Swing Voters Are Dangerous To The Health Of The Republic
Sunday, March 28, 2010 at 10:25PM (FLP Opinion) - One good thing to come from Obama's election and the large Democrat majorities in Congress is that American's have now seen firsthand what Democrats will do with unvarnished power, and based on the polls, they don’t like it.
But how were they able to amass such power? Swing voters.
The simple fact is that most elections are decided by independent or swing voters. Democrats and Republicans both have loyal bases they can count on, but at the end of the day the independent voter generally decides which party will win the election based on who they swing to en masse. Studies have shown that most of these voters are not politically savvy and pay scant attention to the political genre until election time.
Political illiterates determining the outcome of national elections is obviously troubling for the long term viability of our Republic, and unlike staunch Republican and Democrat voters, independents are generally not ideological. In other words, they haven’t paid enough attention to know where they stand on the issues, or even what the issues are, so they vote for the candidate they “like” best. Certainly not a great litmus test for governing success.
At this point in our history, it's nearly impossible to believe that any educated voter could vacillate on which party they support when the ideological chasm between the two is as immense as it now is? One supports a far-left, socialist agenda, while the other is returning to the limited government conservatism of the Reagan years. It’s akin to someone changing their religious beliefs every few years. “Do I want to be Muslim or Christian the next four years? Hum.”
By comparison, I personally wouldn’t vote for a Democrat if you put a gun to my head. I disagree strongly with the tenets of their party platform, and whether I personally like the Republican candidate or not, I’m voting GOP. A slick-talking politician is not going to change that.
Unfortunately, too many people in this center-right country simply don’t take the time to educate themselves politically, so we end up with "independents" voting for the candidate they’d most like to have a beer with.
Hopefully, the 2008 election cycle was a wakeup call to voters of this ilk. After all, their new drinking buddy in the White House looks a lot like a communist.
Reader Comments (9)
Voters on the public dole are also dangerous to the health of our Republic. The PRIVILEGE of voting should not be extended to anyone receiving taxpayer funds. If I am paying for your food, rent, child care, etc., your vote for someone who will continue or increase that funding should not negate my vote for someone who will decrease or eliminate that funding.
Scary, but very true. The Dems are so good at putting their twist om things that the undecided (and uneducated) voters hear thru their Liberal Media. They try to picture the Tea Party folks as a bunch of trouble-making rednecks. We have a hard time competing with the Liberal Media.
I agree 100% BSF. People voting themselves funds from the Treasury is a large part of the reason we're in this mess. Of course, it's politically incorrect to suggest that free loaders should forfeit their right to vote.
Call me politically incorrect.
Great piece Pundit. Couldn't agree independent voters - they suck. If they'd spend just a little time on the issues, I think most would find they are right of center. Unfortunately, the MSM drags most of them around by the nose and tell them what to think and whom to vote for. As you said, let's hope this changes after the past 14 months.
At least they're swinging back our way. That said, they are absolutely nauseating.
How can you compete for a person's vote when that person doesn't even know what
policies the candidate is running on, let alone what his qualification for the office is..I
realize we may never get the kind of regulation we need at the polls as for as the voter
goes and his knowledge of policies and what makes him qualified to vote...It is to bad
that in our system of government we have a party who is so willing to buy a persons
vote by entitlements and promises of more of the same,,,Keep and man dumb and
indoctrinated is a party line Democratic vote until we find a way to change it.. This
may never be corrected in our education system, intelligence is the only solution and
that may take a generation or two in our state schools....
We are fighting to enemies here on the American front, the press and media ranks
number one.....
Not much I can add to what has already been stated. I agree wholeheartedly. It will be extremely difficult to displace Democrats when growing masses have become dependent upon them "spreading the wealth". If we don't succeed in 2010, we'll have huge problems for years to come.
Well said. Idiots electing our public officials is without doubt a large part of the reason we are in this predicament. I'm just not sure how you change the paradigm. You can't force people to learn and at any rate half the population has a below average IQ.
Maybe they're just morons.
Independents are often positioned as a thoughtful group that gives extra consideration to the candidates before making their decision about whom to support. I agree with your assertion that that is not the case. They are generally illiterate boobs that don't have enough information to make an informed decision. I would suggest your religious analogy be changed to the following question:
"Do I want to be a communist or a capitalist the next four years? Hum."