Friday, September 24, 2004
Moving On
There are five main groups of people in this election (with the exception of so-called “fringe groups” of course):
A) People who like George Bush, his policies, his politics, his ideology, and will vote for him (and therefore most likely despise John Kerry and everything he stands for).
B) People who may or may not care for George Bush, his policies, his politics, and his ideology BUT don’t like John Kerry, his policies, his politics or his ideology and will therefore vote for George Bush.
C) People who don’t know, don’t care or have yet to begin really deciding who they will vote for. These people will most likely make their decision during the first or last debate or within a day or two of election day.
D) People who may or may not care for John Kerry, his policies, his politics and his ideology BUT don’t like George Bush, his policies, his politics or his ideology and will therefore vote for John Kerry.
E) People who like John Kerry, his policies, his politics, his ideology and will vote for him (and therefore most likely despise George Bush and everything he stands for).
This is true of nearly all elections after a president’s first term. The election is by all accounts a referendum on the President’s first term. We know that in this election there are roughly equal numbers of people in groups A and E. There is a slightly higher number of people in group B than there is in group D and that approximately 32% (according to a poll by the Pew Research Center (as quoted from CNN.com)) of likely voters have yet to make up their mind (and thus fall mostly into group C, with some spill over into groups B and D). And on top of it all, any freshman Political Science major will tell you: 1) expect about 100 million people to vote in this election, 2) of those 100 million, a small percentage of them actually live in states that are considered “swing states” (states whose electoral votes could go to either candidate) and 3) of that small percentage, an even smaller percentage fall into group C or might switch their vote from groups B or D.
Confused yet? You should be! The truth is that those of us who are actually listening to the pundits and following the election closely have made up our minds and have altered our discourse to support ourselves. Those of us in groups A and E and even those of us who are solidly in groups B and D aren’t going to change our vote. Some rather sad members of these groups will try anything –- including forging documents for Kerry or telling the world that terrorists WILL attack if Kerry is elected for Bush –- to try to get that small percentage to swing their way. Don’t buy into it. Don’t use this election, this forum for real public debate, to carp and whine (or bother to listen to those who do) about who did what to whom in 1971. I know why I am in the E group. Which group are you in? Why are you there? Let’s talk about the issues. Let’s discuss what we believe and why. Let’s move on.
There are five main groups of people in this election (with the exception of so-called “fringe groups” of course):
A) People who like George Bush, his policies, his politics, his ideology, and will vote for him (and therefore most likely despise John Kerry and everything he stands for).
B) People who may or may not care for George Bush, his policies, his politics, and his ideology BUT don’t like John Kerry, his policies, his politics or his ideology and will therefore vote for George Bush.
C) People who don’t know, don’t care or have yet to begin really deciding who they will vote for. These people will most likely make their decision during the first or last debate or within a day or two of election day.
D) People who may or may not care for John Kerry, his policies, his politics and his ideology BUT don’t like George Bush, his policies, his politics or his ideology and will therefore vote for John Kerry.
E) People who like John Kerry, his policies, his politics, his ideology and will vote for him (and therefore most likely despise George Bush and everything he stands for).
This is true of nearly all elections after a president’s first term. The election is by all accounts a referendum on the President’s first term. We know that in this election there are roughly equal numbers of people in groups A and E. There is a slightly higher number of people in group B than there is in group D and that approximately 32% (according to a poll by the Pew Research Center (as quoted from CNN.com)) of likely voters have yet to make up their mind (and thus fall mostly into group C, with some spill over into groups B and D). And on top of it all, any freshman Political Science major will tell you: 1) expect about 100 million people to vote in this election, 2) of those 100 million, a small percentage of them actually live in states that are considered “swing states” (states whose electoral votes could go to either candidate) and 3) of that small percentage, an even smaller percentage fall into group C or might switch their vote from groups B or D.
Confused yet? You should be! The truth is that those of us who are actually listening to the pundits and following the election closely have made up our minds and have altered our discourse to support ourselves. Those of us in groups A and E and even those of us who are solidly in groups B and D aren’t going to change our vote. Some rather sad members of these groups will try anything –- including forging documents for Kerry or telling the world that terrorists WILL attack if Kerry is elected for Bush –- to try to get that small percentage to swing their way. Don’t buy into it. Don’t use this election, this forum for real public debate, to carp and whine (or bother to listen to those who do) about who did what to whom in 1971. I know why I am in the E group. Which group are you in? Why are you there? Let’s talk about the issues. Let’s discuss what we believe and why. Let’s move on.
