Undecided about What?

Since it was clear who would be the candidates, I’ve been wondering why there were so many people who told pollsters they were undecided. I mean, I can understand that tens of millions of Americans will cast their vote for McCain-Palin, and while their actions may be explainable – cough, cough – they are not excusable.

I also expect that tens of millions of other Americans will vote for Obama-Biden, and most of them will do so for sound reasons, though some won’t. Some will vote for Obama because he’s black, because he’s not Republican, because they think he’s a Muslim, because they think he pals around with community organizers.

Which gets us back to the undecided. Some of them really know but just aren’t telling, and there are others who really don’t know. They may never know. They may never vote.

A week before the election – and remember maybe half of the votes will have already been cast by election day – there were about eight percent of the country who termed themselves undecided, according to Pew Research. Pew said, "Undecided voters are less educated, less affluent, and somewhat more likely to be female than the average voter;” they also noted that they are regular church-goers.

That recalls for me the clarifying response to the plaintive cry about lower voter turn-out, that maybe we don’t want everyone to vote.

I wonder how many of them saw the Obama political message Wednesday night. If they did, they would have seen a bright, confident man who spoke about the issues and the need for better direction, a clarion call for the people of the United States to get America back on track. He spoke with humility. He took no shots at his opponent.

I’ve not been enthusiastic in my support of this man through the primaries, but I’m now convinced after watching him over the past year that he could be a great president.

 

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