Undecided or self-interested?
Why undecided voters should stop waiting to hear, “What’s in it for me?"
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-Bob
What’s up with all the undecided voters? And why you shouldn’t be one
This is the season of the undecided voter, that perennial election cycle period when political reporters, pundits, and pollsters seek to understand how any sentient being couldn’t know enough about Donald Trump to reach a rational, informed decision.
Some people interviewed say they are neutral, reasonable people who long for Harris or Trump to give them a better reason to vote for them. Others will tell pollsters they dislike Trump, but Harris hasn't yet given them enough information.
Here’s what a group of so-called undecided voters told the New York Times after last week’s debate:
"Nothing is clear to me, and I am really trying to follow it," said Gerald Meyers, 40, who told the paper he hoped hoping to hear more about how both candidates’ policies would affect him. "I want to know how all of this impacts my family financially."
A Milwaukee voter who has historically voted Democrat told the paper she now leaned toward Trump. "Trump’s pitch was a little more convincing than hers," Keilah Miller, 34, of Milwaukee, said. "I guess I’m leaning more on his facts than her vision."
"When Trump was in office — not going to lie — I was living way better," Miller added. "I’ve never been so down as in the past four years. It’s been so hard for me."
In his weekly New York Times conversation with colleague Gail Collins on Monday, conservative columnist Bret Stephens also struck this undecided pose: “Can I vote for Trump? Never. Will I vote for Harris? Maybe, but she hasn’t sealed the deal with me yet.”
Some political scientists and other observers will tell you they don’t believe undecided voters are real. They believe — and I think they are mostly correct — that many so-called undecided voters are not conflicted about who to support. They’re already leaning in one direction and usually vote for one side or the other.
Some voters may be genuinely undecided about who is better. But many of those people are low-information voters or voters with poor memories. They've already forgotten about the worst of the Trump years. They don’t remember the refrigerator trucks packed with dead bodies. Visions of all the treason, crime, racism, self-enrichment, and recommendations to ingest bleach have faded from their memory banks.
After nine years of Trump’s corruption and insanity, I have trouble believing anyone is waiting for more information about him.
Some of these voters may be engaging in motivated reasoning, or they may not be voters at all.
But I don’t think they are the genuine undecided voters in this race. I’m talking here about people like those quoted above, still planning to vote for whoever provides the better answer to the question, “What’s in it for me?”
That could be a legitimate question for some, especially those economically distressed. But even if you’re voting on your financial situation alone because you’re concerned about economic survival over the next few years, I recommend reading about Trump’s tariff proposal. You will not like what you see.
However, for most so-called undecided voters, I believe your financial situation or potential income tax rate are the wrong ways to view this or any election.
Here, I’m speaking mainly to middle- or upper-income white people who are still telling friends, neighbors, and pollsters they are undecided:
Please look beyond your narrow economic self-interest and consider what’s best for society.
I’m voting for Harris — and against Trump — not because my life would be dramatically worse than under a second Trump administration. I’m a middle-income white guy. I’ll probably be okay, whatever the outcome.
I’m voting for Harris because another Trump presidency would be a calamity for those living on the margins of society, the very people my Christian faith calls me to love and protect.
I’m voting for Harris and against Trump because I believe a 20 percent tariff on every product imported from countries Trump hates won’t hurt those countries nearly as much as the hard-pressed poor and middle-income families my faith teaches me to care about.
I’m voting for Harris and against Trump because I believe women deserve the same right to control their bodies as men like me.
At 66, I’m at no risk of being drafted into a war to defend Western Europe from Russian aggression. Still, I know a second Trump presidency will almost certainly result in a Russian victory in Ukraine. And this would destabilize that part of Europe, weaken (maybe destroy) the NATO alliance, and make a wider war more likely.
I’m voting for the peace and well-being of Europe. I’m voting to keep our children and grandchildren from being drafted into a cataclysmic war that can be avoided by staying the course and supporting the courageous Ukrainian people.
I’m voting for Harris and against Trump because I want to prevent the inhuman oppression of legal and undocumented immigrants. Again, my faith informs my vote because the God I worship demands that I pay attention to these words from Deuteronomy, which Jesus echoed in Matt. 25: “Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow.’”
I’m voting for Harris and against Trump because I believe my faith and my conscience demand that I reject my selfish desires and vote on behalf of those who would be most threatened with physical and economic harm if Trump is reelected.
To quote the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “In keeping with the social nature of man, the good of each individual is necessarily related to the common good, which in turn can be defined only in reference to the human person: Do not live entirely isolated, having retreated into yourselves, as if you were already justified, but gather instead to seek the common good together.”
Amen, and amen.
Book signing for Kingfish U: Huey Long and LSU this Saturday in Baton Rouge
If you’re in Baton Rouge on Saturday, Sept. 21, please swing by the Barnes & Noble on Corporate Boulevard and say hello. I’ll be signing copies of my book Kingfish U: Huey Long and LSU from noon to one. The book makes a nice birthday for that LSU fan/political junkie in your family. Or you can do a little early Christmas shopping.
Really have a hard time understanding the undecided voters… listen the Trump for two minutes and it should be abundantly clear.
He’s bonkers.
Absolutely bonkers.
Crazy.
Incoherent.
Mumbling.
Lying.
Whining.
All. About. Him.
“Nothing is clear to me” - seriously?
- Donald Trump was a chief architect of the racist lie that Obama was not born in America.
- The “Grab em by the Pu$$y” tape - that was Donald Trump.
- Donald Trump lied about having bone spurs to avoid military service
- Donald Trump has disparaged military service at every turn; disparagement of McCain/ “suckers and losers” / Presidential Medal of Freedom “better” than Medal of Honor.
- Donald Trump has been surrounded by felons like Manafort, Flynn, Bannon, Stone, Cohen, Weiselberg.
- Trump U shutdown and millions in fines due to fraud/ Trump Foundation shutdown due to fraud/ Trump Org CFO in prison for fraud
- Trump paid off a pornstar and is a convicted felon for doing it
- Trump was convicted of sexual assault in civil court
- Trump is a huckster pushing nonsense like gold tennis shoes, cards, and Bibles on his cult.
- Trump lied about the 2016 election - Hillary got “3-5 million illegal votes.” Amazingly this fool convened a commission to investigate voter fraud - after meeting for weeks - they found not a single fraudulent vote. Not one person was identified or arrested.
- Trump lied about the 2020 election. “I won in a landslide.” Biden got 81M votes, Trump got 74M votes. Trump filed over 60 lawsuits claiming voter fraud - every single one dismissed due to a lack of evidence.
Yep, it’s all so unclear. And - Really disappointed in Brett Stephens article. He said Kamala was “untested.” Seriously? She’s the F ing Vice President and a former Senator.
We are living in the Twilight Zone