David Sedaris is great this week:
I don’t know that it was always this way, but, for
as long as I can remember, just as we move into the final weeks of the
Presidential campaign the focus shifts to the undecided voters. “Who
are they?” the news anchors ask. “And how might they determine the
outcome of this election?”Then you’ll see this man or woman— someone, I always think, who looks very happy
to be on TV. “Well, Charlie,” they say, “I’ve gone back and forth on
the issues and whatnot, but I just can’t seem to make up my mind!” Some
insist that there’s very little difference between candidate A and
candidate B. Others claim that they’re with A on defense and health
care but are leaning toward B when it comes to the economy.I look at these people and can’t quite believe that they exist. Are they professional actors? I wonder. Or are they simply laymen who want a lot of attention?
I see that Dooce liked it, too, and even had the fun of seeing him at a book reading. She has a YouTube clip of Sedaris doing a reading on Letterman, too.
Apt. 11d 
I love David Sedaris, but in this case he is making the same error as others who take easy shots at we “undecideds,” mistaking thinking about the election (which, by definition, undecideds are still doing) with not thinking about it (which decided voters need to do less of, having already made up their minds). Anyone interested in what a real, live undecided voter is thinking about can visit a blog I created (www.undecidedman.com) and see if there is still more to talk about than chicken vs. sh*t sandwiches.
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I love David Sedaris, but in this case he is making the same error as others who take easy shots at we “undecideds,” mistaking thinking about the election (which, by definition, undecideds are still doing) with not thinking about it (which decided voters need to do less of, having already made up their minds). Anyone interested in what a real, live undecided voter is thinking about can visit a blog I created (www.undecidedman.com) and see if there is still more to talk about than chicken vs. sh*t sandwiches.
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Hey! I’m right over here!
Actually, I’m as decided as you get, I voted for McCain last week. But I vacillated. I think Obama is smarter and more thoughtful, and has a far better Presidential personality. I think his Presidency would put paid to a lot of the race pimps (Sharpton, Jackson, etc.), and that would be positive. A lot of his advisors seem very sensible people. But in the end, the biggest thing was that I don’t want the left wing of the Dems to have the whole government – my ideological home is closest to the Blue Dog Dems, and they will get squeezed out in an Obama Presidency. I don’t want card check (you like what has happened in the auto and steel industries? Then you will love card check.) I think I would prefer the Supreme Court judges who would come out of a fight between a McCain administration and a Dem Congress to those who would come from a Pelosibama love-fest. And I fear that Obama has too much faith in the power of sweet reason in dealing with USA enemies.
So I can well understand undecideds, and it was mostly fear of a 3-hour line on election day that had me go and pull the lever early.
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Is “undecided” code (at least this year) for “I’m not saying, you nosy so-and-sos”?
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Heh. I loved this one too. “How is the chicken cooked?”
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Heh. I loved this one too. “How is the chicken cooked?”
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I think there is a difference between undecideds, and undecideds who got to be on CNN for three weeks in a row because they claimed to be still making up their minds. I understood Sedaris to be doubting the credibility of the latter group, at least in this section of his essay. And I admit — I’ve wondered that, too. Because after all, if you say, “nah, I’ve made up my mind,” you don’t get to be on TV. And if there’s anything we’ve learned about US citizens in the past 8 years, it’s that they love to star in their own reality TV.
Most of the undecideds I know have a deep-seated distrust, cynicism, or dislike of the federal government, and are trying to decide who will screw them less. They think the government is incompetent and incapable, so they don’t trust Obama to be able to keep his promises (and suspect him of craven lying for suggesting the government might be a force for good), but many of them also think McCain has run an incompetent campaign. Plus many of them are fiscal conservatives but social liberals and so neither of the two parties fits very well.
But in general, amongst my small sample, undecided = fed up with the whole damn thing.
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I agree with Dave S’s support for divided government. Unfortunately, I don’t get any real congressional votes this year. Both of our senators are off the hook and our rep. doesn’t have a challenger. If I ever get the bug to become an issue advocate, I’m going to take-up with some group that is trying to reform the redistricting process.
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Jody, above, covered most of my points.
The other main point I have is, is it so hard to believe someone could be in favor of both abortion rights and the Second Amendment? That’s the core difference I have with both major parties, and to me they’re the same issue: self determination. I have the right to make choices about my health and how to defend myself, and both parties would take away some part of that right.
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So, Dave & MH, did you vote for the Dem for president when Republicans control congress?
I agree that “undecided” is the wrong word to describe the people who haven’t decided who to vote for. It somehow suggests that they are unformed. But, a bunch are undecided (I don’t know any, personally), because they are conflicted, because they have a decision matrix of issues that don’t fit with either candidate, and they have to decide which is more important. I also think there are many who don’t necessarily like the candidate they’d normally support (Republicans) but can’t bring themselves to vote for the other guy. I think a bunch of those (Dave S is a good example) will break for McCain, their natural home.
It’s one of the reasons that I’m very dismissive of people who think that this election is done. (Also a reason why it didn’t really matter who Dave S. supported in the democratic primary, because of however much he hated Hillary, it was –I though– pretty unlikely that he’d vote for Obama).
I’ve been looking at the tracking poll and looking at the people who are for neither McCain nor Obama. I think they’re going to break in favor of McCain, so nothing is certain until people actually cast their votes.
(I still think Sedaris is funny, though).
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Kai — you’re stating the problem practically, with particular issues (gun rights/abortion rights).
So, how do you decide, since you can’t have both?
I’ve thought about this issue myself — because no one agrees with a politician on everything. For example, I’m generally in favor of free trade. But, abortion rights trumps my decision making on free trade (i.e. I’ll vote for the pro-choice, anti-trade candidate).
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Yes, I used to deliberately split tickets before I moved to PA and became livid with the local Democrats. In fact, I used to be a Democrat back when I lived in Nebraska and I was voting for people like Sen. Nelson (Ben) and Sen. Bob Kerrey. I still prefer Nelson to 2/3rds of the Republican delegation, but I’m very aware of how those most strongly pushing Sen. Obama feel about Nelson.
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bj, I try to decide which of my issues is most at risk from which candidates (abortion and guns aren’t my only two issues, but they are succinct examples). I’m still worried about the 2nd, because Heller should have been 7-4 or 8-3, not 6-5; I don’t see a similar attack on Roe (there’s no case making its way towards cert). Appointment of justices is a crapshoot, just like with mutual funds past performance is not a reliable predictor of future returns.
I’m probably going to write in my own name for president. It’s my general solution to the problem of not wanting either candidate to be elected. My state (Oregon) is rarely in play and is certain to go for Obama this year no matter how I vote, so in the next week or two I’ll focus on other races and ballot measures. I’ve got my ballot at home already (all mail voting here, received it last Saturday), it’s just a matter of sitting down and plowing through it.
As an aside, I would have happily voted for Hillary Clinton, based solely on identity politics. Sometimes it really is that simple, to reduce an election to one issue.
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