If a political commercial changes your mind about a canidate----well then you're an idiot!

[trumad]

My disgust for Independent voters has reached a new level.

They really need to change the name of their affiliation from "Independent" to "Uninformed".

[redqueen]

1. The idiot demographic is enormous...

and getting bigger every day, it seems.

[trumad]

2. I very rarely get into political discussions with Independents or Republicans.

If and when I do, almost immediately I can sense that they are surface viewers of anything political....the surface being the front of their TV sets.

[MADem]

3. Way too many of the voting public are uninformed.

It's the nature of our system. We don't require people to pass Elementary School Civics or Junior High American History before being allowed to vote.

The voters with the biggest and best understanding of our system of government are the naturalized ones--they have to learn the essentials in order to qualify for citizenship.

It wouldn't surprise me if they pay closer attention to the issues, as well.

[dembotoz]

4. but it must work--we sure as hell see a lot of it

then again i am not the voter they are trying to reach.

[MadHound]

5. You could extend that thought to all commercials, not just political ones

But then again, this is a nation of idiots, awash in commercial propaganda.

[trumad]

6. I guess the subliminal works on uniformed minds.

[MadHound]

14. It even works on informed minds

There is a whole science of advertising persuasion, and sadly it has found ways to sway even the most intelligent and informed.

[JNelson6563]

7. While I agree about the demographic in question

I think the strategy behind the current ad campaigns in question (Presidential primary = big leagues) is more of a death by a thousand cuts thing. Just throw shit in every ad and hope some of it sticks. Planting seeds, as it were. "I heard (insert ad-fueled rumor) about (insert candidate)..." And on it goes. A real demonstration of shit-flinging-monkey behavior that no one beats the Republicans at!

Julie

[morningfog]

8. If political commercials didn't work, millions would be spent on them.

Most voters are uniformed. It is not just the "independents", most republican and Democratic voters are uniformed, too.

[TheWraith]

9. They're not idiots, they're just unengaged.

And yes, you can complain at them for that, but the reality is that for the vast majority of people in this country, their day to day lives soak up all their attention. They're busy going to work, taking care of their kids, paying their bills, wondering whether their marriage is going to last, getting divorced, running errands, taking the kids to sports games, getting drunk, falling in love, building houses, curling up with the pets, etcetera. You might argue with their priorities--certainly, I would say that following politics is important to everyone's lives--but it's not really as simple as them just being idiots or not caring. I personally know people who have strong political opinions who still don't manage to follow politics more than a few minutes a week, simply because the rest of their time is occupied.

[trumad]

13. You can take the work description and apply it to most DU'ers.

It's called taking a bit more time to be informed from other sources rather than Fox news.

I know plenty of people who work and Love just like you describe, but they also have Fox news on the TV's 24x7---OK--22x7 with the other two hours watching American Idol.

But I here you---some are just too busy---the problem with most though is they debate you like they are subject matter experts when in fact they know only what they hear.

[Riverman]

18. That is a bunch of BS. Sorry - MY life was at least as pre-occupied as

you have described. Born to a blue-collar family - five kids, both parents worked, mother a waitress, father a construction worker, who retired and worked another 20 years on a toll bridge. Brother died in the military, other family with lots of problems. At 60, I am on the verge of being laid-off and about to collect unemployment for the first time in my life, having worked from age 13, paid for private high school, college and graduate school - sometimes in school fulltime and working two jobs. Raised a family, and served as a union leader, and worked on progressive campaigns.

With all of that pre-occupying me and my stressed family, I have never had any doubt about who to vote for, no TV or radio nor flyer in mail EVER changed my vote on anything, including CA initiatives. If people don't know, then they are chosing that, consciously or unconsciously. In my experierience, largely due to lack of personal courage and conviction, going along to get along, fear and the like. They would rather allow their unexercised brains to be swayed by fear mongering. And that is objectively STUPID.

I learned long ago that any working person (and it really does include about 99% of the population - people who are/were wage earners vs gaining revenue from investments and/or outright theft) who votes for a Republican (and I would add a good deal of democrats) are voting against their own self-interests. That is fundamentally STUPID.

So, no matter which word one uses: stupid, uninformed, uneducated, dumbass, idiot, - amounts to all the same. And, the puppeteers know it. Since I was a teenager I have hoped one day the sheep would look up!

[trumad]

19. I don't disagree with what you said...

I know a lot of people in that boat---BUT--- if they don't know the subject matter, they won't spout off as if they do because they heard it from Bill O'Reilly.

[retread]

10. I do understand how a registered repig could be undecided this time around. The candidates are ALL

so horrible it's hard to choose which one could do the most damage to the country.

[cyberswede]

11. "Swing voters base their vote on the last ad they saw."

I can't remember who said that, but I agree.

Seriously - how can ANYONE who is paying the least bit of attention be a swing voter between Rs and Ds - the differences are so obvious it's astounding!

I also agree that the Rs are having a tough time choosing a candidate this year because their pool of candidates is so abysmal.

[Wait Wut]

12. I said almost those exact same words to a friend last year.

She had no concept of reality, much less politics. I told her she shouldn't be allowed to vote.

I've met more Indies in AZ in the past 10 years than I've known my entire life. The majority are not "Independent", they just have an inability to concentrate or give a shit.

I will acknowledge that there are some Indies that are just anti-party and are well informed.

[benld74]

15. They ALL should be forced to state, something similar to those lawyer radio commercials

The decision to vote for this candidate should NOT be made based solely on this advertisement,,,

[gopiscrap]

16. Couldn't agree more!

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

17. This is what brought John Kerry down. That so many people believed

what the Shitboat Liars for Bush peddled out to the American public makes me think that the so-called "Independent" voter is really the "Idiot Voter." Idiot, in this case, means easily duped by soundbites and negative advertising!