"The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" correspondents Jason Jones and Samantha Bee hosted a focus group of undecided voters for the third and final presidential debate. Their intent was to ridicule the television networks that employ such focus groups and to laugh at the indecisive, bewildered participants.
But as is often the case with "The Daily Show," their humor revealed a question that few can answer. When their participants still could not decide for whom to vote after the debate, Jones and Bee asked semi-rhetorically and semi-angrily "what do you want to hear?" One man said "no idea ... I have no idea what I want to hear." Another man, looking rattled by the simple question, said "Just give me a second" - to which Jones looked into the camera and responded "you've had two years ... " This result is funnier than the network focus groups but certainly not unique. For each three presidential debates, only a very small minority of Fox News and CNN's undecided focus group voters were swayed to vote for either candidate. The voters were able to answer the question "Who won?" but still could not actually make a decision on the crucial question.
So what is it that they - or as Stewart called them, "indecisive creatures" - need to decide? The candidates have selected their running mates, they've stated and argued their positions, they've hired policy advisors, and they've gotten endorsements. They've been campaigning for 20 months, they've had an unbelievable number of debates, they've traveled the country, they've spent hundreds of millions running ads, and they've assembled armies of staffers and volunteers to convince these very people. And let's be honest - these aren't the primaries, in which candidates had often-indistinguishable policy positions. This is Obama against McCain, Democrat against Republican, and they often couldn't be more different in style and substance. I sympathize with libertarian voters, for instance, who are socially liberal but fiscally conservative - their choice is not easy. But one would hope that they would figure out what was more important to them during the many months the candidates have been campaigning.
I, for one, can't for the life of me figure out what will work to convince the still-undecided voters one way or the other. How could I when, in "The Daily Show" segment, another undecided faced with what the candidates could possibly do for him to make a choice, said "I'm hoping, more or less, that as it comes down to crunch time, someone's gonna maybe come up with something." I can't even pretend to understand that.
In the end, though, I have no idea what will work, the campaigns have no idea what will work, and if you happen to know, you stand to become very wealthy.
Dan Rosa Sophomore, School of International Service
