Can we just hold the American elections already?
 

I mean seriously, is there anyone out there who is still undecided? Can any of you see changing your opinion on who you are going to vote for between now and November?

At least I don't live in a swing state. I think the cumulative impact of that much political advertising would force me to kill myself.

Let's just hold the elections next week. What do you say?

Impatience is no way to run a country.
Clearly, given polling data, there are a significant number of undecided voters at this point.

Nope, the date is set in stone in the Constitution, you want to change that, take it up with your Representative or Senator and try and get it changed, tho I doubt seriously that'll happen.

Wow, you two are no fun. Of course it isn't going to happen.

But I expect that you two have made up your minds, based on your posts already, and no more advertisements are going to change that. Do you actually know anyone who is undecided?

The middle third of the country is undecided (leaning).

Many events in the meanwhile will swing them back and forth. As stated above, impatience isnt the way to run things.

either you support one canidate or the others issues more. Never understood why it is so hard for some to decide

I can honestly say that I could vote today NOTHING that the candidate I wont for vote for says would change my mind about him.

Unless of course you live in Iowa or New Hampshire, in which case you are part of the growing number of professionally undecided voters.

Actually I know a couple of people that are still undecided (though that confuses me as well). It seems to be due to a lack of interest and education (i.e. not knowing any better).

They really have no clue what is going on, who is involved and what is important to them. It is really sad.

In my opinion, if you do not know who you are voting for then you have not been paying attention. All of the issues, etc are out there, there really isn't anything new.

The sad part is what information they finally use to cast a vote (if they even cast a vote).

It's their right to choose. Maybe they're conservative but don't like what Bush has done in office. Maybe they're liberal but they despise Kerry not taking a stance on anything. Maybe they don't want to vote for either and are looking for a third party candidate to vote for.

You have your mind made up, great, you can be first in line this November.

If you want an election system like you're proposing why don't you just move to England?

Because, England is for when the draft comes. I can't threaten to MOVE to England in 2005 if I am already there.

Because I'm just venting. :D

Yes. I'm undecided, and I've been paying significantly close attention. Fact is, I'm undecided BECAUSE I've paid so much attention. It's not a matter of not knowing what's going on. Fact is, some things candidates say resonate with me, and others completely turn me off. So, it's a matter of balancing between all that and also looking at third party candidates to see if there's someone who has an even better resonance/dissonance ratio. Generally speaking, I like Kerry socially. I think the idea of a marriage amendment and all that crap is rediculous, and, generally speaking, I can trust the democrats more (but not much more) to not simply play into the hands of the big technology companies that are working to take away fair use rights in favor of their profits.

Then there's the economic side of the matter. I believe people have a right to their own money - even if you don't think it's fair they have so much - it's theirs, and only as much as is necessary should be taken away from them. There's more to this of course, but my point is that I don't like many traditionally democratic economic policies.

And that's really only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to my thoughts. The point is, it's difficult to make a quick, easy decision unless you're either 1) a party line voter, or 2) a person voting generally on one issue (such as the Iraq war). Then there are also the people who actually are completely liberal or completely conservative, and that's a far smaller number than it seems when people actually analyze their beliefs with regard to logical consistancy.

Point is, who to vote for is a very serious and complex issue, and as such it's very easy to be undecided.

Thanks SM70. That's the thoughtful response I was hoping to find. I'm glad to hear that there are undecided/informed people, I was assuming everyone left was undecided/uninformed.

What do you think will tip the balance?

SM70 summed it up perfectly.

I'm undecided and I know virtually everything that's going on/being discussed on these boards. Basically for me it comes down to this, If Iraq and/or the economy don't collapse and are seemingly okay then Bush will get my vote.

To say people are uneducated because they are undecided is pretty ignorant in itself.

I hope the debates are interesting. The only way it would be a tough decision for me would be if Kerry would have picked Gepheart.

Also, always a push for people to vote, I think, maybe we should suggest people follow the issues and vote wisely instead of just going out to vote in November.

Well, as far as what would tip the scales, I couldn't tell you. I'm very interested in the debates for one thing.

To be honest and put it simply, what it comes down to is I can't stand the Bush administration because of MANY issues with rights, but I also don't believe Kerry to have enough conviction for what is necessary for national security. Not to say I agree with everthing Bush has done, but that's the general sum of my main issues with the 2 candidates.

There's also the fact that I live in Illinois and it's pretty much guaranteed to go to Kerry. I've said many times before that I believe very strongly in 3rd party voting, even under current circumstances. I think voting for someone whom you think has a chance to win, while knowing there is another person who basically has no chance but whom you agree with more, is a very bad way to vote. Factor that into the fact Kerry will win this state anyway, it's pretty likely that I'll vote for a 3rd party candidate to bring attention to what issues I believe are important and add support behind a party gaining more notoriety. But, between the two main candidates, if I end up voting for either, the debates will likely be what convinces me.

How would you feel about elections being delayed?

I am also undecided. I lean, but not to the point of being bound to a decision. I believe this to be the hardest voting decision ever for me.

Like I need any more friggin stress in my life right now...SHEEESH!

The best thing about the date for the elections being moved forward would be that the new REM cd would come out quicker.