For 'soft' voters (in NH), hard choices in quest to beat Bush

[Karmadillo]

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/01/24/for_soft_voters_hard_choices_in_quest_to_beat_bush/

THEY'RE BACK, the real stars of Iowa, hanging over New Hampshire like a storm cloud from the White Mountains, the outcome of the New Hampshire primary in their hands.

People who take polls for a living list them as undecided, but they are more than that. They are leaning one way but say they could easily switch allegiance. They are diligently researching candidate positions, chatting continuously with friends; for this late in the game they often profess amazement at the soft sand under their feet.

They were the delight of Iowa, offering a chance to observe voter decision-making in mid-process. And now they're back. I've met them on the fringe of a Howard Dean appearance here, in the overflow room for a John Edwards show in Portsmouth, at the edge of a hall in Pembroke where John Kerry spoke, and in the back of the American Legion post in Rochester while Wesley Clark droned on.

They are a joy to talk to, engaging in their resistance to poll-driven, media-oversimplified categorization, but the temptation to try is too great.

In size, they dwarf the officially "undecided" in the polls. Off my experience this week, they are on a par with the 40-50 percent of caucus goers in Iowa down the stretch who were in play -- soft voters in a supposedly granite state.

more...