DamnYankees: Like many uncommitted voters, the 66-year-old Barber isn't really paying attention to politics these days. She's largely focused on her husband, who just had a liver transplant, and the fact that she had to refinance her home to pay much of his health bill. "I just can't concentrate on it now," she says before adding, "If there were somebody running who knows what it's like to struggle, that would be different."

Brilliant.

I sure am glad that we just hand ballots out willy-nilly to anyone that wants one.

THE SON OF COUL COULD NOT DECIDE.

Silly Jesus: DamnYankees: Like many uncommitted voters, the 66-year-old Barber isn't really paying attention to politics these days. She's largely focused on her husband, who just had a liver transplant, and the fact that she had to refinance her home to pay much of his health bill. "I just can't concentrate on it now," she says before adding, "If there were somebody running who knows what it's like to struggle, that would be different."

Brilliant.

I sure am glad that we just hand ballots out willy-nilly to anyone that wants one.

She probably watches Fox.

BarkingUnicorn: What's wrong with not having your mind made up in June when the election isn't until November?

Obama has been president for 3 and a half years. Romney has been running for President for 5 years (and covered by popular media consistently for the past 6 months).

What magical thing will happen in the next few months that will change your opinion of either?

rumpelstiltskin: If someone took a poll and everyone said he was already decided, would that mean we could possibly have the election right now and spare ourselves the next four months of lies and personal attacks?

Nope. We still have too much voter caging and too many voting barriers to put in place between now and November.

BarkingUnicorn: What's wrong with not having your mind made up in June when the election isn't until November?

Anyone who says they haven't made up their mind is full of shiat.

The Republican and Dem parties have clearly defined and diametrically opposed stances on every issue of import to the American populace.

Those people who are voting 3rd party are either potheads, people who simply oppose the idea of a two-party system, or both.

Anyone who's going to be choosing between Barry or Mittens (assuming he's on the ticket) has already decided who they're voting for.

SchlingFocker: Anyone who says they haven't made up their mind is full of shiat.

The Republican and Dem parties have clearly defined and diametrically opposed stances on every issue of import to the American populace.

Those people who are voting 3rd party are either potheads, people who simply oppose the idea of a two-party system, or both.

Anyone who's going to be choosing between Barry or Mittens (assuming he's on the ticket) has already decided who they're voting for.

A lot of people probably actually don't know the difference yet. It's not close enough to the election for their preacher / family member / boss to tell them who to vote for yet. This is why there should be some minimum (knowledge / intellect oriented) standard that the voter must independently meet in order to have the privilege of voting.

BarkingUnicorn: BSABSVR: BarkingUnicorn: What's wrong with not having your mind made up in June when the election isn't until November?

Obama has been president for 3 and a half years. Romney has been running for President for 5 years (and covered by popular media consistently for the past 6 months).

What magical thing will happen in the next few months that will change your opinion of either?

Well, it might be discovered that Mitt boned his dog after hosing it down. Or Obama might invade Iran and we can't unseat a President during wartime, can we? (Worked for GW)

But my point is that it just isn't necessary to make a decision right now.

But it shouldn't be "I have no idea" right now. It should reasonably be, "I'm gonna vote for X, unless he farks his dog / invades some country etc."

Silly Jesus: A lot of people probably actually don't know the difference yet. It's not close enough to the election for their preacher / family member / boss to tell them who to vote for yet.

Their church and/or boss hasn't changed their political party affiliation since the last election.

There isn't someone out there who's saying, "You know, I don't really know how I feel about abortion, women's reproductive rights, healthcare reform, and immigration. I've never thought about these things before."

Anyone who says they don't already have an opinion on these issues is lying their asses off. And, their opinion on these issues is what determines which party they vote for.

BarkingUnicorn: But I haven't made up my mind on many of them

*rolls eyes*

Sure. You're not quite sure how you feel about abortion or women's productive rights.

Every argument and piece of data presented on all of these issues over the past decades still isn't enough for you. You just don't know.

If that's true, then you're probably one who spends 8 hours in the morning trying to decide whether to have a pancake or waffle for breakfast. You're simply incapable of coming to any conclusion.

BarkingUnicorn: BSABSVR: BarkingUnicorn: What's wrong with not having your mind made up in June when the election isn't until November?

Obama has been president for 3 and a half years. Romney has been running for President for 5 years (and covered by popular media consistently for the past 6 months).

What magical thing will happen in the next few months that will change your opinion of either?

Well, it might be discovered that Mitt boned his dog after hosing it down. Or Obama might invade Iran and we can't unseat a President during wartime, can we? (Worked for GW)

But my point is that it just isn't necessary to make a decision right now.

I'm going to eat dinner about 2 hours from now and I don't NEED to make a decision right now. That said, it's pretty likely I'm going to grill a steak.

That doesn't mean I'm undecided as to what my dinner is. I mean, my grocer could be out of good cuts of meat. I may get food poisoning. A serial killer could break in in the next 20 minutes.

To say I am undecided about my dinner choice would be silly.

SchlingFocker: There isn't someone out there who's saying, "You know, I don't really know how I feel about abortion, women's reproductive rights, healthcare reform, and immigration. I've never thought about these things before."

Those people exist. There are MANY people who aren't aware of reproductive rights issues. There are MANY people who have no idea that Obamacare exists, much less what it's about. Hell, there are people who aren't aware of the capital of their own state. You give American voters WAY too much credit.

I work with a lady who prides herself on not watching the news / reading the newspaper etc. It's "too depressing." She is college educated, but completely unaware of the world around her on a daily basis. If the news isn't the size of 9/11, she doesn't know about it. She wasn't aware of any of the Wall Street mess months after it first hit the news. She didn't know anything about the Occupy folks until it was brought up in a conversation about two weeks ago...

And the best part, she's going to vote. She said her husband "advises" her on who to vote for. She doesn't have the first clue about a single issue of either candidate.

Sadly, I don't think that she's some rare anomaly.

Apparently we have discovered Thomas Friedman's Fark handle.

Are "Undecided Voters" the new "Moral Majority"?

Silly Jesus: Those people exist.

I find it very hard to believe that there's someone out there who, if you said, "Should abortion be illegal?" would reply "I don't know."

Such fundamental questions are answered by who you are as a person. For someone to have no fundamental belief on those issues suggests that they are fundamentally empty of any sense of identity.

In those cases, they're not going to take the time out of their day to register to vote, find a polling place, and go cast their votes.

They simply don't care about anything and are just going through the motions of a mediocre, meaningless existence.

It's really hard for us political junkies that frequent the pol tab (and other similar web neighborhoods), but there are a lot of people that do not pay attention to this shiat until a few days before elections. People have other things to worry about, and there is always something on the teebee to distract them.

This is part of why the CU decision was so wrong. The week before the actual election the airwaves and websites and newspapers will be deluged with PAC ads attempting to scare the crap out of these low-information voters. With all the money that will be involved, I wouldn't be surprised to see a total buyout of all three major networks prime-time which will be filled with nothing but BOOOGA-BOOOGA-BOOOOGA OBAMA!!!!!

Weaver95: I hate to say it but...Obama is less toxic than Romney.

And Romney is one of the less toxic members of the Republican party.

Tor_Eckman: People have other things to worry about, and there is always something on the teebee to distract them.

I can understand that people may not be aware that abortion is going to be an issue in the next election.

I find it hard to believe that there are a significant number of people who have no established views on abortion.

BarkingUnicorn: When faced with a choice between two unpalatable options, it's perfectly natural to postpone one's decision as long as possible.

They've already picked one of them, whether they admit it or not. If they haven't picked one of them, they've made the decision to vote for a third party.

SchlingFocker: Tor_Eckman: People have other things to worry about, and there is always something on the teebee to distract them.

I can understand that people may not be aware that abortion is going to be an issue in the next election.

I find it hard to believe that there are a significant number of people who have no established views on abortion.

Thinking about complicated issues is hard. A lot of people can't be bothered.

Mugato: I find it hard to believe with all the other shiat going on that people actually think abortion is the most important issue in this election.

It's not the most important issue, but it is an important one, and it's an absolute wedge issue.

Everyone has an opinion on it.

Healthcare law is, IMO, the most important issue we're currently facing.