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Gopher
Joined: 04 Jun 2005
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 Posted: Sat Nov 01, 2008 12:05 pm Post subject: |
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| On the other hand wrote: |
| ...Out of curiousity, I throw these questions out to any American reading this. |
My own reading is that it remains a guessing game. My Turkish roommate's taxi driver and many like him exist. Sometimes they vote; sometimes they do not. And it seems like, to a degree, and from one perspective, they decide elections. How many are there? I have no idea. Enough, apparently.
You are right on the crap-shoot metaphor, too. And that is exactly what some of this is. Throw the dice. Better metaphor: throw a coin into a fountain and make a wish.
I think, in any case, that elections reflect neither rational nor irrational, informed nor uninformed voting attitudes and decision-making processes, but rather both. |
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Tiger Beer
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Sat Nov 01, 2008 6:34 pm Post subject: |
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| Gopher wrote: |
| On the other hand wrote: |
| But we're talking about a guy who everyone (even the undecided) knows is black and has a foreign-sounding name. |
My Turkish roommate, who has only been in the United States for less than three months, will not stop talking about last week when he got into a taxi, driven by an average-looking taxi-driver. The driver asked my astonished roommate whether it was true that there was a black candidate in one of the parties running for president, and he knew nothing more about it than that. No names ran any bells with him. No opinions on any issues -- indeed no awareness of any issues, especially including B. Obama's Muslim parentage and the allegations Republicans are hurling on that score.
He is a voter, On the Other Hand, and he plans to vote. Yet he has remained outside the kind of awareness we all share here on this messageboard. Completely outside.
You are not taking into account that there are people out there like this (and in every country), who find politics "boring," and who sometimes participate and sometimes do not.
When they do, what motivates them to decide this way or that? That is the million-dollar question, and that is why some may think that such stories as this one, put into the press at the last minute, might influence them. |
Interesting story. So many people like that.
I remember one of my co-workers in New York, when I was living there in 1998-2000. Al Gore had announced he was running for Presidency and had been the VP for eight years already. One of my co-workers saw me reading the paper and said 'who is that?' with all seriousness, and quite embarrassed when I told her.
Unfortunately, the mass amounts of Americans have NO CLUE whatsoever about the politicians. They usually make up their minds based on the TV commercials they see. |
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Jandar
Joined: 11 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Sat Nov 01, 2008 6:56 pm Post subject: |
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| Gopher wrote: |
| On the other hand wrote: |
| Yeah, but the thing is, if you're a voter who is already comfortable with the idea of supporting a liberal, black son of a Muslim immigrant with an African name, the fact that this person's aunt broke the law probably won't make much of a difference to you. |
On the Other Hand: undecided voters do not typically get into this kind of detail. They typically never read or watch the news and they know little or nothing of these matters. They are for the most part apolitical and it is hard to tell what truly motivates them. In any case, a week or so before the election, perhaps even election eve, they finally get around to looking at whatever is in front of them on the two candidates and they pick one -- sometimes even as late as when they stand in the poll booth.
Per recent conversations with political science colleauges. |
I would tend to disagree, the early deciders are set in their ways.
The undecided is paying attention up to the last minute,
they pay attention to the minutia as opposed the those
who make up their mind on one issue and that issue is party
or some other single issue.
The undecided voter is the swing voter.
The undecided voter is the final determinant. |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Sat Nov 01, 2008 9:46 pm Post subject: |
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John McCain seems to be staying far away from the issue, making no mention of Obama�s family in his two Virginia appearances this morning. His press aides have also remained quiet, issuing no statement about her immigration status.
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http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15161.html
This seems not to have stirred up the storm I expected it would. The legal angle must be the hitch, sorta like when someone was caught fishing in Clinton's files. |
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