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In every Presidential-election year, there are news stories about undecided voters, people who say that they are perplexed about which candidate?s positions make the most sense. They tell reporters things like ?I?d like to know more about Bush?s plan for education,? or ?I?m worried that Kerry?s ideas about Social Security don?t add up.? They say that they are thinking about issues like ?trust,? and whether the candidate cares about people like them. To voters who identify strongly with a political party, the undecided voter is almost an alien life form. For them, a vote for Bush is a vote for a whole philosophy of governance and a vote for Kerry is a vote for a distinctly different philosophy. The difference is obvious to them, and they don?t understand how others can?t see it, or can decide whom to vote for on the basis of a candidate?s personal traits or whether his or her position on a particular issue ?makes sense.? To an undecided voter, on the other hand, the person who always votes for the Democrat or the Republican, no matter what, must seem like a dangerous fanatic. Which voter is behaving more rationally and responsibly?

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