Nearly One in Five Republicans Still Undecided -- Shouldn't They Be?

COMMENTARY | Recent polls show a high number of Republican voters and those independents that lean Republican are still undecided on which candidate they will choose when the caucuses and primaries begin in January. Given their choices and the results of the nine Republican debates held thus far, is there any reason that they should not be undecided?

A CBS News poll released on Friday, Nov. 6, indicated that Georgia businessman and scandal-embattled Herman Cain had the lead with 18 percent (Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich trail with 15 percent each). But that same poll indicated that 17 percent of the respondents were undecided on their choice.

A McClatchy/Marist poll released the same day indicated that Romney had the lead in preference for the Republican nomination (23 percent). Gingrich placed second (19 percent) and Cain third (17 percent). The survey also indicated that 17 percent of the respondents were undecided.

And just a week before, an ABC News/Washington Post poll revealed Romney over Cain by one percent (24 to 23). When respondents were asked if they were set on a candidate, 71 percent of Romney's supporters, and 66 percent of Cain's said there was a chance they would change their minds on who to support (33 and 39 percent, respectively, said there was a "good chance" they would switch their vote). Of the other candidates, 56 percent said there was a good chance they would later change their votes.

So what gives in the Republican Party? Why are so many still undecided or at least partially committed to a particular candidate? The question probably should be: Why aren't there more people undecided and partially committed. Anyone who has given the Republican debates and their highlights a passing glance has seen nothing but squabbling, incoherency, flip-flopping, misrepresentation, gaffes galore, and -- last but certainly not least -- unadulterated extremism.

Thus far, the 2012 nomination campaign has been nothing but a dash to see who can appeal to the conservative lunatic fringe. Considering that most conservatives are practical, socially-conscious people, the manic move to extreme statements and positions most likely has the average conservative voter remaining somewhat aloof, hoping the process will separate the presidential grain from the lunatic chaff in the end.

If precedent can be used as an indicator... well, separation could become a problem.