Posted on 07/11/2004 10:58:40 PM PDT by El Conservador
CREVE COEUR, Mo. (Reuters) - Kathleen Balducci is a hot commodity in the 2004 presidential race -- as an undecided voter in a battleground state, she and other Missouri swing voters will play big roles in deciding the next occupant of the White House.
With polls showing President Bush (news - web sites) and Democrat John Kerry (news - web sites) locking up their base supporters in an extremely tight race, Balducci and a few million uncommitted voters in a handful of key states like Missouri could be kingmakers in November.
"I haven't seen a real turnover with the economy, there isn't a good job market yet, interest rates are going back up -- I'm not happy," said Balducci, 40, a resident of Creve Coeur in the sprawling middle-class suburbs of St. Louis.
Balducci voted for Bush in 2000, but has since lost her job managing a spa and has grown worried about losing civil liberties in the fight against terror. She is not sold on Kerry, however, and worries he may be more of the same.
"I'm so tired of the same old, same old," Balducci said, adding she may vote for independent Ralph Nader (news - web sites). "I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I don't think I can vote for Bush."
Pollsters say undecided voters account for anywhere from 3 percent to 11 percent of America's voters, less than in past years. They come from all demographic categories, but are usually more moderate, less likely to identify with a party -- and this year, more likely to decide the election.
"The reality is that this is very much a 50-50 nation, positions are hardened," said Kerry pollster Mark Mellman. "There are relatively few swing voters who are going to move from one side to the other. That's why we expect this to be a close race all the way through."
'WAIT AND SEE'
Nearly two dozen interviews in suburban St. Louis turned up just a few undecided voters, and a few who said they could still be persuaded to change their minds. Most said they were more concerned about the economy than about the war in Iraq (news - web sites), but were in no hurry to make a decision.
"I'm going to wait and see, I really don't know right now who I will vote for," said Ryan Sather, a management consultant in nearby Ballwin who supported Bush in 2000 but is concerned about the loss of U.S. jobs to foreign countries and growing international hostility toward the United States.
"I need to learn more about Kerry," Sather said. "I'll make up my mind after I hear more. I'll be listening to the debates."
Scott Perkins, a police officer in Pacific, said he was leaning toward Bush but was still open to persuasion. He said he approved of the war in Iraq and was worried Kerry "seems to say one thing and do another."
The views of voters in suburban St. Louis and Kansas City could be particularly crucial in Missouri, the geographic heart of the United States and perhaps the ultimate bellwether in presidential politics.
The candidate who carries Missouri has won the White House in every election in the last century except in 1956, when the state backed Democrat Adlai Stevenson over the winner, Republican Dwight Eisenhower.
The urban areas of St. Louis and Kansas City are heavily Democratic and more rural regions lean Republican, leaving Missouri's suburbs as the ultimate toss-up. Bush narrowly carried Missouri by three percentage points over Democrat Al Gore (news - web sites) in 2000.
Both campaigns and their supporters have plastered the state with political ads and are working to build organizations to get out the vote in November.
"Missouri has a little of everything, it's where the East meets West and the North meets South," said David Robertson of the University of Missouri in St. Louis. "And it's dead even right now just like the rest of the country."
That same place chock full of uppity liberals and country club Republicans???
Anyway, the conservative vote will come from the rural areas and Springfield.
About KC, STL and Columbia??? Don't ask!!! :(
Show Me Ping
This makes me more convinced that Kerry blew it by not choosing Gephardt for his VEEP. Geppie probably would have carried Mo. John Jr. will NOT carry North Carolina.
What's your take on your state?
A friend of mine who's left leaning noticed it first, and jokes that you would think 3 quaters of the country voted for Bush in the last election and that half of them want out now.
I have yet to read a single article about somone who voted Gore, but now is leaning towards Bush but isn't sure and is happy with the president.
I'm here in Missouri and I still see the Al Gore for Pres. bumper stickers on the oil burning, 2 cylinder, rope tied down hood El Camino. No Kerry stickers seen yet but a ton of Bush stickers. Don't know if that says anything? If people are going to vote on frustration of party, mainly against our stupid Demo. Governor, then President Bush is guaranteed a win here.
Yeah, Ill bet people are still PO'd about not releasing the school money..
If anything, "Geppie" would have killed Kerry's chance of winning Missouri. Just a native son's opinion.
If one superimposes the 1999 CCW vote Map of Missouri over the Red/Blue Map of election 2K of Missouri, the similarities are striking...Gabby would bring the union vote in Missouri to Kerry. But he already has it. Ditto the Black, "intelligensia," and urban-liberal vote. I frankly, see no benefit to Gabby as VP. In fact he has resided in the Carolinas for years and used his Mother's apt. as his Missouri address...
He fought CCW legislation for his entire term.
This ass-bag is so unpopular, even among Missouri Democrats, that Claire McCaskill may beat him in Aug. primary.
Don't misunderstand me. I'm not in love with the guy. I just think he would have had a better chance of delivering MO than John Jr. does at delivering NC. I could be wrong. But, somebody likes him. He's been in Congress for 150 years.
Gabby benefitted not only from liberal environ, but union $$$, NEA, and all the "usual suspects," so prevalent in an urban setting. Also, he, as well as all StL. Dem pols gained from the voter-fraud so well documented...
Interest rates always go up when the economy gets better...and these people vote??
I've seen a larger number of Kerry stickers, unfortunately. Oh how I love the Democrat brainwashing so ingrained here in Akron.
The New York Times always does this article, but their twist is to find pro-abortion, pro-gay agenda 2000 Bush voters who voted for Bush because they believed he was a "compassionate conservative" but are now furious and feel betrayed because, once in office, he pushed pro-life, pro-traditional family policies.
I really don't have a feel for this election here in MO. I'm guessing St. Louis will go Kerry, with 120% of the vote, but I have seen only 1 Kerry bumpersticker so I am hopeful.
My brother-in-law was a laid off teacher because of Holden's withholdings of school funding! He's employed again but too little too late.
Even Missourians are smarter than the liberal media, holden and kerry have given them credit for. Some just take a while longer to figure it out.
My pet peeve is "swing voters" who believe in nothing and ask 'What can my country do for me?'
I just moved back to Missouri from Kansas. Holden is awful. Can we beat him next time around?
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