Defending the Undecided
David Sedaris has a column in the New Yorker, the main thrust of which is summed up when he says:
I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. “Can I interest you in the chicken?” she asks. “Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it?”
To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked.
The undecided are taking a beating these days. Here’s how the Daily Show described them:
Partisans on both sides look at the undecided voters as ignorant buffoons. To them, the choice is so clear that only a lack of basic knowledge can explain the indecision.
This is baloney.
There are plenty of good reasons to be undecided at this stage in the election.
(1) In the grand scope of political ideology, the candidates aren’t really very far apart at all. Both propose massive government expenditures for health care. Both support the death penalty and the war on drugs. Both voted for the bailout. Both support a progressive income tax, and tax rate stratifications that would prevent the poorest 40% of Americans from paying any income tax. Both oppose gay marriage; both support stem cell research. Both have national service initiatives. Both are going to leave troops in Iraq for some time. Both have pledged to step up efforts in Afghanistan. These candidates don’t disagree so much as quibble over nuance. Will they or won’t they meet with foreign leaders without precondition? Should troops stay in Iraq with a firm timetable, or an indefinite one? Neither is guided by a coherent ideology. Barack isn’t a pure liberal; McCain is certainly not a pure conservative. They govern by their own notions of prudence, and voters don’t really know how either of them would govern. The difference between the candidates is not as stark as their supporters think.
(2) The candidates have strengths and weaknesses, and these tend to cancel out. Obama is smarter than McCain, but McCain is more experienced. Obama is more careful than McCain, but this also means that Obama is more guarded, and so maybe we actually know McCain better. Obama’s foreign policy appeal will appeal to some conservatives who prefer McCain’s domestic agenda. People who might otherwise choose McCain may be troubled by Palin. People who might otherwise choose Obama might be worried about his spending initiates at a time we already have a trillion dollar debt. McCain is more likely to cut spending; Obama may be more likely to end torture. How do you weigh these things? It’s not obvious.
(3) Why should voters decide now, when there’s still a few weeks until the election? We’re still getting data on these candidates. They way they responded to the credit crisis was telling. McCain seemed erratic; Obama seemed calm. If it’s fair to take this behavior into account, why isn’t it similarly fair to wait out the remaining days until the election to see how they continue to handle themselves? Just because the media wants to take 20 polls a day doesn’t mean voters need to decide now. The deadline is election day.
(4) Believe it or not, some people have lives that are more important than paying attention to politics. They have multiple jobs and late bills and health problems and dying relatives and divorces and crying babies and all kinds of things going on in their lives that may be far more important to them than the election. If they have a chance to consider the candidates, wonderful, and if they don’t, that’s alright too. That’s why I find those “I Voted” stickers so obnoxious … the fact that someone chose between lesser evils is not a great claim to morality. Tending to important familial obligations is, though people don’t usually wear stickers when they do.
I’ve said it a few times … if I vote, I’ll vote for Barr. But if I were required by law to choose between McCain and Obama, I don’t know who I’d choose. Obama’s domestic policy worries me; McCain’s foreign policy worries me. McCain is erratic, whereas Obama is calm. I think Obama is smarter, but I also think his policy on trade is xenophobic and destructive. But then again, I do think Obama would help our standing in the world, and I don’t think that’s trivial. I worry that Obama will deliver new entitlement programs, and these things are never undone. But I also recognize that Republicans deserve to lose this election. And the fact that Barack Obama is African-American is a real plus.
Forced to vote for McCain or Obama, I’d be one of the remaining undecided voters, and I don’t think that means I’m stupid.
