It's a question that comes up every election cycle: Who are these undecided voters, and why does it take them so long to make up their minds? Are they fiercely independent? Are they really weighing the issues till the last moment? Or are they just plain stupid?
MSNBC has been following the thought processes of three undecided voters for the last few weeks, and on Election Day all three revealed that they'd thrown in with John Kerry.
Gwen Watts of Cleveland said she made up her mind this morning, citing the enthusiasm she'd found at Kerry rallies in the last few days. Tim Bagby of Phoenix said he'd been leaning toward Kerry for a while now and cast his vote this morning after deciding that the senator would do a better job on education, health care and unemployed, and "I just was a little unsettled with Bush and Cheney."
Souheil Elia of Miami, who voted for President Bush in 2000, also said he'd been leaning toward Kerry. "On Sunday they aired the TV program for bin Laden," he told host Randy Meier, "and as an Arab-American I read the original text in Arabic, and I realized that we are far from winning the War on Terror. And therefore I've decided to vote for Kerry for president, because I believe the interests of America should supercede any party affiliation.
"But come Wednesday, Randy, we should all revert to being Americans, and we should stand behind whoever is elected as president, because we should tell the world that the politicking ends at the ballot box."
Independent? Weighing the issues? Plain stupid? You decide.
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