Relying on the Undecided

This election may be determined by undecided voters.  Even though their numbers are low, with an election this close, they can make the difference.  Some get frustrated with the fact that you can have such a stark difference in candidates, and still people can be undecided.  Often times these are voters who are just not paying attention to politics.  This has become much easier than ever before.  The American people, using common sense, usually come to the right decision.  If undecided voters choose to inform themselves, and accurate information is available, this common sense will come to the fore.

As recently as 25 years ago the opportunity to choose not to be informed, was difficult.  You had to sit through the news of the day to get to your sports, weather, or entertainment information. With today’s technology, however , it is easier than ever to remain uninformed due to the many choices that people have available.  Just as the avid news junkie can stay up to date from many sources of information, the uninterested can remain completely in the dark.  A sports fan can use their free time to watch only ESPN, listen to sports radio, go to sports internet websites, and end up more informed than any previous generation on sports.  An entertainment type can choose to watch only MTV, listen to their iPod, watch movies on their iPad, and read from celebrity websites.  This person will know more information about Justin Bieber than anyone could have dreamed to know about Marilyn Monroe in her time.

All these selective choices permit people to be less informed on the issues of the day.  People can consciously decide not to expose themselves to information important to this presidential election.

• Do they know that Mr. Obama’s EPA has effectively regulated new coal plants out of existence, and is coming back with a report in January that may spell similar doom to the Natural gas industry?  Do they know the effect this will have on their utility bills, and the price of everything in their life?
• Do they know that President Obama has no plan to sustain the future of Medicare or Medicaid, and his history has attack every challenge like this with higher taxes?
• Do they know that economic downturns are typically followed by higher than normal economic growth?  Historically the greater the recession the greater the growth in the recovery…until this one.
• Do they know that the President’s only plan for solving the over $1 trillion per year deficit is to raise taxes on those making over $250,000?  Even if he gets what he hopes from this, it will only solve about 10% of the problem.
• Do they know that the full implementation of Obamacare will involve the government more in every major health decision in their life?  Do they believe that the government does anything well?
• Do they know that most experts believe that the reelection of the President will bring us back to the same dynamics for our fiscal issues as were in place in the summer of 2011, when got a credit downgrade and nothing was resolved?
• Do they know that the most important part of the Libya story is not the details of what happened and when, but what we weren’t told and why?

These issues might be important to consider before we reelect someone who will never have face the voters again.  Most people do take their vote seriously, and will inform themselves before deciding.  There are encouraging signs that the American people are choosing to pay attention.  The record number of people who tuned in to the debates bodes well, as well as does the relatively low number of undecided in the latest polls.  William F. Buckley once famously said, “I’d rather entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory than to the faculty of Harvard University.”  I believe in this general sentiment of trust in the basic common sense of the American people.  We can only hope that the remaining undecided voters choose to put down their “iDevice”, and inform themselves before they decide the fate of the country.