ scorn for their indecision.
“ He quotes
comedian Bill Maher as saying, ‘This year at the debates we should skip that
thing where the undecided dial in their reaction to every little moment and
instead hook up the dial to their foreheads to see if there is an measurable
brain activity.’
“Trotter bases his reportage
on polls Reuters co-sponsored during the campaign. The information he came up
with is enlightening.
“Most of us have
encountered people like a former colleague who was simply indecisive. At a restaurant she would ask over and over
what others were ordering then bury
herself in the menu and make humming sounds until her friends made suggestions and coaxed her
to order.
“Neil Newhouse, a
Romney pollster, told Trotter 56 percent of the undecided are women. He calls
them “Walmart moms.” The polls show the group
is mostly made up of white females without a college education who earn less
than $25,000 yearly.
“As you might suspect they struggle
to get by and care little about the national budget. On polls asking questions about the
presidential candidates, national issues, and intention to vote the undecided commonly
answered’ don’t know,’ or ‘refuse to answer.’ They were twice as likely as
other voters to answer ‘unsure’ when queried about personal views on same-sex
marriage, health care, immigration, and the national budget.
“Yet 75 percent
of these voters who admit knowing little about national affairs believe the
country is ‘on the wrong track.’ And when asked which candidate was more
eloquent, likeable, or presidential they mostly answered ‘neither.’
“Mr. Trotter quoted Helen
Krueger, 54, of Grants Pass, Oregon. The mother of seven voted for John McCain
in 2008. She said she normally knows who she is goings to vote for but this
time is different. She said she needed
to do ‘more research.’ She claimed the President has done a ‘lousy job’ and she
indicated she thought Mr. Romney wants to tax the ‘medium class and low class’
and let the rich get away without paying taxes.”
“For once you’re
right Glimpse. That is an enlightening portrait.”
“Yeah. And the
scary thing is some predict that in a tight election the undecided may sway the
election one way or the other. Let’s hope that prediction’s wrong.”
“Finally you’ve
given an opinion I can agree with.”
---Gus Gribbin
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