Independents and The Undecided

I have never quite understood undecided voters. Perhaps I am wrong, but I have always assumed that such people are simply inattentive or uninformed. I care too much about political subjects to be undecided. We live in a world where there are sharp differences on political and social issues. To me, such issues require some kind of decision. I do not know how one can be blasé about the Iraqi war, abortion, stem-cell research, global warming, health insurance, gun control, same-sex marriage, oil prices, and other such matters. The two major political parties take opposite sides on most of these issues. Candidates usually express themselves on these issues well before the election, yet many people say they cannot decide who to vote for until they go into the voting booth.

Now along comes Michael Bloomberg, the zillionaire Mayor, meeting with others to discuss whether to form an independent party; independent of what? Will an independent party take no position on the issues mentioned above? What will an Independent Party stand for; politeness, apathy, nothing? Bloomberg and his group claim that the two main parties are far too polarized. I suppose that if the Democrats and Republicans were neutral on the above issues, they would not be so polarized. I do not understand, however, how people can fail to take sides on such vital issues. It is easier for me to understand people taking conservative positions on these issues than it is to understand the neutrality of independents.

I may not know who to vote for in local elections or primaries, but I have never had any doubts about candidates for president. I am a news junkie. I read three newspapers a day, including The New York Times. I read two news magazines a week and watch the major news programs on television every night. I read several online news sources. Perhaps I am addicted to news and need to go into news rehab.

One group of citizens I don’t understand or at least do not esteem very highly is those who say: “I don’t like any of the candidates. I’m not going to vote at all.” These ostrich-headed civilians fail to understand that life is not always ideal and that sometimes it is necessary to choose the best, or perhaps the least offensive, from a slate of less-than-perfect aspirants to office. One of the reasons we have political parties is that candidates for office represent not only themselves; they also represent political principles. Parties define themselves according to where they stand on the liberal-conservative spectrum. If you don’t like a candidate, vote for his or her party.

I am baffled by the consistently low ratings given in the polls to the Congress. The ratings were low before the Democrats took over majority control in 2006 and continued to be low thereafter. Who is it that people dislike? There are two major parties in Congress. Do people dislike both parties? I don’t think that people know why they dislike Congress. They are just frustrated that Congress is not doing what they want. My question is: what do they want? Different people want different things. The problem is that neither party has been able to get a veto-proof and filibuster-proof majority. Thus, either party can stymie the legislation proposed by the other. If voters are frustrated by the inability of Democrats to pass legislation halting the Iraqi War, they should realize that President Bush has vetoed every bill setting a time limit on American participation in the war, and Republicans have upheld every veto. The only solution to this problem is to elect more Democratic congressmen and senators.

There is a type of citizen that I particularly despise. He can usually be found at the corner stool in a bar. He says: “They all stink. They should throw-out all the bums and put in a whole new government.” You can be assured that this savant is not endowed with a PhD in government. He is not offering the legitimate complaint that special interests have too much influence. He is not disturbed by the campaign-finance abuses. He is not speaking about the lofty promises broken by elected officials. His problem is that the world is not perfect and the cost of beer is too high. He doesn’t really know much about government and who the players are, so he just sits and drinks and kvetches.