Down to the wire for undecided voters
JANESVILLE — Deanna Bello knows it's getting down to the wire, but she just can't decide.
The 38-year-old Janesville woman is leaning toward Barack Obama, but she's still not sure.
Which candidate has the best health care plan? the mother of two wonders. Who is better suited to fix the economy?
After a seemingly endless campaign season, the number of undecided voters is shrinking by the day. Bello is one of about 8 percent of voters nationally who call themselves undecided, said Charles Franklin, political science professor at UW-Madison and co-developer of the Web site Pollster.com
That number could vary anywhere from 3 percent to 11 percent in Wisconsin, depending on how the polls are conducted, Franklin said.
Undecided voters could be important in a swing state such as Wisconsin, but it's hard to nail down how many of them there are undecided, election experts said. Some people know how they're going to vote but don't want to tell a pollster. Others, such as Bello, might be leaning one way but aren't committed.
Some undecided people will end up not voting, said Ken Goldstein, political science professor at UW-Madison and director of the Wisconsin Advertising Project. He estimates the true number of undecided voters at 3 or 4 percent.
Most undecided voters aren't heavily partisan and don't carefully follow the political process, election experts said.
"They're people who are passive viewers of the election," Goldstein said.
Bello just started paying attention to politics a few years ago, and she doesn't have strong political opinions, she said.
She voted for George W. Bush in her first presidential election four years ago, but she's thinking about voting for a Democrat this time.
Bello lists health care and the economy as her two biggest issues, but she's not sure who would do a better job on either. She has been impressed with Obama's speaking skills during the debates and likes the idea of a young, fresh face in the White House, she said.
At this point, the thing most likely to sway undecided voters would be a dramatic event, Franklin said. This fall's bank failings and the subsequent stock market plunge are a perfect example that seems to have benefited Obama, he said.
On the other hand, an international crisis in the coming weeks could shift the focus away from the economy and potentially benefit John McCain.
Negative campaigning also could affect voters in the last weeks of the campaign, said Susan Johnson, chairwoman of the UW-Whitewater political science department.
Negative campaigning sometimes backfires, but it often achieves its goal, she said.
"It tends to stick in people's minds," she said. "That's what people talk about. If it didn't work, campaigns wouldn't use it."
But Bello wishes the candidates would be more direct with voters and stop trying to tear each other down.
"The biggest thing I see is the bashing of each other," she said. "It's like my kids fighting."
Still, she doesn't see skipping the polls as an option.
"I've got family who won't vote," she said. "You can't not vote."
MAKE UP YOUR MIND
Here are some suggestions from local political experts to help undecided voters make up their minds:
-- Visit the candidates' Web sites (www.johnmccain.com and www.barackobama.com) for detailed information about their proposals and stances.
-- Check local and national newspapers. Read your newspaper's endorsements and compare the newspaper's view to your own.
-- "Talk to trusted friends," said Charles Franklin, political science professor at UW-Madison. "Go to your church and talk to people you agree with there, or go to your union hall and talk to someone you agree with there. For that matter, talk to someone you disagree with."
-- Susan Johnson, political science chairwoman at UW-Whitewater, recommends the Web site www.ontheissues.org to compare candidates' statements and voting records.
-- Johnson recommends the Web sites www.factcheck.org and www.politifact.com to judge the accuracy of campaign advertisements.
Oct 13, 2008 at 2:58 a.m.
Suggest removal
The Obama camp keeps sending me material in the mail EVERYDAY. I think that I just got on a list of "undecided voters" as a joke by some old friends of mine. Back in the day when I actually cared about this stuff, I did a study and documented how much $$$ was spent per undecided person in a Presidential race. It was nothing real scientific, just took the %age of undecided voters, converted that to a real # of people in the state, and divided it by the amount of $$$ that was spent by each side in mailings, ads, calls, ext in the state. It came out to something like $184 spent per undecided person, just to get your vote! No doubt that # is even higher today.
Oct 12, 2008 at 8:47 p.m.
Suggest removal
KariBlake, if you think Barack Obama "came out of nowhere", how do you feel about Sarah Palin? I know she isn't running for President, but if experience is a concern of yours, is she really the best pick as VP?
Your claims that Barack Obama is somehow a muslim are false. Do you seriously think he got to decide where he went to school in 3rd and 4th grade? Does a 3rd or 4th grader get to choose what they are taught, or even comprehend the difference?
From the same article you linked: "How observant Obama himself was, or if he was a Muslim at all, is murky. With the school records missing, eaten by bugs, one has to rely on people's shifting memories."
The fact is, Barack Obama has been a Christian all of his adult life. If anything, learning about another culture as a child should be a plus.
"Barack Obama has never been Muslim and never practiced Islam. But rumors about his religion intended to frighten some voters persist, and they mostly return to one point of fact: his name. "Barack" is the candidate's Kenyan father's name; Obama's middle name, "Hussein," is his grandfather's name. Hussein embraced Islam—after first converting to Christianity under the name "Johnson." According to Obama's memoir, Hussein valued discipline and strength and found Christian forgiveness to be sentimental. Obama has described his father as atheist or agnostic. His Kansan mom, whose grandparents were devout Protestants, lived a secular life. Obama's only personal contact with Islam came as a boy when he moved to Jakarta, Indonesia, with a stepfather who mixed his Islam with Hindu and Animist traditions. In five years there, Obama attended a Roman Catholic school, then a public elementary school, where he sat through a class each week of religious studies. As an adult, Obama turned to Christianity in the late '80s in Chicago, at Trinity United Church of Christ, where he was baptized, married—and baptized his kids. As a new U.S. senator, Obama took his oath on the family Bible."
http://www.newsweek.com/id/143763?from=r...
You can read more about the attempts to smear Barack's faith here:
http://fightthesmears.com/articles/3/bar...
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/...
Oct 12, 2008 at 4:04 p.m.
Suggest removal
Some choice. If you continue to vote for the lesser of two evils, that is what you are going to get. Vote for Ron Paul or Ralph Nader and if a candidate or pollster or a sheep interested in plugging their same-as-always Republican or Democratic hack approaches you, tell them to shut up and listen! You want a person who swears they will only vote for or sign a balanced budget, and you want a person who will introduce and vote for or sign a bill putting None Of The Above on future ballots. Tell them you're not interested in hearing their position on any of the distraction issues until they've demonstrated the basic fiscal responsibility YOU have to with your budget and checkbook; and that you won't consider them to be part of the democracy YOU want unless you can tell both parties at the poll that they've made the wrong choice of candidates to put forward and you can vote N.O.T.A. to tell them so.
Oct 12, 2008 at 3:54 p.m.
Suggest removal
KariBlake - the fascade of a higher standard of living you mention (houses, cars, etc) are, as we are all realizing with this econ crisis, an illusion based on borrowing and debt.
-
Consider it typically takes 2 wage earners to make the monthly payments on house and autos, while saving none of their income, with little or no retirement savings. Rising food and energy prices are now taking the last of their discretionary income. This is signal of the end of the middle class, and we are now seeing an increase in poverty rates in the U.S.
-
Look at the 70's you mention..we in the U.S. had personal savings rates of 10%. We had pensions, and more likely one wage earner could pay for the needs of the entire household while saving for 20% to put down on a home.
-
I agree on the point of needing personal responsbility, however, we can't argue with today's facts of higher consumer prices adjusted for inflation, higher taxes (with less services!), and the Federal Reserve, the U.S. private central bank, printing trillions of dollars, without backing, which reduces the buying power for all Americans.
Oct 12, 2008 at 2:21 p.m.
Suggest removal
Excellent post, karibake. I agree. People definitely need to take more personal responsiblity. Our standards of living are so high, it's insane. We don't view debt as a negative thing anymore, it's to be expected. Not the case.
Oct 12, 2008 at 1:32 p.m.
Suggest removal
Raystone wrote: "The 2 party system is a sham - every presidential term ends with bigger government and a lower standard of living for Americans."
While I agree on the 2 party system, I'm not so sure about the lower standard of living. When I grew up in the 1960-70s my parents rented their house. We shared bedrooms, had 1 bath, 1 car, 1 TV. Eating out was a treat.
In today's generation, my brothers and cousins and I all own our homes with enough bedrooms for each of the kids, 2 or more bathrooms, at least 2 cars, and electronics out to wazoo. Eating out or take out is more normal than cooking. Living rooms at Christmas time resemble toy stores.
People have come to expect more. Maybe it is time to scale back. To cut the spending spree we've all been on since moms went back to work. Government spending just mirrors our own. Sad, and so unnecessary.
Oct 12, 2008 at 1:16 p.m.
Suggest removal
Every 4 years we get the same rhetoric from the 2 parties..."change, reform, clean up washington, cut spending, cut taxes, protect Americans, etc".
-
We are told Republicans cut spending, and Dems want to tax and spend, and help the working man.
-
In reality, Reagan (R) triped our federal deficit. Clinton (D) cut spending and balanced the budget, but then signed NAFTA into law - the worst blow to U.S. manufacturing ever. He also invaded Bosnia. Bush, Jr. added $5T to our federal budget (doubling it) and there is no end in sight, not to mention the Iraq invastion tragedy.
-
Neither party can help the economy in modern times, U.S. is part of a global economy now.
The 2 party system is a sham - every presidential term ends with bigger government and a lower standard of living for Americans.
Oct 12, 2008 at 12:05 p.m.
Suggest removal
The reality of it is neither candidates health plan will fly. Both cost billions of dollars and neither will passs congress. The question to ask yourself is; which party will protect our future? Unfortunatly, if you don't know which party that is, you have not been paying attention.
Oct 12, 2008 at 11:31 a.m.
Suggest removal
I agree. It is time for a change. It is time to change the two party system that has been established in this country. Both candidates spout rhetoric that aligns them with their party so they can get elected and when elected candidates from neither party adhere to that rhetoric. If people have not realized yet that change is accomplished not on the national level, but on the city, town, county and state level as well as in the people we elect to the Senate and Congress then we really are not paying attention and deserve what we get.
Oct 12, 2008 at 11:03 a.m.
Suggest removal
I've been undecided, too. Then I read things like the article posted below. We don't know this man. He came out of nowhere and with a lot of personality is seeming to draw in American people. Other "charming" leaders have done that, to tragic consequences. The future is frightening but I'd rather vote for the one I know than the one I don't. In the end, only you and your conscience are in the voting booth.
Published on Thursday, June 14, 2007 by The Toronto Star
Obama’s Muslim Heritage
by Haroon Siddiqui
JAKARTA–Barack Hussein Obama Jr. spent part of his youth here in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation.
The entrance foyer to his elementary school has a photograph, 2 metres by 1.3 metres, of the hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Ten steps into the crowded rectangular courtyard and you can see his old homeroom, adjacent to the stairway leading to the second floor mosque, where he studied Islam.
He had a different name then, Barry Soetoro, after his stepfather. His mother, the Kansas-born Ann Dunham, first married a Kenyan, Barack Hussein Obama. Her second husband was the Indonesian Lolo Soetoro, with whom she moved here in 1967.
Obama was enrolled in a Catholic primary school, and then for his Grades 3 and 4 in what is now called the Model Primary School, a much-sought after public school in an elite leafy neighbourhood. Three of his teachers have said he was enrolled as a Muslim.
In his autobiography, Dreams From My Father, he mentions his Qur’an studies here. A classmate of his in Jakarta has said that Obama used to wear a sarong and accompany his father to the neighborhood mosque, but that his mother used to go to church.
Oct 12, 2008 at 8:09 a.m.
Suggest removal
It's going to be a change no matter who gets in. You can only run for two terms here in America.
Oct 12, 2008 at 7:53 a.m.
Suggest removal
You got that right! Totally! It's time for a change!
Oct 12, 2008 at 4:48 a.m.
Suggest removal
Eight years of Bush, and you're undecided? You're not paying attention.
Before you post a comment, consider this:
Note: GazetteXtra.com does not condone or review every comment. Read more in our User Policy AgreementPost Comment
Commenting requires registration.