The Voter

"This atrocious doctrine of allegiance to party plays directly into the hands of politicians of the baser sort - and doubtless for that it was borrowed or stolen - from the monarchical system."
(Mark Twain)

I have to smile at the number of people who are expressing with complete confidence the reason why people voted as they did. News-people claim it was values driven by the religious right. They blame it on the opposition to same sex marriage along with fear of gay life-styles. People calling Sound Off, and writing letters to the editor proclaim everything from "Abortion", to "War" as primary reasons for the voters preference.

The truth is more likely that the majority of the electorate voted along the lines expressed by Mr. Twain above. That is, my party, right of wrong.

The others, the ones who actually decided the outcome of the election voted on an intangible something that they could not put into words. The truth is they voted for the guy they liked best. When asked in a poll to pick a reason - they are stuck. Because the possible poll answers don't offer, "I liked him best" as an option. So our voter is faced with the dilemma of selecting a reason that doesn't make him look ignorant. So he selects either values, or war, or the economy stupid, anything that makes some sense. Then the pundits go on screen, and proclaim to the world that they have it figured out. It was values. So blame it on the Christians.

Not so. It was the perception of character. The decisive nature of the man. The steadfastness of his will. Not any one position itself. It was the feeling you get when listening to someone, that they mean what they are saying. The general sense that this guy is OK, and I don't like the other one. This feeling being arrived at by a combination of all the intangibles that make us like one person, and not want to associate with another. That's why people voted as they did. It's why they always do. It's not complicated, they just liked the guy.

Fred C. Dobbs