Salon: The few, the proud, the undecided

[kskiska]

New Hampshire's famously independent voters may pick the president -- again. So what's taking them so long to make up their minds?

By Peter Dizikes

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- New Hampshire's official motto is "Live Free or Die." Visit the place in October of an election year, however, and you will quickly discover New Hampshire's unofficial motto. It is what the state's undecided voters declare almost every time they express their political views. "I've never been for a party," offered Connie, a Manchester homemaker, undecided voter, and mother of two sons in the military, saying the magic words on a recent Saturday afternoon. "I'm for the man." In a state where political independents outnumber both Democrats and Republicans, Connie's phrase, or a variation of it, deserves a place on New Hampshire license plates. But exactly which man the state's undecided voters will support -- John Kerry or George W. Bush -- could change the future of the country.

New Hampshire may be worth only four Electoral College votes, but it would have put Al Gore over the top in 2000 and might be decisive this year as well. Last time, Bush won by 7,211 votes, a 1 percent margin. It could be closer in 2004. Besides, if New Hampshire's voters tout their independence more than most, the state is otherwise a political cocktail containing the same ingredients that made the last presidential election so extraordinary: a deadlocked race, candidates scrapping for every last vote, Ralph Nader lurking in the background and, for an added kick, an ongoing GOP voter-suppression scandal. Which makes New Hampshire as good a place as any to ponder some questions: In the most ideologically polarized election in living memory, why are people still undecided? And who will they vote for?

To get a better sense, I accompanied canvassers from the independent group America Coming Together, or ACT, around New Hampshire on consecutive October weekends as they lobbied independent, undecided voters to support John Kerry. Most voters would only talk to the canvassers after prefacing their remarks with the standard New Hampshire declaration of political independence. "I'm not a Democrat or a Republican," said William, a self-employed man in Nashua leaning toward Bush. "I just vote for who I think is best."

(snip)

Perhaps the most encouraging trend for Democrats is that on the biggest issue of the day, few New Hampshire independents seem willing to give George W. Bush the benefit of the doubt. "I don't know why we're in Iraq," said Connie, the Manchester homemaker, talking while painting the front-porch railing on her house. "They should train the Iraqis and get our guys out. Are they there for oil? Saddam's a bad guy, but he was contained to his territory." One of her sons is a military chaplain and, she said, had told her about the terrible human toll the war was having on U.S. troops: "They're committing suicide. It's awful."

more…
http://salon.com/news/feature/2004/10/19/undecideds/index.html

[sventvkg]

1. i'm not for a party either, rather the policy.

[sandnsea]

2. Connie's afraid of her shadow

Connie is a bandwagon voter. She obviously knows what's going on, but she's so afraid of being banished by her right wing neighbors that she plays the "undecided card". Whichever way the wind is blowing, that's the way she'll vote. That's why it's important for us to talk to our neighbors. It's our word our neighbors care about, in the end.