Undecided voters may be decisive

Undecided voters in Idaho and Eastern Washington are two days from choices in several races that analysts say will depend on them for their outcomes.

Spokane life insurance agent Ed Mattfeld said he normally votes Republican. This time he’s on the fence because “the Iraq war is causing me some concern, combined with the Republican majority in both houses of Congress not dealing effectively with illegal immigration and the national debt,” he said.

In Idaho, two key races have undecided levels in the 20 percent to 25 percent range, unusually high this late in the campaign, said Greg Smith, a Boise political analyst and pollster.

Smith said both the 1st Congressional District race and the governor’s race in Idaho will be decided by the voters who’ve said they’re uncertain how they’ll vote on Tuesday.

“The reason (for so many undecideds) comes down to better advertising by the campaigns,” said Smith. “The attack ads really do work. People say they hate them. But ask them in a group later, and what they remember are the negative attacks on a candidate.”

Those attack ads have been going full bore at Idaho congressional candidates Larry Grant, the Democrat, and Republican Bill Sali, said Smith. The TV, radio and print barrage of aggressive and hard-hitting ads have raised significant voter doubt, Smith added.

The governor’s race between Democrat Jerry Brady and Republican Butch Otter is different in focusing less on negative ads, said Smith. “Both of those candidates are well-marketed and make attractive candidates. The campaigns are both using their strengths,” Smith said.

Coeur d’Alene resident Tim Garb said he’s not sure the attack ads have left him undecided. It’s more not being sure that information from campaigns gives solid insights to their positions, said Garb, a retired businessman.

Both Sali and Grant have clear differences, but Garb said he’s not sure yet for whom he’ll vote. “I’ll hold back. Last-minute stuff can come out that would make a difference.”

Post Falls resident Robin Powell has turned undecided, she said, following a decade of watching both major parties become similarly uninspiring.

“They’re like the same party with two ends that are exactly identical. There’s no clear choice between them anymore,” said Powell, who’s currently unemployed.

St. Maries insurance firm owner Bill Eimers said he’s facing two races where character issues have turned him into a possible nonvoter. Those are the Grant-Sali race and the Idaho state representative race between R.J. Dick Harwood, a Republican, and challenger Richard Taniguchi, a Democrat.

Normally, the politically conservative Eimers wouldn’t be uncertain. But in both races, said Eimers, what he knows about Sali and Harwood keeps him from voting for them.

Plus, both Taniguchi and Grant, in Eimers’ view, are “too liberal for Idaho.” He’s prepared to not cast a vote in those two races, said Eimers, who has operated his insurance business in St. Maries for more than 30 years.

Tonasket resident Jessica McNamara, on the other hand, hates how much attention has been paid in this campaign to undecideds.

“I resent all the attention given these weak-minded, wavering and indecisive – and probably ill-informed – individuals who become the target of every political ad,” said McNamara.

She said the only excuse for someone not knowing how he or she will vote is having not paid much attention. McNamara said voters today get loads of information from plenty of sources.

“The people who wait until the end are the ones who probably vote based on the emotional appeal of ads,” she said.