According to a new CBS News poll, 20% of Americans basically consider the Presidential election an afterthought:
In spite of persistent, significant concerns about the economy, as many as one-fifth of American voters are paying little to no attention to the presidential election, according to a new CBS News poll.
Americans continue to say the country is headed in the wrong direction, and they are split over whether the nation is headed into another recession. Nearly four in 10 say they are worse off financially now than they were four years ago.
(…)
[A]ccording to the poll, conducted Aug. 22-26, voters’ attention to the campaign has not changed much since April when Romney all but locked-up the Republican Party’s nomination.
As many as 45 percent of registered now say they are paying a lot of attention, including slightly more Republicans (47 percent) than Democrats (42 percent). In April, 43 percent were paying a lot of attention. In August of 2008, 51 percent said they were paying a lot of attention.
Another 34 percent of voters say they are paying some attention, while 20 percent are paying little to no attention.
Given how this campaign has gone, and the nature of our political culture in general, I can’t say I blame people for tuning out. Indeed, when you live, as do I, in an area that is already getting bombarded with commercials from both campaigns and various SuperPACs, tuning out becomes somewhat of a necessity unless one wants to drive oneself insane.
