A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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I don't get it. How could any sentient American, after nearly four years of the reign of Obama, be "undecided" just 5 weeks before the election? How is that even possible?
I don't buy it. I think they have already decided and just want the attention.
Maybe not.
It smacks more of the MsM's drive to depress GOP voters and convince republicans to stay home on election day than it does of the truth.
But then -- what is truth?
In a country as plugged-in and wired as America, it just seems impossible for anyone to have as much information heaped upon them as the residents of this country and manage to remain undecided this late in the presidential campaign. I think the bumper sticker imprinted with "If you are still undecided, then you aren't paying attention" has more than a little merit.
The so-called undecided voters scare the heck out of me! They are said to be the "swing" voters this election cycle and that ought to worry everyone. They are said to be less partisan and less engaged. Neither condition creates any confidence in me, anyway, that these people will wind up being informed voters. That is even more frightening.
It is worrisome for me that the election could hinge on how these less engaged voters
mark their ballots. I can
visualize them standing in the voting booth, pencil in hand, saying:
eenie, meenie, minee, moe ... ! Like I said -- it scares the heck out
of me!Another name for these undecideds is "low information" voters. Huh? How is that even possible in America today. We have a President who only stopped campaigning long enough for his swearing-in at the inaugural at noon on January 20th, 2009, and a challenger who has run for President at least twice and run for other public offices twice more.
Every hour of every minute of the broadcast medium in the US is saturated with political announcements either endorsing or condemning both the candidates. Our phones ring off the hooks as political pollsters call and campaign workers call, and the Lord only knows who else.
Look. It is almost impossible NOT to have more than enough information on both the candidates, at this point in the election cycle , to make an educated choice between them.
I think we are experiencing something my father used to call "willful ignorance." Defined, "willful ignorance" is the result of a concentrated effort on the behalf of the individual to avoid information that might, when once received, (just might) endow the receiver with something approaching responsibility to make a choice, to take a stand, to act responsibly as a member of a constitutional republic. As long as that information can be avoided, as long as the individual can remain ignorant of it, then he/she can justify their shirking of responsibility -- at least in their own minds.
I know people like that, and I suspect that you do, as well. They are a part of every group. They stand back, wait, watch, as the other members of the group make the decisions that affect the entire group, then more often than not, they offer criticism when the group's decision turns out to be less than favorable to the group's effort. With apologies to our church-going readers, one finds this sort of scenario quite often within various church groups and even in congregations.
Doesn't it strike you as dangerous that these are the people who will choose the next leader of the free world, the man who will occupy the most powerful office on the planet? As I said above: It scares the heck out of me!
Democracy and ignorance do not mix. Just take a look at the nations of the Middle East and North Africa today. If additional evidence is required, look at the results of the 2008 Presidential election in the US.
Democracy is a wonderful thing. But it is quite dangerous in the hands of the ignorant and/or the uninformed.
The experts tell us that as much as seven percent of the US electorate is undecided today. The fact that these undecideds are party partisans reinforces my own opinion that their lack of information is willful.
OK. Before I am lynched, let me state that yes, I know the population of that seven percent is not static. Voters move into and out of the undecided category all the time. But -- I'd bet there is a core that remains stuck within that category ad infinitum.
Then there are some, I'd venture to say, who are like a child in an ice cream parlor completely overwhelmed with all the flavors available to him and totally unable to choose which flavor he wants. (TWO candidates are overwhelming?! Well -- YEAH!)
So. Here we are on the eve of the eve of the most important event in the US since the ratification of the US Constitution, an event that will decide if America remains free or chooses the slavery of communism -- and we are at the mercy of a tiny group of voters who can't decide which way to vote, or even if they are going to vote. Many, I'd warrant, would like to shun the responsibility to vote altogether -- and may.
The score is tied. The winning run is on third base. There are two outs. The batter already has two strikes and three balls to his credit. Not swinging at all, the batter is allowing every pitch to scream past the plate. That's when I notice it is the bat boy timidly standing at the plate with a white knuckle grip on that ash stick, pallid of face, and sweating profusely. The pitcher winds up, launches a smoking fast ball toward the plate, -- and -- I wake up.
Yeah, it IS a nightmare -- for BOTH democrats and republicans.
The fate of a nation hangs in the balance -- and -- please, Lord, let me wake up!
J. D. Longstreet
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