In Defense of the Undecided Voter

In a political environment in which we know everything from Obama’s penchant for nicotine to McCain’s behavior with his first wife, how can anyone still be undecided? asks John Cloud of Time. After all, Cloud writes, “I have hooked up with people I know less about.” Apparently, 63 percent of this year’s undecided voters are women who tend to be older, less educated, and poorer than the general population. Translation: These ladies don’t have a lot of time to follow politics. Although undecideds say they will weigh the pros and cons of each candidate before voting, it’s actually fairly easy to predict voting behavior—by and large, people pick what they like and justify it later. On the other hand, people forced to choose between death by hanging and death by fire will put off the choice as long as possible, suggesting that some undecided voters don’t have much faith in either candidate.