By Sylvie Haller and Ronnie Polidoro
Rock Center
In this presidential election the most important person is the one who still hasn't decided who to vote for. We found him. His name is George Manukas, a grandfather and an avid golfer. Why is he the most important person? Manukas is a registered Independent living in a key battleground state who voted for McCain in 2008. He’s undecided in 2012, but the candidate who gets his vote, and the votes of others like him, will likely win the election.
For our purposes we’ll call him the most important person in the election, M.I.P. for short.
M.I.P. and his wife of 40 years, Voula, live in Raleigh, N.C., a swing state swarming with campaign volunteers who are calling phones, knocking on doors, and ringing doorbells to lock in the support for their respective candidates.
“I’m on their speed dial,” M.I.P. told NBC's Harry Smith in an interview aired on Rock Center.
With a mailbox always full of political literature and a phone that keeps on ringing, M.I.P. likes to think he is the most important person in the country. He says he doesn’t read any of the political mail and he’s been trying to tune out the ads. So how can the campaigns reach the most important person in the presidential election? National Media's Will Feltus has an idea.
Feltus knows just about everything there is to know about Republicans, Democrats, and the people in between. As a research expert at National Media, one of the largest Republican communications planning and implementation agencies in the United States, Feltus and his staff dissected massive national surveys that asked people what they buy and how they vote. By knowing what beer you drink, where you go out to eat, what shows you watch, and what car you drive, Feltus and his staff can tell you what all of that says about your politics. With that valuable information campaigns can advertise during certain shows or use certain products to sway voters.
“Sam Adams is very Republican. We like to think that because Sam Adams was such a patriot and a foe of big government, maybe that’s why Republicans like to drink Sam Adams beer,” Feltus told Smith, adding: “Democrats like to drink vodka, rum, tequila.” And, with a chuckle, Feltus says, “Sauvignon Blanc would be a wine that would be very predictive of partisanship.”
National Media
Feltus can even pick out specific websites that Republicans and Democrats frequent.
“Republicans tend to be getting financial information, making travel reservations,” Feltus says, adding: “Democrats, unfortunately, are trying to get a job and a date.”
On television, shows and even entire networks such as “Dancing with the Stars,” “NCIS,” and The Weather Channel plot in the middle.
“We pretty much like everything between “Modern Family,” “Dancing with the Stars,” over to “NCIS,”” said M.I.P.
National Media
Based on the M.I.P.’s habits, looks like Will Feltus’ research is dead on.
“It makes a difference, but it only makes a difference in close elections. This kind of targeting gives the client that little edge, that little two or three point edge,” Feltus said.
More ads will continue to hit the digital airwaves, the phones will keep on ringing, and most of it will be targeted at our Most Important Person and other voters like him.
“[They] know how I’m going to vote before I do,” M.I.P. said.
As Election Day approaches, it will be harder for Manukas to tune out the ads. The only factor he cannot tune out is his wife, who is voting for President Barack Obama and who can wield more influence than any ad or political argument.
“Sometimes, when we’re in the car or watching TV, an ad comes on and I will throw something at [M.I.P.],” Voula said, adding that she’ll continue to coax the most important person in her life to her side.
For now M.I.P. is still up in the air.
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It's got to be hard running as a Republican. You've got to hide who you are. For example, Romney already is having to run on his history as a sociopath. He start his life as a privileged high school thug mugging a kid that offended him, moved on to playing state cop with daddy's help, pulling over frightened people, there is the dog incident, and his lifelong career ended careers and jobs for thousands.
He needs to run away from everything he has "accomplished" 'cause he spent more effort hiding income than actually accomplishing anything of merit. His money manipulations, Bain management manipulations all speak to dishonesty. His supporters hold their noses while trying to buy him a presidency. If things go to crap he can climb on a yacht and leave for one of the islands where his money lives.
In the Ayn Rand acolyte, Paul Ryan, the GOP has a wonderful choice. He follows a philosophy that believes christianity is ludicrous for its altruism. His economics promote predatory, unregulated, unrestrained commerce that creates a wealthy class -- the poor simply need to serve the wealthy or die.
Romney wants to represent the 1% and ensure they own all the assets in an America that operates like the game Monopoly. Ryan hates the poor, the young, the sick, the elderly. His mom better watch out -- cause she will go over the cliff when things get too expensive or burdensome.
You want to know how America ends? Vote for these madmen. PEOPLE RUN AWAY FROM TAXES SO THEY CAN HAND OVER EVERY PENNY THEY MAKE TO GREEDY, UNREGULATED, BILLIONAIRE CAPITALISTS. It's LUNACY.
There is nothing like undecided voters...
If ya ask me, undecided voters are just closet Republicans disguised in sheep skin.
Same thing with Independents...
They are all seeking attention, the 5 minutes of fame; as soon as they get home, they take that sheep skin out and all ya got is Teapub sumbitch
Pollsters should never waste their time on independents, just box em all up and put them in the Republican section...
You mean MittTaxPittanceRommel? who just made a $42,000,000 EEEZZZ Money windfall and WE American Taxpayers paid his Remaining Tax Liability of $10,500,000? while this despicible politico is making plans with That Thing from israel, "bibi", for a Very Profitable war with iran putting Our Fine Young Men and Women in Harm's and Death's Way for MORE and MORE Profit? You Mean Him?? there is a Special VERY VERY VERY Hot place for him when it is his judgement day. He is EXPECTING we "little people" to vote for him and Lyin'Ryan his confederate from the republicanCrimeCartel who rule America with an iron fist. Hell, Chapo Guzman could do that and would probably let US have a UniversalHealthCare System so we wouldn't be ripped off by the "insurance companies" Here is a VERY Helpful Link. Think about it as YOU watch Rommel try to lie his way into the public voting places.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og35U0d6WKY&feature=player_detailpage
WHO ARE THE UNDECIDED VOTERS?
Morons.
Seems to me that undecideds probably fall into one of two categories.
Category 1: Complete idiots.
Category 2: Republicans that try to call themselves independent because their party frequently embarrasses them, and they are trying to find a way to stomach and justify voting for Romney.
I suppose there might be a third. Those who just this morning awoke from a 10 year coma.
I will have to agree with both of the comments above. Honestly, if you haven't made up your mind by now they just stay home. I mean really.... How can you not know? Completely deranged. It's not that hard.
Nobody, and I mean NOBODY I know (including my independent husband) is undecided. There must not be very many of them. The choice is clear and has been for a long time: Obama/Biden 2012.
Those charts seem interesting. It may just be me, but it would appear that Democrats are less likely to show up to the polls. If they won the election last time, then you could draw the conclusion that more people in the country are democrats, right? So it is clear that democrats are the majority and Republicans have a long road ahead of them as they try to rule and steer the country as a minority.
I agree, Tracey. Anyone who hasn't already decided that Obama is the worst thing that has happened to this country in more than 30 years is just plain ignorant. Just have a look at the proud citizen in the link below...and to think her vote counts just as much as the rest of ours. *shrug*
foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/28/viral-video-touting-obama-phone-puts-spotlight-on-16-billion-federal-program/
and anyone who doesn't "remember" the 8 years Bush took to get America in this deplorable state is just plain ignorant.
It will take AT LEAST 4 more years to put a dent in fixing this mess. Obama 2012!
Agreed. Bush was horrible. We could definitely have done without his Presidency and history will rank him where he belongs, near the bottom. But somehow Obama managed to take horrendous to a whole new level and we can't take 4 more years of his brand of "change".
But don't put George W's shortfalls on Romney. Heck, I'm no Romney supporter. I'm in the near 50% of the population that doesn't really like either candidate. Sad to say, but these days politics is more about choosing the dog with the least fleas than choosing a good candidate. When was the last time we had a really good candidate running for presidency. Clinton?...even that is a stretch. I wouldn't have wanted Kerry or Gore in office any more than 'W'.
If a voter is truly "undecided" then that person is an idiot. Is there anymore information to be gained from the candidates at this late stage? It is ironic that the election is going to swing based on the gullible idiots who cannot make up their minds.
Me!!! working middle-class south florida wife, mother 2 daughters... I honestly have NO IDEA who I am voting for!! I'll be watching tonight's debate... Maybe one will persuade more then other. If not, bring on debate II... Check w/me then.. Maybe I'll decide by then...
I would be ashamed to declare myself "undecided". It would communicate to people that I'm either an out-of-touch utterly clueless idiot who shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a voting booth, or I'm actually very much "decided" but feel uncomfortable letting people know which candidate/party I prefer. Either way, what "undecideds" have to say is of zero interest to me. I bet if you surveyed "undecideds" from previous elections, you'd find that 3/4 of them voted Republican.
Sorry, but any voter who is undecided at this point has to be, by their own choosing, politically clueless.
There is such a stark difference in basic philosophy of governing, not to mention all the specifics, between Obama and Romney that the only reason I can think of why someone could still be undecided is that they have never, in the last 50 years at least, paid one bit of attention to politics or even thought about desired solutions.
Which if you are a citizen is unforgiveable.
Show me an "undecided" voters at this stage and I will show you someone who can't tell the difference between Pepsi and Coke.
It's been said that undecided and moderates are liberals who lack the courage of their convictions.
I am an Undecided and I can tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi. I am not an independent and YES I have a brain! I am a part of the sandwich generation.... I am raising two very bright boys, I am married to a Republican and YES I am a Democrat in a State that loves their Republicans. I voted for President Obama and I was proud to do so. Four years later I wish his focus wasn't healthcare, I wish there wasn't so much gridlock and whether it is his fault or not....is a mute point. Our country is where it is and I have to face the fact that WE CAN turned into...WE DIDN'T. I have two choices and neither feels like a solution to me. I have voted Democrat all my life.... Not because my parents are Democrat ( they aren't ) but because fundamentally that's the party I relate to. This election is different... I feel it... I question the future...but is Mitt Romney the answer....that is the question. If I expect CongrPess and the Senate to be bipartisan ...then I need to be as well. Who is best for the country? The fact that I am thinking about it.... Not just voting party lines, don't disrespect my vote, my opinion...please appreciate that I am paying attention and that my vote counts. All our votes count and THAT is why our country is so special. I am happy so many know exactly who they support....but just because I am weighing the decision doesn't make my vote count any less.
Nit wit Mitt Wrongney has been repeating the same lies
saying he cares for the poor while on camera. Off camera he says it is not his
job to care for the poor. When the cynical Wrongney was speaking his lies at
the presidential debate, he said that Obama did not say what the specifics were
for who qualifies for refinancing their home. We all should know including Nit
Wit Mitt what it takes to qualify for a mortgage loan. The agreement is worked
out with the bank that is to refinance the applicant. Wrongney is telling us
that our deficit is increasing because of Obama’s policies. When Obama took office as president, the war
was costing more than $20 billion a month. One aircraft carrier uses one
million gallons of fuel every five months. The auto industry was set to lose
nearly one million jobs. George Bush had a bailout bill on the table as he was
leaving office. Obama used that to save the jobs of the nearly one million auto
workers. They were and are paying it back.
There were so many things that Nit Wit Mitt Wrongney
proposed that Obama has been trying to get the Republican run House of Reps to
pass for nearly three years. In his campaign speeches, he is saying the exact
same things as Obama said when he became president. Wrongney will do anything
because his money is his god. The Republicans said they don’t want to work with
Obama. The Republicans said they want him out of office because he wants to
help everyone in America. The
republicans are mostly self-serving and only want to fill their own pockets
with tax payer dollars by steering the money into their projects and special
interests. Nit Wit Mitt Wrongney said that the president’s policies failed but
the Republicans never allowed anything to get passed by voting NO on every
single measure. Remember that everyone in Washington was voted into their
position there by American voters to do a job. When the Republicans lied about
the socialism that doesn’t exist, they were voted in. Now the Republicans are
causing major gridlock on every measure that is put forth to make it appear
that President Obama is a failure.
President Obama doesn’t speak to America as if he is
speaking to ignorant and uninformed citizens. Wrongney is talking to America as
if they are completely uninformed and ignorant about what the republicans have
been doing to stop any kind of progress in Washington. Wrongney has put forth
his plan and it contains some of the plans that Obama has already tried to get
Washington to put through. Some things Wrongney said he wants to do is
something that are already in place at this time. Wrongney still thinks everyone
is completely stupid. That is how Wrongney wants to treat Americans. His plan
is to allow the individual states handle the billions of government dollars. This
will open the door to self-serving and greedy politicians to do what they want
with the money. The people waiting for help from the state government will die
on the hospital steps while they are waiting. The sick will die in waiting
rooms and at home because of the greed and misappropriation of funds. It is
happening right now in Florida and Mississippi. Billions are in the hands of
politicians that have personal agendas while those who need it are waiting to
get help. The governor of Florida was
cited for $10 billion dollars in Medicare fraud while he ran some of the
hospitals in Florida. The Republicans and TEA partyers are going to destroy
America as if a Terrorist group has taken over. The republicans are doing the
work of terrorists right now in Washington by stopping every plan that Obama
has on the table. People need help right now but Wrongney says that he has a
plan for the distant future. Obama has a plan right now in front of the
Republicans. When the Healthcare reform bill was being discussed by the
republicans and democrats in the same room, the republicans had the bill in
front of them on the table. The republicans were saying; “We can’t read this
bill” or “We don’t know what is in this bill.” It was right on the table in
front of each person on the Democrats side and the Republican side. The Republicans
were saying; “We want to be included in this process.” They were sitting in the
same room while the process was happening. Yet they were creating video bites
to be used later to fool feeble-minded and unaware American citizens. The democrats gave their input without any
nonsense. The republicans were just saying; “I am not going to read this bill. “ They just want to get the money into their
own pockets. Now Wrongney has been saying that he has a bill that will be a
better one. When they say that they haven’t read the first one, how will they
know that Wrongney’s bill is better?
Feeble minded Americans were told that they were angry by
Fox and CNN. They didn’t know what they were angry about until they were told
why.
The fake polls began to pop up after one month of Obama
being in the office of president. The feeble minded people were told to go into
the streets and say they were angry. The media used steering tactics and fake
polls. They were and are spending and making millions of dollars on the feeble
minded that were duped by the media. The satanic Fox network had the biggest
influence on the feeble minded. I saw how it transpired and was not fooled. Fox
was stirring up the masses to rebel and riot in the streets. They paraded into
Washington DC with pictures of Obama hanging, swastikas and confederate flags
waving. Foxaholics began to buy guns because they were told to fight against
fake socialism in America. They were told that the FEDS were going to take
their guns. CNN joined the band wagon
and reaped millions of dollars. Mr. Murdoch’s media machine has been paying and
getting paid to spread UNLIMITED, MALICIOUS AND UNRESTRAINED LIES ABOUT THE
PRESIDENT.
This created a windfall of billions for the people at Fox
and CNN. People at Fox sold their souls for money and began to lie effortlessly
and very professionally. Some of the Foxaholics were buying guns by the box
loads and hiding them. Guns sales are
still soaring because of these steering tactics. Right now the word on feeble minded
street level is that there is going to be a civil war before the election. They
are preparing for this by digging bunkers and stocking up on thousands of
rounds of ammunition. Fox will be right in the middle orchestrating this civil
war. How much more satanic can it get than that? There are other nations that
want America destroyed. Fox and CNN are helping their cause.
Maybe Nit Wit Mitt Wrongney needs to go in a plane to
39,000 feet and roll the window down.
The Republicans want to privatize prisons and hospitals
to keep government money and to place rates however they want.
The votes from 26 states are sent to Tampa, Florida to be
counted. This is where the Republicans headquarters are located. The company
that owns the voting machines is owned by Spain and has its financial offices
in the Cayman Islands where Wrongney keeps his business affairs finances.
Wow! You Obama supporters sure are nasty.
One quick note to PhantomBeast, that war in Israel you think Romney will drag us into? It may begin before the election even gets here, given the events today. Read up on it. Maybe if Obama wasn't so busy with Letterman, Beyonce, Jay-Z and the ladies of The View to meet with international leaders at the UN conference, he'd know what's going on over there.
Which brings me to my next point...Obama was like a deer in the headlights during the debate because he doesn't know anything ABOUT anything. Unless his speechwriters and Valerie Jarrett are propping him up, he's essentially useless.
If American voters knew Obama back in Chicago while he was a "community organizer," they'd have seen him for what he really is. The very people he was pretending to care about (Grove Parc Public Housing) were left high and dry while all the federal money he funneled into that project went into his campaign chest and Valerie Jarrett's pocket. His other Chciago friends reaped great financial benefits, and some are now in jail. Read up on that, too.
This is just one example of Obama's definition of "Hope and Change." He was directly responsible for putting people out in the streets.
Interesting sidenote: Want to know what his Chicago buddy Rahm Emanuel, Obama's Chief of Staff who left the White House to run for Mayor of Chicago is doing now? He's getting MORE federal funds for the very same slum that Obama promised voters he would renovate!
Look, Obama wanted to become the first black president and he did that. He wanted to go down in history as the first president to put a national healthcare bill together and he did that. He even managed to get a Nobel Peace Prize to boot...but that he got for doing nothing!
In fact, he should give back the NPP since he left our ambassador and three other Americans defenseless in Libya to die without the proper security they were asking for. Oh, but he did make sure his main squeeze, Valerie Jerritt, had a full security detail on her recent trip to Martha's Vineyard.
Perhaps the undecided voters out there should ask themselves this question: Who would be better suited to run the country? A successful CEO or a failed community organizer?
It's sad to say, but this president has run our country into ground. It's simply time for him to go.