So who is undecided at this point? And what are the undecided anyway? I suppose you could see them in one of two ways, or perhaps both simultaneously.
A romantic might say that the undecided are this huge body of people who genuinely weigh the issues, the candidates, and their statements and then make reasoned decisions about them. Whether we call them independents, decline-to-state voters, swing voters or simply undecideds, we place great importance on these people because their votes are the only ones really in play. They are, in the best tradition of America, rugged individualists and they refuse to play for either team, though they may lean one way or another depending on the year. And because they are undecided and aren't easily predictable, they are the focus of all the major campaigns; they're the reason California won't get many visits from Obama or Romney this year.
Or, to put it another way, Democrats and Republicans are the children, the undecideds are the parents with the wisdom to decide what's best among the squabbling children. That's a comforting thought, right? At least the adults in the room are the ones who are going to decide matters at the end of the day. Moderation will prevail.
But there's another, darker, more cynical view of the undecideds.
The undecideds are a vast group of people who are apathetic about government and politics 90% of the time and only get informed by 30 second spots on TV, manipulative internet videos, catchy, witty headlines or, locally, campaign signage. They don't know their Hamilton from their Jefferson and if you mentioned laissez-faire to them, they'd think of a festival for lazy people. Having put no or very little thought into the role of government since high school civics, they are easily manipulated and have few core convictions, unlike partisan voters who, at the very least, have usually thought through their positions.
In this view, the undecided aren't the parents...they're the children. And Republicans and Democrats are the parents fighting to convince theundecidedchild which parent is right. Some years the kid picks the Democrats, some years he picks the Republican. Lately, dysfunction results more often than not.
The hell of it is, I'm undecided about which view of the undecideds is right. I go back and forth, just liketheundecideds do. The first view of the undecideds is comforting; the second is downright scary. The first view trusts in the wisdom of the crowd; the second says we shouldn't trust the wishy-washy crowd. The romantic view makes partisans feel guilty for being so stuck in their ways; the cynical view justifies thatstubbornnessand elevates it to thoughtfulness. Our fate either rests with the mature, informed decision making of adults in the former view or with the scatter-brained, vague impulses of children in the latter view.
I guess, ultimately, your view of the all-importantundecideds comes down to whether they voted to endorse or dismiss your convictions. In 2008, I loved the undecideds. In 2010, not so much.