The Political Voices of Women

I came across this interesting article by Meredith Chaiken in The Washington Post today. It was interesting to me because I continue to be undecided as well.

Undecided. Can It Be Me? Meredith Chaiken, a senior analyst with the Mellman Group, a polling and consulting firm, and was Sen. John F. Kerry’s deputy political director in New Hampshire during the 2004 primary.

I could never understand how any voter could be undecided. Until now.

In 2003, I spent eight months in New Hampshire with the John Kerry campaign. New Hampshire cherishes its privileged voting status, so Granite Staters gleefully fill their calendars with kaffeeklatches and town hall meetings. They watch campaign ads — on purpose! And yet, well into December of that year, many voters still hadn’t picked their man.

I couldn’t fathom how people could be so saturated with political information and still not know how they were going to vote.

But now, even after the Iowa caucuses and with the New Hampshire primary just two days away, I find myself struggling to decide which Democratic candidate to support. Since I’m a D.C. resident, this has nearly no electoral significance. But since I’m a former campaign staffer and now a professional pollster, it has had an intense psychological impact. I’m tormented! How could this be? I’ve built my career on persuading others to support a certain candidate, and here I can’t even convince myself. It’s January in possibly the longest and most heavily covered campaign season in history. Why can’t I make up my mind?

READ FULL ARTICLE at The Washington Post