What We're Voting For

On Jeff Wagner's afternoon show Friday, he was taking calls from undecided voters. He wasn't trying to convince anybody of anything, nor trying to promote one candidate over the other. He just wanted to explore the mindset behind those who haven't yet decided.

First observation: The callers had no idea who they'd be voting for. But they perceived that it was their civic duty to vote, and they took that obligation seriously. Granted, I agree that it's important to vote. And yet, I disagree completely that those who have no opinion, or those who can't make up their minds, or those who are essentially flipping a coin, should be going to the polls. These undecided voters were saying that they try to follow what's going on in the election, but that they really won't know who's going to get their vote until they're in the booth pulling the lever.

This is scary. This is NOT what it means to do your civic duty and vote. In fact, I think those who are this undecided have a civic duty to refrain from voting.

Second observation: When asked how they'll be making their decision, almost all the callers said they're trying to figure out what each candidate is "going to do" for them. Oh, one candidate says he's going to do thus-and-such for families, or thus-and-such for the middle class, or thus-and-such for business. But if I'm not a businessman, and I'm single, and I'm more well off than the middle-class, then what's he gonna do for ME? When that becomes our standard for voting, the country is done for.

Even if the more conservative candidate wins on Tuesday, unless he wins in an 80-20 landslide, this attitude ("what will government do for MY benefit?") is going to take down the nation, sooner or later, but without fail. A nation cannot survive when government is seen as the doler-of-goodies. But that's what we're looking for. God have mercy on us.