We Should Do Away With Swing Voters
Having an election decided by just a small amount of people is unfair and undemocractic
Living in New York City, a solidly blue city, I don’t usually encounter so-called swing voters, or those who don’t firmly support any political party and whose vote in an election is difficult to predict. The only time I can recall ever encountering someone who was remotely a swing voter was during the 2012 election. A white, suburban mother I worked with stated that she had trouble deciding between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. Given how polarizing and chaotic American Presidential elections have become since that time, that election seems quaint now.
It’s difficult to imagine that in the not-too-distant past, both presidential candidates possessed some emotional intelligence and had some degree of competency. Even if people were polarized, if their choice for President didn’t win, the thought that a President could be emotionally unstable, incite riots, or shred the Constitution was unthinkable. As such, being a swing voter in those circumstances was more understandable.
The fact that it’s hard to imagine any of this now indicates how low the bar has gotten for the most demanding job in the country, if not the world. One person is responsible for this state of affairs-Donald J. Trump.