Politics as Unusual

I'm not that old, but I've lived through a number of elections and this one is odd by any calculation. We have a historically unpopular (for excellent reasons) lame duck president, and a black man who defeated a former First Lady running against a cranky old guy and his running mate, who, depending on who you talk to, is either unfit or merely unprepared for the vice presidency. And thanks to the Internet the whole affair is public in real time with an absolute flood of information and commentary.

So this brings us to the big question. Why are there undecided voters and who in the world are they? I was thinking about this watching the debate last night and hearing mostly familiar talking points and wondering if there was anyone hearing this stuff for the first time. I mean, 42 % of the TV audience was watching the debate and were they really seeing something new? You really have to be consciously avoiding information to, for example, not know Obama's position on Iraq. I mean, I know all about Project Runway without watching it, just by being alive in America. It's cultural osmosis. Can you really miss all this stuff just by not being interested?

So it seems to me that these people must be doing this on purpose. Perhaps they're desperately lonely and crying out for attention, so they really like getting phone calls from both sides. Maybe there's money in it. I'm sure they're all hoping that the creators of "undecided voter" focus groups will seek them out and ask them to be on TV or to hold the little dials that CNN gives to those mysterious people in Ohio. As Henslowe says in Shakespeare in Love, I don't know. It's a mystery.

Update

I swear I didn't see this (from The Daily Show) until after I'd written the above...

John Oliver polls undecided voters (a large portion of which fall squarely in the 'stupid' category) to find out what issues are important to them.

"Let's look at the latest numbers. Right now, nationwide, it's Obama 49, McCain 43, Undecided 8. Those Undecideds can still break either way. But who are they? As you can see, they fall into a variety of categories: Attention seekers; racist Democrats; the chronically insecure; and "the stupid. That is 45% of the Undecideds, John. They are the swingiest of the swing voters. And they, as they always do, will decide this election."