The Uncommitted Voters Can Certainly Relate to Obama

The sight that bothered me the most in the commentary on the debate was the Frank Luntz focus group of "uncommitted" voters. More of them moved toward Obama than McCain, and the reasons given ran along the lines of "he cares". CBS had a similar poll showing movement towards the Obamessiah. The notion that the election may be decided by a bunch of wishy-washy people driven by the winds of emotion is just plain frightening.

Scott Ott of Scrappleface voices that concern quite nicely in this piece:

(2008-09-27) — In the wake of the first presidential debate between Senators John McCain and Barack Obama, a CBS news poll of uncommitted voters shows that those who can’t make up their minds find more in common with Sen. Obama.

“People tend to gravitate toward the candidate who seems most like them,” said an unnamed pollster at CBS. “And we’re starting to see a shift, at least a tentative one, among those who have difficulty making decisions. To the uncommitted, Obama looks like a fellow traveler.”

About 39 percent of the respondents in the CBS-Knowledge Networks poll, who remain undecided after nearly two years of presidential campaigning, said they thought Sen. Obama won the debate, compared with 24 percent who picked Sen. McCain as the winner, and 37 percent who just couldn’t decide.

“Obama hit the right notes for these people,” the pollster said. “The way he cocks his head to the side as if perplexed, his frequent interjection of non-verbal sounds, and his ability to speak for long stretches without definitively declaring what he believes…all of this appeals to the uncommitted.”

On the other hand, the lower percentage who thought Sen. McCain won reflects the fact that “the uncommitted just can’t relate to people who know what they believe and don’t hesitate to say it.”

“Of course,” the pollster added, “Sen. McCain could also benefit from the fact that uncommitted voters will spend most, if not all, of election day trying to decide whether to go to the polls.”

Nice work, Scott! You put my frustrations into words perfectly.