A New York Times article from yesterday on swing voters, “Few Voter are Truly Up for Grabs, Research Suggests“, is worth the read…even if you disagree.
Writes Rebecca Berg:
In spite of clichés about Nascar dads and Walmart moms, the actual share of voters nationally who are up for grabs is probably between just 3 percent and 5 percent in this election, polling experts say. The Obama and Romney campaigns are expected to spend on the order of $2 billion, in part to try to sway this tiny share of the electorate.
“There’s a very small slice of people who are genuinely undecided, but it’s enough to win the presidency,” said Rich Beeson, the political director for Mr. Romney’s campaign.
The share of swing voters might even have declined in recent years, as many voters have become more reliably partisan. A recent report by the Pew Research Center found that self-identified Democrats are more liberal than in the past and self-identified Republicans are more conservative.
She continues:
Part of the difficulty in identifying swing voters derives from confusion about the term “swing voter” itself. These voters might describe themselves as “undecided,” for example, or as “persuadable.” Often, they call themselves “independents,” although many who identify that way are not.
Read more at the New York Times and then let us know if you agree, disagree, kind of agree, totally and completely think these points are wrong.