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The undecided few, perplexed or indifferent
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"Just an election"
“I might flip a coin,” said Vasilios Gerovasiliou, 64, of Concordville, Pa. His two grown sons — like him, veterinarians — are split along party lines. His wife, Helen, said she was “disgusted with both sides.”
Mr. Gerovasiliou, who emigrated from Greece 35 years ago, said there were things he liked about both Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama. But he also believes that “neither of the candidates always speaks the truth” and that “none of them will be able to do all of the things they are promising.”
Mr. Gerovasiliou supported Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, loved Bill Clinton and pretty much vowed to support anyone not named Barack Obama after he defeated Mrs. Clinton in the Democratic primaries.
But the Clintons’ endorsement of Mr. Obama went a long way. “Time healed things,” Mr. Gerovasiliou said. Plus, he likes Mr. Obama’s running mate, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of neighboring Delaware, who is “friends with a lot of the Greeks around here” and patronizes the local Greek diners. He likes Mr. McCain, too, however. He admires his service, patriotism, and grit, and also likes that Ms. Palin comes from a small town, just as he did from one in Greece.
Would he really flip a coin? No, he would not. “I will just have to make a decision,” Mr. Gerovasiliou said. By the end of a 15-minute phone interview, he sounded a little closer to making one. “I think I am leaning a little bit to someone now,” he said.
And that would be?
“Biden.”
Chatting = confusion
Talking does not necessarily bring undecideds closer to deciding. “The more I chat, the more confused I get,” said Laura Wolpo, a Brooklyn native who lives in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. She was fresh from a golf outing that was filled with political conversation and left her head spinning. “People get so wacky about this stuff,” she said.
Ms. Wolpo, 76, has usually picked a candidate by the end of the conventions. That was the Democrats Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004.
Mr. Obama? “I have great misgivings,” she said.
“We are of the Jewish faith,” she said, “and I don’t really know his stance on the Middle East and Israel.” She also worries about his “share the wealth ideas” and says that Michelle Obama comes on a little too strong. (“And someone should teach her how to dress, too.”)
McCain? “I like the man,” she said. “I have a great deal of respect for him.”
But she has problems with him, too, some big ones. First, she is a strong believer in abortion rights (which Mr. McCain is not.) “The government does not belong in our bedroom,” she said. And then there is Ms. Palin.
“Oh, my God,” Ms. Wolpo said. “Some of what she says is very stupid.”
Ms. Wolpo vows to vote Tuesday. She raises the possibility of a “toss of the coin,” but then rejects the notion.
When pressed, Ms. Wolpo said there was probably a 60 percent chance she would support Mr. McCain. She does not buy the Obama campaign argument that Mr. McCain is just like Mr. Bush. “McCain knows in his heart that Bush is a loser,” she said.
Either way, Ms. Wolpo said her decision did not keep her awake at night. “I have enough to worry about,” she said, explaining that her youngest son, who is in his 40s, suffered a stroke last spring. He has good days and bad days, she said, and that puts everything else in perspective.
“This other thing is just an election,” she said.
This story, "The Undecided: Sheepish, Proud or Set to Flip Coin," originally appeared in the New York Times.
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