Four Kinds of Voters

The presidential race started with a slew of candidates, representing a wide array of campaigns. So many choices, and no idea how to choose. It really is difficult to decide what issue is most important to you, and which candidate you prefer. Well, I guess I should say that it’s difficult for some people.
Many people I know get out to primary elections to make sure their ideal candidate wins their party’s nomination.
Do I do so? Absolutely not.
Why? Because I have no party affiliation.
I guess one day I may vote in a primary election, but I hope that to be when I find a perfect candidate….and not when I align myself with a party. At this point in my life I consider myself to be in that segment of the population that is the cause for all of the ridiculous political spending. I’m neither Republican nor Democrat. I used to think that most people were in the same situation as I find myself in, but as time has gone on I’ve really been awakened to the fact that most people ( at least most people I know), even the most “moderate”, have major voting tendencies. Let me restate. I see the American voting public as falling into 4 major groups. Others exist, but in our 2 party system, these categories cover the bulk of the voting population:

1. Republicans
   
   • Typically fiscally, religiously, and/or socially conservative (although not always on every individual issue)
   
   
   • Split into 2 sub-groupings:
     
     • Those that want the best candidate that matches their personal stances.
     • Those that want the candidate that will be more apt to defeat the Democratic candidate.


2. Democrats
   
   • Typically fiscally, religiously, and/or socially liberal (although not always on every individual issue).
   
   
   • Split into 2 sub-groupings:
     
     • Those that want the best candidate that matches their personal stances.
     • Those that want the candidate that will be more apt to defeat the Republican candidate.


3. Those claiming to be moderate but that in reality belong to one of the previously mentioned groups
   
   • These people talk a good game, like to discuss and weigh the issues, but already know how they will vote (even if they have not admitted this fact to themselves).
   
   
   • They are often just looking for one bad quality of that other candidate to justify the decision that they’ve already made.
   
   
   • Much of the money spent on campaigns is to give these people a list of those bad qualities to serve as their justification for their choice.


4. Swing voters
   
   • This group ultimately decides who will become president (or whatever office is being voted upon).
   
   
   • This is where I had assumed most people fell, but now see this as a fairly slim margin of the population. Not a small margin of the physical population, but definitely a small margin of the voting population.
   
   
   • The rest of the ungodly amount of money spent on the campaigns is spent to convince these people how to vote.

I find myself in that fourth group. I don’t mind saying that my votes in the past have varied, having voted Democrat in 2000 and Republican in 2004. I’m very interested to see how the next few months go down. The two candidates chosen by the major parties both offer a voter like myself a viable choice from both parties. I don’t think either will be a bad choice for America and I can not wait to see how it all unravels.

As a finishing thought, I must admit that as I watched the past year unfold I began to form my opinions and pending no unforeseen changes, I believe I know for whom I will be voting. I hope you are all informed as well and know who your favorite is by now. If not, then this is your notice to crawl out of your cave, do some reading, and start forming your opinions. Don’t wait until the very last minute and base your votes on the commercials that air in the weeks prior to the election!