swing voters and undecided voters basically by definition think about and engage with politics differently than anyone on this site, anyone who writes for the ny times, and the vast majority of the times’ subscribers. otherwise they wouldn’t be undecided/swing voters.
Wow, this is a blast from the past. I remember reading this in 2004 and being perplexed by it, and now that I'm 40 I more or less see where this undecided voter is coming from. The idea that an elected president is going to reach that deep into his ideology to take an action seems, well, unlikely.
It makes it nice and easy for them, they just say “all politicians are bad”, and then they don’t have to spend a single moment thinking about the topic….
I wonder if there’s any part of this, 20 years on, @chrislhayes.bsky.social would change. I’m not sure there’s any of it I would. And that was the days of at not completely being silo’d in media cocoons.
Thanks for the link. I had never seen that. Hayes’s experience jibes with my experiences phonebanking for campaigns since 2018. Undecided voters just do not like politics.
Weirdly, I read it with hope. If we actually accept that voting is largely vibes-based, we can build campaign messaging around that.
Most people don't care about the details- they want to hear about Hope and Change, and that's easier than fleshing out nuanced policies in the public forum.
I guess some people just don’t think deeply. Maybe they’re just trying to put food on the table. It seems shallow and thoughtless, but could be just survival.
'merica
Governance focused on clueless suburbanites that trend towards "America strong" vibes and no concept of issues or reality.
In my daughter's mandated health course in a blue town, a cop talked for 3 hrs
"The only cure for junkies is death"
"Weed is gateway to being junkie"
