Blazingcatfur

There are far more people who haven’t decided whether to vote than those who just haven’t picked a candidate

The Trump and Harris campaigns are racing to reach undecided voters in the final weekend of the presidential election. But their main focus isn’t the voters undecided on which candidate to back. Instead, they are doing more to target those who are undecided on whether to vote at all.

Most occasional voters—those who sometimes cast ballots and sometimes skip elections—lean toward one candidate or the other, and the campaigns see them as a vital source of untapped support. They account for more than one-quarter of the voter pool, strategists say, though estimates vary. By contrast, Wall Street Journal polling finds that only 3% of registered voters are truly undecided on a choice of candidate.

“I feel very strongly that there’s a much smaller number of undecided voters than there are people deciding whether to vote,” said Bill McInturff, a veteran Republican pollster who has worked with GOP groups this year. Which GOP- and Democratic-leaning groups turn out most will affect the election outcome more than will the voters “who are still agonizing over Trump or Harris,” he said.

Bill Maher warned Democrats President Joe Biden’s controversial “garbage” remark may be more consequential than they are anticipating in the election.

On Friday’s Real Time, Maher argued Biden’s comment could be worse than Hillary Clinton referring to Trump’s loyal supporters as a “basket of deplorables” just before the 2016 presidential election.

NEW: Bill Maher goes into mourning, admitting Biden’s “garbage” remark about Trump supporters is “Deplorables times 10.”

“I think it's a bigger gaffe than people think. It's so funny. Joe Biden, his whole career he was like Mr. Gaffe. And then here at the very end, he's like… pic.twitter.com/30m3VkH8Oq

— The Vigilant Fox (@VigilantFox) November 2, 2024

The national political environment just isn’t as conducive to a Harris victory as many might imagine.

Whatever happens Tuesday, it’s fair to say this campaign has not gone as smoothly as Democrats expected.

In the wake of the midterms, Donald J. Trump appeared to be finished. He may still lose, of course, but he clearly wasn’t “disqualified” — as many expected — by Jan. 6, several criminal indictments or an overturning of Roe v. Wade by his Supreme Court appointees. If voters disqualified any candidate in 2024, it was the sitting president, not the felon who attempted to overturn the last election.

How is Mr. Trump still so competitive? The simplest answer is that the national political environment just isn’t as conducive to a Democratic victory as many might imagine.

Democrats clearly face headwinds in this election. In the last New York Times/Siena College poll, only 40 percent of voters approved of President Biden’s performance, and only 28 percent said the country was heading in the right direction. No party has retained control of the White House when so many Americans were dissatisfied with the country or the president.

Sounds like the NYTimes is conceding.

For recovering politicians, this is the most dangerous time for a relapse, especially those living in a swing state. Their televisions, radios, and social media are chock with political news and ads. This can spark a recrudescence of old vices, such as arguing at the top of one’s lungs at an offending ad or slanted news story, and, worse, then conjuring a way to counter it and win the election for their side. It may even spur them to contact old friends still in the political arena and urge them to incorporate their “unexpectedly” inspired idea into their campaign. Such a loss of realistic expectations and understanding of what others are going through constitutes sure signs the poor creature is reverting to a politician’s solipsistic mindset.