This election and the small minority of people who will decide it

One of the things my friends and I were so disturbed about when it comes to this election is a small extension of the discussion I had brought up recently. This election is already settled for 90% of the people who probably come down about 50-50 exactly on either side. This, in and of itself, is a fascinating aspect… it is fine to have dramatic differences in philosophies, but it is especially fascinating that we’re so equally divided. I would say that this results from countless years of politicians doing just enough to get elected and no more. “Just enough” being satisfying 51% of the people. But that does not seem like it’s enough. If you asked people on a controversial issue what they thought (such as the war on Iraq), people actually WOULD BE divided 50-50. I wonder if it’s a sales and marketing issue, that the issues are not being explained and agreed upon as broadly as they should be. If people do not agree with a decision you’re about to make, today we just say “You’re a moron, I’m doing it anyway.” This is probably not a recipe for long term success.

Anyhow, assuming that 45% of the people are red and 45% of the people are blue, you might expect that the politicians would pursue the remaining 10% and try and sell them on their points. But this is not what they do at all. In fact, they sell less than even the 45% of the people who are already on their side. They sell something like 30% of their followers, but REALLY focus on selling 30% of their followers to get them out to vote. This is one of the most depressing things about voting today. It’s not “get broad agreement on positions and sell to everyone”, knowing that you’ll fail with some percentage. It’s “take an ultra-extreme position and get your people out to vote”. The real problem here is it seems like it just serves to exacerbate the differences in position, and will ultimately leave 70% of the country feeling like you do not really represent them.