Kinsley: The coddled American voter

Modern American politicians almost never use their campaign rhetoric to deliver bad news or to challenge the citizenry.
By Michael Kinsley
January 6, 2012

A mere week ago, the Rick Santorum boom seemed a distant possibility. In a Des Moines Register poll published the weekend before the Iowa caucuses, 41% of respondents said they weren't sure whom they were going to support.

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All of these candidates pushed their positions and arguments, and offered their physical presence, to the people of Iowa for the better part of a year. They spent tens of millions of dollars broadcasting their positions. Yet almost half of the Iowans who intended to participate in a caucus said, just a few days before the voting started, that they might still change their minds.

What more information could they need? What did they think might happen on Monday or Tuesday to clarify the choice for them? Why the furrowed brows, the pulled chins?

It was partly, I'd guess, a form of preening encouraged by political polls. Being undecided makes you seem interesting. Being decided makes you seem dull. You are no longer of any interest to the campaigns and candidates — even the candidate you support.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-0106-kinsley-column-iowa-primary-20120106,0,2396904.story

I'm decided, how about you?