Is Anybody Really Undecided?

Who are these people who can't make up their minds?

Photo by Immo Wegmann on Unsplash

The progression of events goes a little like this:

Some undecided voters say they want different candidates. They don’t want to have to choose between Biden and Trump one more time.

So Joe Biden, following what now should be considered the second worst debate performance in history, exits the race after weeks of extreme pressure from elected Democrats and major financial supporters. Kamala Harris takes his place.

People now have their new candidate. But she’s not well known, so they want to know more about her before committing their support.

That’s reasonable enough. So the candidate responds by holding rallies, engaging with social media, posting her issue agenda on her website, and debating her opponent.

Following the debate, some undecided voters remain undecided. They say they want to know more about Harris. Despite what they saw last Tuesday—despite the clear contrasts between the two candidates—they still can’t make up their minds.

What’s going on?

The substantive and stylistic differences between Trump and Harris are striking. What could these voters possibly need to learn that hasn’t been presented to them already? Why do some undecided voters say they still need to learn more?