undecided voter

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-15-2004
undecided voter
13
Wed, 09-15-2004 - 7:23pm
Hi,

I am an undecided voter. I know there are not many of us. One of the reasons I am undecided is probably because I don't watch TV. I feel the coverage of the election is usually people trying to push there opinions down your throat.

I've decided that I want to just stick with the issues, rather than decide based on the personalities of the candidates or their pasts. In October's "Real Simple" magazine they list how each candidate has voted on the issues and I checked who I agreed with on each. I found that I agreed with Bush on the issues of Crime, National Security, Guns and Education. I agreed with Kerry on Civil Rights, Environment, and Jobs. So, I'm pretty much still undecided.

Then there's the issue of taxes. I like the idea of small government and less taxes, but I just don't believe that Bush has done that. According to the guy who does my taxes, my tax cut equaled $100. (I guess we dont make a lot of money!) That's just not enough to change my life, needless to say. And the gov't is not getting smaller. If there were better tax cuts for the middle class maybe I would agree that Bush is cutting taxes, but I think all he plans to do is make the tax cuts permanent. So, this will not directly affect my life at all.

Then there's health care. Kerry is saying a national health care program, but I'm skeptical because I think President Clinton promised this too. But Bush's solution is a pre-tax savings fund, which I think is like the Flexpay that my husband and I already have. We have never been able to save more than $600 with this system and that's not going to help if we have a serious illness. I have a friend who had lymphoma and her medical bills were over $1 million. Although she had health insurance she says she will be paying off here medical bills for the rest of her life. I have another friend who got laid off 1 yr ago and could not afford to COBRA his health care. Now he had an emergency appendectomy and he has no insurance. I dont know what he will do.

As I write this, I realize that I am leaning toward voting for Kerry, but maybe someone can post some info to help me decide. Please stick to the issues and dont post snide remarks...Thats why I turned off my TV!!

Thanks for any insight you can give me.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-08-2004
In reply to: tadchamb
Wed, 09-15-2004 - 8:03pm
It's nice to see someone sticking to the issues. I've given up on TV as well. They are all biased. In the end, the decision is really up to you. If you main issue is health care than ask yourself, what has Bush done in this term to fix healthcare? What is it about Bush's first term that makes you think he deserves a second term? I personally believe he does not have a record to run on.

Good luck!

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-17-2004
In reply to: tadchamb
Thu, 09-16-2004 - 12:31am

Welcome tadchamb! In politics, as in life, the choice is not always clear cut. ; )


I think most informed voters determine the most important issues to them, consider how much affect a

Renee ~~~

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-18-2004
In reply to: tadchamb
Thu, 09-16-2004 - 11:57am

Hi tadchamb!


Welcome to the board!

Miffy - Co-CL For The Politics Today Board

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2004
In reply to: tadchamb
Fri, 09-17-2004 - 1:17pm
Good advice.
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-09-2003
In reply to: tadchamb
Fri, 09-17-2004 - 2:53pm
Not sure I can help much, but Ivillage has a area to go to read each candidate's positions-don't know if you looked at it.

I think healthcare is a big issue and desperately needs to be addressed. What's funny about those afraid of "national health" is that we already have it in a sense. Our emergency rooms are impossibly overcrowed because uninsured frequently use them for primary care (i.e. no insurance, can't go to doctor then wait for condition to be life threatening). The patient is treated and even if they're billed, they're unable to pay, so we all pay higher insurance premiums and medicaid (which is crippling NYS btw). Since I don't think a rational solution is to let the uninsured suffer and/or die, why not come up with a more efficient system using all the money we're already spending? I'm an accountant and oversee personnel/payroll for my company and a non-hmo family premium is $1378/mo and it's $690 for a family hmo policy-now I'd say that's high!

As for tax cuts, I think eliminating the marriage penalty and the child tax credit are both good, but I personally did not get much out of the tax cuts either. In my position, I also didn't see anyone else in my small company getting much of one. As for "trickle down", I don't buy that theory as money flows up (i.e. it's consumers who make providers of goods wealthy). Once the provider of goods has lots of money, it's human nature to either keep it for themselves or spend on luxury goods, take trips overseas, etc. Also the purpose of a company is to make money, not hire people, they only hire people when they have to in order to supply their consumer demand. Therefore, I'm not sure tax cuts for corportations will make them rush out and spend on labor, they'll naturally use them to improve their bottom line first and only hire when demand increases for their goods. Targeted tax cuts do work because consumer demand rises when more people have money to spend. And I really don't like the elimination of the inheritance tax (incorrectly labeled "death tax"- the person isn't getting taxed for dying and certainly won't be taking any of it with them). The taxes were paid by the person who earned the money while alive but is now dead, why should their heir receive unlimited money tax free that they did not earn? Perhaps an increase in the amount an estate can leave tax free is in order, but not any elimination.

I'm also concerned about national security and this is where it gets tricky for any candidte. I don't believe we can ever eliminate all of our enemies- not through war or diplomacy. I think a strong homeland security will help and I think both candidtates agree on that.

Like you, I have trouble getting to the facts, but there's certainly plenty of emotion to go around being presented as "facts"! Even looking at a candidates voting and/or policy record isn't enough because I think it's also important to ask why they supported or didn't support something as that often shows a clearer picture.

Avatar for car_al
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
In reply to: tadchamb
Fri, 09-17-2004 - 6:28pm
I'm an Independent voter and I'm deferring to Larry Davis's insights on being undecided - LOL :o)

C

Are You Undecided? Or Not?

By LARRY DAVID

September 16, 2004



Los Angeles — I'd like to address this to the Undecideds: I'm on to you. You may be fooling everyone else with your little "undecided" act, but you're not fooling me. You know perfectly well whom you're voting for. The only reason you say you're undecided is that it's a cheap ploy to get attention. How do I know? Because I'm the most indecisive person in the world. I set the template, baby, and you're not passing the smell test.

You want to see real undecided? Go out to dinner with me sometime. I'll show you undecided. I look at the menu for 20 minutes, ask everybody what they're ordering, and then, finally, after I copy someone, wind up dashing into the kitchen to tell the waiter I've changed my mind.

Do a little shoe shopping with me. I guarantee you won't be able to stand it. The black ones. No, the brown ones. No, the black ones. Several of my relationships have ended in shoe stores, with women slipping out, unnoticed, never to be seen again. I even got thrown out of a poker game once because I sat there, paralyzed, unable to decide whether or not to fold. It wasn't a pretty sight, but at least it was genuine, not a bluff, like you people.

Oh, I've observed you in action. I've sat next to you at dinner parties and watched while everyone talked themselves silly, trying to get you on board. But you wouldn't budge, would you? You almost seemed to take some pleasure from it, just like my 8-year-old when she makes me beg her to take her medicine, you rascals.

The other night I saw a whole gaggle of you on TV in a focus group. You really liked chatting with professional pollster Frank Luntz, didn't you? He seemed very interested in what you had to say. Afterward, I could imagine all of you piling into a bus and heading for Denny's to discuss your exciting evening with Frank. I could see all of you staying friends even after the election. Maybe go on some trips together. Perhaps a wine tour of Tuscany. On bicycles! Oh, the life of the Undecided. Too bad they can't hold these presidential elections more often. Ah, well, you'll just have to make do.

The truth is, Undecideds, you're getting on our nerves. We Decideds hate all the attention you're getting and that you're jerking us around. Anyone who can't make up his or her mind at this point in the campaign should forget about the election entirely, buy a pint of ice cream and get into bed.

We'd love to tell you to take a hike, but we're afraid to alienate you. If we really had any brains, we wouldn't spend another second on you, but on the people who can truly make a difference: the "unlikely" voters. And there are millions more of them than there are of you. Those people aren't after attention, they're just incredibly lazy. The only way they'll register to vote is if someone shows up at their door with a form. And then the only way they'll actually vote is if you carry them to the booth.

Not only are they lazy, they're also indifferent. They just don't believe that voting can have an effect on their lives. Well, it just so happens that right after I voted for the first time, I landed myself a big fat job in Hollywood, a biopsy came back benign and I met my future wife as soon as I walked out of the voting booth. Coincidence? You decide.

Larry David appears in the HBO series "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/16/opinion/16david.html

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-15-2004
In reply to: tadchamb
Sat, 09-18-2004 - 9:49am
Thanks for the funny article. I love Larry David. Very funny.

Thanks to Danidon for what you wrote. You have given me a lot to think about. I realized that I agree with many republican ideas in principal, but the things that this administration have implemented just aren't working. I dont think the economy is strong at all.

I will probably vote for Kerry because maybe he will try some new ideas to really get things moving again for us.

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-17-2004
In reply to: tadchamb
Sat, 09-18-2004 - 12:18pm

Historically those who still identify themselves as undecided at this point won't matter one iota to the outcome of the election because they will not be voting.


Politcal analysts have already written them off for this election cycle.

Renee ~~~

Renee ~~~

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-24-2004
In reply to: tadchamb
Sat, 09-18-2004 - 6:49pm
But the ones who do manage to make a decision at the last minute and go vote may have a big influence on the election, especially in smaller less populated states. There has been one presidency I did not vote in, not cause I was lazy, but because I liked no candidate enough to favor one over the other. And I didn't want to be blamed for the next screw up, if I happened to vote for them when I din't like any of them. I also had one pres race that I was undecided until the end, and was very glad I waited until the end to make that choice. That was Clinton's first election, I was for Ross Perot then he droped out and got back in, and kept lying about things he said on public TV. I changed my vote at the last second to Clinton, and I was very happy about that choice during his time in office. Things do seem to pop up at the last minute that can have a seriouse effect on what I may think about a candidate. I'm not the only one, and I think these last minute deciders can have a big effect on an election. I do think that if you haven't registered yet then you probably wont, and if you have skipped all other elections you will likely do the same even if you say you will vote.

Venus
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-08-2003
In reply to: tadchamb
Sat, 09-18-2004 - 7:33pm
According to a certain first grader, knowing who to vote for is simple. John Kerry should be elected because George Bush already had his turn.

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