How to win over uninformed voters

OPINION:

Bring back Jay Leno! The former host of the” Tonight Show” had a segment called “Jaywalking” during which he would ask people on the street easy questions they often couldn’t answer.

Mr. Leno: “If someone says they are going to Great Britain, what language will they speak when they get there?”

Woman: “British?”

While funny, the interviews revealed a level of ignorance about current events, history and politics that can be dangerous if allowed to spread.

So many voters appear to be making decisions based on superficial factors, including 1) hatred of Donald Trump 2) wouldn’t it be nice to have the first female president? 3) hatred of Donald Trump.

Opinion polls, which have occasionally and sometimes dramatically been wrong, show a dramatic shift away from Mr. Trump to Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, following President Biden’s withdrawal from the race. How can this be when many believe the economy and the world were in much better shape during the Trump presidency? Despite the lies that are told - inflation was 9% when President Biden took office when it was under 2% - what has come to be known as the ” low-information voter” seems to base his or her positions mostly on non-substantive things.

Fox News did some street interviews last week in heavily Democratic New York City. A woman said she had to work more than one job to afford groceries. A man said he has friends who are doubling up with roommates because they can’t afford to pay rent on their own. Another man said high mortgage rates prevented him from buying a house. When asked how they would vote in the November election, all three said they would vote for Democrats.

This makes no sense. If people are suffering under the current administration’s policies, but were doing much better in virtually all categories under the previous administration, why would they vote to perpetuate the current policies in a Harris-Walz administration? Trump hatred (or possibly habit) are the only logical explanations.

Here is my contribution to a more informed electorate. Assemble a small group of low-information voters who tend to vote for Democrats and do the same on the Republican side. Give them information from objective and trusted sources, including figures from the Congressional Budget Office, the record debt and the future of Social Security and Medicare without reforms. Inform them about the difference in foreign policies between the last and current administrations. Ask them if they would change their vote after being equipped with information they may not have previously had. If the results differ from their earlier beliefs, we have a solution to the problem of low— information voting.

People are tested for all sorts of things, including driver’s licenses, tests in school before degrees are awarded, blood tests and pre-employment tests by some companies. While we don’t want to return to the Jim Crow era when tests were used to keep Blacks from voting, making sure people are better informed before voting would help them and the country. Wouldn’t you want a test to determine why you are not feeling well so that proper treatment could improve you? Why not the same approach to voting?

Politicians are good at shading or covering up their true beliefs to get elected. Mr. Biden claimed to be a uniter. So did former President Barack Obama. Mr. Biden governed as a far-left progressive. The media appears to be covering for Ms. Harris, who has flipped on several important issues. Shouldn’t voters be properly informed about this? It’s difficult when she has not done interviews or held a news conference so far.

During his 1960 presidential campaign, John F. Kennedy said: “We can do better.” We certainly can, but only if more of the electorate is properly informed. Let’s give my little experiment a try.

Jay Leno would be the perfect host.

• Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book “A Watchman in the Night: What I’ve Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America” (HumanixBooks).