Undecided Voter Is Becoming the Focus of Both Political Parties

[CShine]

They are more likely to be white than black, female than male, married than single, and live in the suburbs rather than in large cities. They are not frequent churchgoers nor gun enthusiasts. They are clustered in swing states like Ohio, Michigan and here in Pennsylvania. And while they follow the news closely, they are largely indifferent to the back and forth of this year's race for president.

These are what pollsters describe as the rarest of Americans in this election year: the undecided voters. And with aides to President Bush and Senator John Kerry increasingly confident about their ability to turn out their base voters, and thus create an electoral standoff in as many as 15 states, these people have become the object of intense concern by the campaigns as they try to figure out who these voters are and how to reach them.

Only about 5 percent of the voting public is undecided, about one-third of what is typical at this point in the campaign, according to several recent polls. That figure increases to about 15 percent when pollsters include supporters of Mr. Kerry and Mr. Bush who say they might change their minds. In addition to those who are torn between the two major-party candidates, and possibly Ralph Nader, there is a sizable number of Americans who are deciding whether to vote at all.

Here in this Philadelphia suburb, as well as elsewhere across the nation, the undecided voter was the rare exception in hours of interviews that produced vociferous declarations of support for Mr. Bush or Mr. Kerry. "I am very torn," said Marge Pyle, 52, a Republican who works as an administrative assistant at Bryn Mawr College. "I really — I just don't know who I'm going to vote for."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/11/politics/campaign/11VOTE.html?hp

[derby378]

1. Here's the key

Go after the undecided, UNEMPLOYED voters. Last I heard, there's still plenty.

[I thought so.]

2. NYT?

Who would ever believe them anymore.

[maxsolomon]

3. for the life of me, i can't understand indecision on this issue

how much more simple could the choice be?

i could get changing your mind from bush to kerry after child-rape photos come out, but it just feels like willful ignorance.

[jbane]

4. To me it looks like....

To me it looks like 1980 when Reagan and Carter were even. It stayed that way even with all of Jimmy's problems, then at the last moment everything shifted toward Reagan. Also, Kerry surged in the primaries once people had to make a choice. We'll win this thing in the 9th inning, we have a better man and they are on the wrong side of to many issues.

[salonghorn70]

6. I Think that You are Right

Reagan did not pull ahead until the debate a bout a week or so before the election. The voters had to feel that Reagan was Presidential material.

[Rebellious Republican]

7. Hey shipmate, your avatar is pretty small for my old eyes........

is that an enlisted submarine badge? If so, here is a hand salute to you! I understand the significance of that acheivement, hard earned.

:toast:

[JayS]

8. The undecideds often have a strong dislike for both candidates.

The jury is still out on who they will go for.

[Piperay]

5. They sound more like Kerry

voters than the kind that would go for chimp. These 'undecided' sound like the type of voters that Clinton called 'soccer moms', seems like good news for the Democrats.