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I think you need to get out more. I have swing voters in my own family, people who voted for Reagan, Dukakis, Clinton, and Bush. They are not ideological, and vote on feelings, certain hot-button issues, and how much they "like" a candidate.

There are a LOT of those voters. I had a hairdresser who wouldn't vote for Bush/Cheney because she thought Cheney was ugly. (I switched salons, needless to say.)

You really have to understand that a great deal of voting is not based on firm command of the issues. It is done often on feelings, impulse, peer pressure, and vague impressions derived from a few news stories and commercials. That is why the debates are important...often that is the only time voters actually listen to the candidates.

It is a shame that the electorate is so fickle and so ill-informed, but they are. And, their votes count just as much as yours does.

You need to study election returns more. I used to do it for a living. At no time did I suggest that voters were informed or in touch with detailed policy. I do KNOW however from hard facts year in and year out that very few people vote more than 3 out of five times.

Your anecdotes about family and friends are nice, but how do you know your airhead hairdresser actually voted? I'd be willing to put money down that she votes about one time out of five, if that. Most people won't admit that they don't vote, don't care, or are intimidated by the whole process. Talk is cheap and getting off your rear and going to the polls is a pain if you don't usually do it.

The electorate is not the same people each time. That is the most important dynamic in politics today, yet so few of the so-called pros grasp the impact of that fact.