Undecided Clyde, Ohio, voter finally chooses between Trump and Biden

Oct. 28--CLYDE, Ohio -- The day before President Trump visited this small Ohio town known for its gargantuan washing-machine plant, Doug Boyer, a 56-year-old veteran and small-business owner, told The Blade he couldn't decide between Mr. Trump and Joe Biden for president.

He didn't, and still doesn't, like either major-party candidate. He won't vote third-party. And he won't do what he did in 2016: write-in former Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

But since we met in August, Mr. Boyer has made up his mind, and he seems to be at peace with his excruciatingly well-thought-out plan.

The Blade caught up with Mr. Boyer this week at his business, the Buckeye Restaurant and Suites, a sit-down spot for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and coffee set in a restored antique home with pecan-colored hardwood and deep blue velvet and white lace window treatments. (Besides choosing whom to vote for since our last meeting, Mr. Boyer said a local lawmaker helped him secure the approvals he couldn't get at the pandemic's beginning to be able to finally open his business).

Mr. Boyer, a retired chief warrant officer for the Ohio National Guard, said there was never an "a-ha" moment or major turn in the race that made choosing a candidate any easier this year. He just had to make a list.

A lot of voters vote with their hearts or guts. Mr. Boyer votes with bullet points.

There's always been a certain drama to being an undecided voter. Politicians court you. Friends and relatives try to get you over to their side. Everyone wants to know what you think and why. All votes are important, but swing votes are studied.

But in 2020, polls show that few voters are approaching Election Day undecided. A recent Ohio poll pegged undecided voters at 4 percent of those surveyed, while four years ago up to 15 percent of the nationwide electorate went to the polls confused and unsure how to vote. And many of these last-minute deciders wound up breaking for Mr. Trump, according to the University of Pennsylvania's Institute for the Study of Citizens and Politics and FiveThirtyEight.

Mr. Boyer was no longer part of Ohio's 4 percent as he scrolled through his phone to find the list to determine who gets his vote. It included the economy, court decisions, military, gun/abortion rights, coronavirus, race relations, health care, Israel, and a category he calls "pathway to freedom of belief." Nine areas in total.

This method of decision-making isn't out of the ordinary for Mr. Boyer.

"I generally do this for a re-election," he said. "I just think that in general people are very lazy."

He went down the list. Many of the categories were a draw. Mr. Biden is stronger in health care for his role in the Obama administration and its rollout of the Affordable Care Act. But Mr. Trump better aligns with Mr. Boyer's conservative views on the courts, abortion, and gun rights.

"So I'm not voting for Mr. Trump, nor am I voting Mr. Biden," Mr. Boyer said finally, after nearly 30 minutes.

Mr. Boyer also said earlier he wasn't voting third-party or writing-in another candidate. Huh?

"For this one, I finally told my wife, I do have to vote for either the Republican candidate or the Democratic candidate," he explained. "I look at the two individuals and while the two candidates themselves, personally -- I disdain them both. What it comes down to is my values, and I think Trump's policies are more closely aligned with my values as far as my faith, as far as my views on the strength of our nation's military might.... I think the Republican candidate tends to benefit my core values."

He concedes that his choice to support the Republican Party is ultimately a vote for Mr. Trump, as much as he would like it not to be.

"At the end of the day, well, I don't necessarily agree with with [Mr. Trump's] lifestyle, the way he's conducted his business, with the way he's managed the country," Mr. Boyer said. "But I think the Republican Party right now has a better way for mitigating the suffering and rebuilding the economy."

Mr. Trump still has to improve his coronavirus response and work on "rebuilding an America that's in shambles," he said.

If the election were held nearly three months ago, this might not have been his answer. "If I was forced into making an electoral decision on the day that you walked in the door, I was absolutely gonna choose Joe Biden," Mr. Boyer said. "Now I just see an old guy who I wonder if he'll be alive eight years from now, four years from now. I don't necessarily have any faith in a Harris presidency. I don't know enough about her."

Mr. Boyer said he knew everything he laid out was a long answer to the question "who are you voting for?" But he needed to work through the issues before deciding.

First Published October 27, 2020, 2:21pm

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