Oct 19, 2008 11:12 pm US/Central
Who Are The Undecided Minnesota Voters?
(WCCO)
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Democratic candidate Sen. Barack Obama leads Republican candidate John McCain 52 percent to 41 percent, which leaves those 7 percent undecided. (File)
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With so much attention being paid to the election, it's easy to wonder how anybody could be undecided, but a new Minnesota Poll shows that 7 percent are.
Democratic candidate Sen. Barack Obama leads Republican candidate John McCain 52 percent to 41 percent, which leaves those 7 percent undecided.
Megan Kramer is a student at Hamline University and says she hasn't heard any candidates explain what she needs to hear. So for now, she's undecided.
"The economy, for one, for sure, cause especially being a student in college. I want to know if I'm going to get student loans, you know, for next year," Kramer said.
Matt Lichtfuss said he's been back and forth for months.
"In this particular case, either candidate really just doesn't jump out at me. I have a little bit that I like about both candidates, I'm kind of torn," Lichtfuss said.
What people like Kramer and Lichtfuss decide to do could be *very* important.
"The voter who still not made up their mind is likely to go into the voting booth having made up their mind in the last few days," said WCCO political consultant Larry Jacobs.
Jacobs said we're going to see more and more over-the-top ads, endorsements like Colin Powell's for Obama and likable appearances like Gov. Sarah Palin's on Saturday Night Live.
He said prepare to see even more attention-getting campaign approaches from now until Election Day, and especially those last three days before the election.
"They're sitting there on the fence and they're going to be making a gut-level judgment about how things are going. If they see things off track on the economy or abroad, they're likely to vote against the incumbent," Jacobs said.
That certainly seems to be the case with Kramer and Lichtfuss, they both say they tend to lean conservatively, but this year, find themselves caught in the middle. And they might stay undecided all the way up to the voting booth.
"I think that I'm going to have to follow more of my gut instinct in terms of character and ability to really lead the country in the right direction," said Lichtfuss.
"I guess maybe it might come down to what you feel at that exact moment," said Kramer.
As for the U.S. Senate race in Minnesota, all of the recent polls have Democratic candidate Al Franken with a slight lead over Republican incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman. The Star Tribune will release a new Minnesota Poll on the Senate race on Tuesday, but the paper already said it will show that the race is "up for grabs."
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