Read 'em and weep

I found this via Digbysblog this morning, and it pretty much rang damn true. Especially saddening was the following (admittedly long) passage:

Undecided voters don't think in terms of issues. Perhaps the greatest myth about undecided voters is that they are undecided because of the "issues." That is, while they might favor Kerry on the economy, they favor Bush on terrorism; or while they are anti-gay marriage, they also support social welfare programs. Occasionally I did encounter undecided voters who were genuinely cross-pressured--a couple who was fiercely pro-life, antiwar, and pro-environment for example--but such cases were exceedingly rare. More often than not, when I asked undecided voters what issues they would pay attention to as they made up their minds I was met with a blank stare, as if I'd just asked them to name their favorite prime number.

Yup. I've done enough canvassing door-to-door for good people with good ideas to see exactly that dynamic play out. It has often frustrated me that these 'undecideds' are given the credibiltiy that they are by the media. You're a citizen. Do a little, just a little, heavy lifting and decide something, for Christ's sake. More wisdom:

But the very concept of the issue seemed to be almost completely alien to most of the undecided voters I spoke to... So I tried other ways of asking the same question: "Anything of particular concern to you? Are you anxious or worried about anything? Are you excited about what's been happening in the country in the last four years?"

These questions, too, more often than not yielded bewilderment. As far as I could tell, the problem wasn't the word "issue"; it was a fundamental lack of understanding of what constituted the broad category of the "political." The undecideds I spoke to didn't seem to have any intuitive grasp of what kinds of grievances qualify as political grievances. Often, once I would engage undecided voters, they would list concerns, such as the rising cost of health care; but when I would tell them that Kerry had a plan to lower health-care premiums, they would respond in disbelief--not in disbelief that he had a plan, but that the cost of health care was a political issue. It was as if you were telling them that Kerry was promising to extend summer into December.

Yup again. Much ink has been spilled over Democrats varying successes at 'reframing' issues like wages, the environment, etc. to more suit 'values' voters (whoever the hell they are). Much less discussion has taken place over the idea that the very idea of issues may need to be reframed and that people would be educated that they ever could or should care about such things.