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Is name recognition all that counts to voters?

By Michael Dant

In the October 25, 2007 edition of USA Today, Cal Thomas described the current presidential election as “unending”.¹  He states, “What don’t we know about them that another year of this will revel?”¹  Most people who follow politics probably feel much the same way.  The frontrunners have received constant and unending media attention so voters at least know the basics about them, right?  Wrong!

          Out of pure irony, that same edition of USA Today had an article on Rudy Giuliani’s campaign.²  As the article points out, Mr. Giuliani’s liberal social views have been the topic of much discussion over the past year.  Despite this, the article points to a poll of Republican and Republican-leaning independents showing that when asked the question “Does Giuliani favor or oppose abortion rights?”,² a full 55% did not know and 8% said he opposes abortion rights.  Of course, Mr. Giuliani favors abortion rights.

          This is astounding!  Approximately 63% of potential Republican voters do not even know that their front-runner’s views on abortion run opposite of that of the Party’s beliefs.  This would not be so pathetic if abortion were not such an important topic in the Republican Party or if this issue had not been discussed in depth.  The poll also asked, “Does Giuliani favor or oppose civil unions for same-sex couples?”²  In this one, 81% did not know or answered wrong.  While this topic may be less important in the Republican Party, the results suggest the same conclusions as those drawn from the abortion question.  Despite the constant media attention the Republican frontrunner has gotten, most people do not pay enough attention to have a clue about what is going on.  I suspect that the lack of knowledge is similar on the Democrat side of the aisle as well, though it may not be as visible in this type of poll.  Since the Democrat front-runners may be more in line with what their party believes, Democrats may be more successful guessing the answers to poll questions.

          What does all this mean?  It shows just how uneducated and uninterested the majority of the public is in political issues.  That is very discouraging for third party candidates as well as Republicans and Democrats that rely on the strength of their message.  How do you get people to hear and really listen to your message when they are not even listening closely to the constant media attention given to the front-runners?

          I hope most Republicans will learn Mr. Giuliani’s positions before the nominating process is complete.  However, unless it happens very quickly, it will likely be too late to make a difference.  That is where the real trouble lies.  How can America get the best people to choose from if voters rely mainly on name recognition rather than the candidate’s details?  I think the answer is we do not.  The public does not pay close attention until they only have two real choices (they seldom consider third parties) and then they complain about neither being very good “but that is all we have to choose from”. 

¹ Cal Thomas and Bob Beckel, “What Voters Deserve,” USA Today, 25 October 2007, page 15A.

² Susan Page, “Giuliani Claims He Can Compete ‘Coast to Coast’,” USA Today, 25 October 2007, page 8A.

Michael Dant is a U.S. Army Veteran with a Masters Degree in City and Regional Planning and has worked in the fields of Planning, Housing, and the Environment for over fifteen years.  He can be contacted at mdant@roadrunner.com 

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