Last minute voting: the 13% factor

This insecurity means that Obama can’t be sure whether he will be able to overrule his competitor and gives McCain the confidence to think he will win at the last minute.

This group of undecided people are about 13% of those who have the right to vote. Statistically speaking, they will only choose who to vote for once they enter the polling booth and not before. They don’t seem to be attracted by any particular ideology, but in any case neither of the two candidates seemed to embrace one this electoral campaign.

This 13% has been under Obama’s spell for the last two years. His rhetoric has stood him in good stead but now that he has had to explain his proposals in practice, they may change their minds.

On the other hand, the same 13% may be more aware of what they will be up against if they vote for McCain, even though many accuse him of not taking enough distances from the current president. They also seem sceptical of the fact that change will come from a politician who has belonged to the establishment for 30 years.

This 13% could sympathise with either candidate even though they are still trying to decode their messages, which sometimes are at opposite extremes and in other cases seem to converge. For example when McCain supports a reduction in the government’s expenses while Obama says that taxes are too low to be able to create certain programmes, like health insurance for all. A 13% that isn’t swayed by the Republican slogan “The Goverment is the Problem” nor by the democratic one “The Goverment is the Solution”. They are just waiting and hoping for a better one.

It is a 13% that doesn’t perceive McCain as an (independent) maverick  nor Obama as a modern day Robin Hood; a 13% that doesn’t want a repetition of the last 4 years but still isn’t sure that change means better. Finally, it is a 13% that prefers reasonable candidates instead of opponents who are fighting to be right.