Keeping it alive

By Mustang Bobby

There‘s no doubt that the presidential race is close, and this keeps the Villagers happy because it gives them something to say on TV. Margins are described as “razor-thin” and “anybody’s guess” (which totally blows the true science of polling into the same category as alchemy), but when you get down to crunching the numbers, it may not be as nail-biting as they would have you believe:

Obama maintains a larger advantage in the state-by-state battle that will determine the outcome of the election. Ipsos projects that Obama holds an edge in the most hotly contested states, including Florida, Virginia and Ohio, and is likely to win by a relatively comfortable margin of 332 electoral votes to 206 electoral votes.

The poll has reflected a tight race since shortly after the two candidates met for their first debate on October 3. But a substantial portion of voters remain up for grabs. Roughly 20 percent of those surveyed say they could switch their votes or have not yet made up their minds.

It’s the second paragraph that keeps Chuck Todd and his magic goatee on your screens: the Undecideds. Or, as I like to call them, the Clueless.

Anyone who is following this election and still cannot make up their mind between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama should really reconsider whether or not they should vote at all. Don’t they know anyone who has trouble getting, keeping, or paying for health insurance? Don’t they know anyone who is LGBTQ and faces a continuation of their second-class status? Don’t they know anyone who makes less than $250,000 and can’t afford a tax hike to pay for someone’s car elevator? And if they do, do these realities not weigh on their choice?

It shouldn’t be a tough call no matter what party you align with. Of all the elections I’ve seen in my adult life — and we’re talking about six decades — I can’t think of one that drew a sharper — or starker — contrast between two candidates. And with all due respect to those who harrumph that there’s not a dime’s worth of difference between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, they need to give up blogging about politics and go back to amusing themselves with LOLcats.

I would like to think that it’s all hype that the race is really this close. After all, I can still remember back to 1984 when there were hopeful stories that Walter Mondale was within the margin of error of Ronald Reagan and it was “anybody’s guess” as to how the election would go. Really. But I know that it is. And even when I get fretful and worried about it and calm myself by clicking over to FiveThirtyEight to see that President Obama has a 68.1% chance of winning the election, I can’t help but think that if those folks who are undecided would wake up and pay attention, it would be an Obama landslide.

Right on cue, the campaigns are working to spin to the willing; they’re selling Romney as “inevitable,” which reminds me of Baghdad Bob, who kept telling us that Sadam Hussein was completely in charge just as the 82nd Airborne was parking outside the presidential palace. It’s all bullshit, and they know it.

But then, what would the pundits have to talk about?

(Cross-posted at Bark Bark Woof Woof.)