# How are there any undecided voters left? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 16, 2020, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-there-any-undecided-voters-left/920761 "2020-09-16T14:00:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![urbanredneck2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/5f8ce5/32.png) [@urbanredneck2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/urbanredneck2)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-there-any-undecided-voters-left/920761/21 "2020-09-16T21:29:06Z")
I like the idea that when voting for president there should be a “None of the above” choice and if neither candidate gets over say 40% then they have to come back with new candidates. It would have been interesting if Bernie would have run as an independent. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-there-any-undecided-voters-left/920761/22 "2020-09-16T21:51:18Z")
I assume I’m in the minority, because I usually am. A not insignificant part of me wants Trump to get a second term. If he’s hamstrung us as badly as I think he has, then all that will happen is Biden will be given the keys to a viciously sabotaged car that will crash itself no matter who is driving. If Biden wins the election, everything will crumble on his watch and the orcs will all hoot about what a loser he is and what a fine job Trump did and nobody learns anything. Part of me is curious to see just how bad the Republican Party will let things get before they yank him from office. If we end up crumbling like USSR, oh well–the soviet republics didn’t all fall into a sink hole, and neither will we. The coasties can form a modern government that they like, and the heartland and south can have their theocracies. And Utah can be Utah. But, it’d be easier on everyone if Biden were to win, even if he ends up not being able to clean up the mess. So I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-there-any-undecided-voters-left/920761/23 "2020-09-16T22:03:02Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > “Plant, I liked your man, but I didn’t think he could win, so I voted for the other one.” Good one. I have heard similar things all my life. Back in the day when they announced polling results in the East early and I lived in the West, folks there would wait to hear who’s winning back east before going to vote so they’d know who to vote for. It was more important for them to have backed the winning team than any minor little thing like policy, competence, honesty. What mattered was backing the winner so they could feel like a winner too. Sort of a variation of backing the home team in sports. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-there-any-undecided-voters-left/920761/24 "2020-09-16T22:05:18Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > … > So I don’t know. I agree it’d be a fascinating experiment to watch. If I was living on well-armed Mars and we didn’t need Earth for anything. But since I live on Earth in general and the US in particular, I’m not willing to run that experiment or do anything to increase the chance it does get run. The upside is small and the downside is massive. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-there-any-undecided-voters-left/920761/25 "2020-09-16T22:24:50Z")
COVID I agree with you. But the protests, I don’t think people care about them as much as you think. There have been none, or few, in my small city, and all peaceful. The news reports are frightening, but they are so far away they may as well be taking place in a foreign country. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-there-any-undecided-voters-left/920761/26 "2020-09-16T22:32:22Z")
Fair enough. I’ll probably calm myself down with logic like that before I actually do the vote thing. I’m just probably not going to cry when he wins. Eeyore me. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-there-any-undecided-voters-left/920761/27 "2020-09-16T22:54:53Z")
Let’s ask the voters, hmm? [One undecided voter wonders whether Trump’s bad personality outweighs his good policies](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/an-undecided-voter-wonders-should-trumps-policies-outweigh-his-personality/2020/08/28/e48e325a-e92f-11ea-97e0-94d2e46e759b_story.html). [Another undecided voter says he hasn’t heard a sound plan from either side for economic recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic](https://www.fox5dc.com/news/some-voters-still-undecided-as-november-election-approaches). [Yet another undecide voter is torn between distaste of Trump’s bombastic style and anxiety about rising voices on the Democratic side, such as liberal firebrand Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez D-N.Y.](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/09/14/election-2020-50-day-mark-voters-anxious-trump-and-biden/5720729002/) ~Max ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-there-any-undecided-voters-left/920761/28 "2020-09-16T23:09:24Z")
No, they werent. Got a cite? And altho I am certainly not a fan of Bush, but he is a saint compared to trump. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-there-any-undecided-voters-left/920761/29 "2020-09-16T23:10:03Z")
That would guarantee a trump win. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-there-any-undecided-voters-left/920761/30 "2020-09-16T23:14:38Z")
Things can be fixed, the Supreme Court isnt so bad- yet. SCOTUS is the critical thing, no way RBG can hang on for 4 more years. Then possibly Breyer and Thomas. So trump gets to put in 3 more justices, that will be _very bad_. Sure Thomas is not a good justice, but he will be replaced by someone younger who will be on for decades. And trump has had to moderate things to win re-election, if he wins, the gloves are off. ---
**Author:** ![razordance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e47774/32.png) [@razordance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/razordance)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-there-any-undecided-voters-left/920761/31 "2020-09-17T01:41:21Z")
During the American Revolution, about a third of the colonists were Patriots, a third Loyalists, and a third indifferent. Even at the most politically charged times in history, there will be many people to whom politics in general is somebody else’s problem. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-there-any-undecided-voters-left/920761/32 "2020-09-17T02:08:11Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > “Plant, I liked your man, but I didn’t think he could win, so I voted for the other one.” Wow. Sounds like a Yogi Berra quote. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-there-any-undecided-voters-left/920761/33 "2020-09-17T03:53:44Z")
with all due respect, WTF does that mean? We are all Americans. There are not blue cities and red cities, but American cities. We are citizens of the US of A. We don’t check party affiliations, if we have them, before deciding where to live. We don’t check party affiliations when natural disasters hit (unless you’re Trump). BTW, Seattle is a pretty nice city to live in. I grew up in an era where we didn’t cotton that kind of shit from the Russians, Chinese or even the French. I still don’t. How about you, comrade? ---
**Author:** ![Brayne\_Ded](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Brayne\_Ded](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brayne_Ded)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-there-any-undecided-voters-left/920761/34 "2020-09-17T14:33:33Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Another factor somebody mentioned that bears repeating. Every single voter who traditionally / typically votes R but is now between unhappy and appalled by Trump is struggling with the dilemma that he/she dislikes everything they think they know about the Democratic platform. This applied to the UK in recent elections. Conservative voters would seldom if ever go over to Labour, regarding them as a collection of squabbling brats who obsess with PC and have a tendency to pander to the far left. Corbyn managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, against both a highly unpopular candidate and party, by insisting on his ideological point of view. Biden is nothing like any British politician in a similar position, but he too has the “we don’t like our man, but we won’t vote for you” factor. Or they don’t vote at all. Given the vagaries of the electoral college, I wonder if Trump might just pull off a narrow victory, despite having fewer actual votes.The Brexit referendum looked like a narrow win for remain, until the votes came in. Could it happen with Trump? Needless to add, I hope not, but in four years I have seen three examples of the worst possible scenario happening. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-there-any-undecided-voters-left/920761/35 "2020-09-17T15:36:42Z")
Of course Trump can win. The EC and shenanigans in the right places make it entirely possible while losing the popular vote by five million. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-there-any-undecided-voters-left/920761/36 "2020-09-17T15:37:17Z")
I think the stability of Trump’s approval ratings and Biden’t chances of overall victory hovering around the same numbers for long periods of time shows that there are only a small number of undecided voters. My guess is the vast majority are low information voters who don’t pay much attention to politics. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-there-any-undecided-voters-left/920761/37 "2020-09-17T18:08:57Z")
Do I prefer Trump? To What? I preferred Buttigieg, but no way can I vote for Biden. Why can’t there be good candidates? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-there-any-undecided-voters-left/920761/38 "2020-09-17T18:14:18Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > I preferred Buttigieg, but no way can I vote for Biden. Why can’t there be good candidates? I like Buttigeig too. I sent him a little bit of money. I thought he was smart and had a lot of common sense. He endorsed Biden unconditionally. I trust Pete and will vote for Biden. (I would have voted for Biden anyway). ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-there-any-undecided-voters-left/920761/39 "2020-09-17T19:22:28Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > Do I prefer Trump? To What? I preferred Buttigieg, but no way can I vote for Biden. Why can’t there be good candidates? Who will you vote for then? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-there-any-undecided-voters-left/920761/40 "2020-09-17T21:59:06Z")
Why not Biden? Look at Mayor Petes platform, then Bidens, then trumps. Joe’s comes way closer than trumps, right? Fairly close to Buttigieg as these things go. Dont let the search for the Perfect be the enemy of the Good. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-there-any-undecided-voters-left/920761.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-there-any-undecided-voters-left/920761.md?page=3)