WASHINGTON -- Readers of this column will recall that from time to time in covering an election cycle, I have referred to a voting bloc that political analysts of more delicate sensibilities would rather not mention, to wit, the moron vote. It is a constituency composed of politically ignorant citizens who nonetheless feel very intensely about political issues once their respective demagogues have notified them of the issues, suitably transmogrified. The moron vote's rank and file might, in point of fact, not be morons at all. Some might be marine biologists or interior decorators or professors of Romance languages, and in their chosen fields, they might be very knowledgeable. Yet when it comes to politics, they are in the dark. They are very angry but still in the dark.
We all can feel superior to these poor souls, if we are bereft of charity, but we also might feel a twinge of compassion for them. After all, they are not totally to blame for their ignorance. Most have been misled by their political messiahs -- or should I say by their seducers? The fact is that in many elections, clever politicians shamelessly prey on their supporters' insecurities and the gaps in their political knowledge.
As Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has demonstrated in her last-gasp effort to wrest the Democratic nomination from Sen. Barack H. Obama, the moron vote can be very important. Once she is out of the race and seething back in Chappaqua, N.Y. (where life for Boy Clinton is going to be dreadful), the moron vote will continue to be very influential. As the race has gone thus far, almost no politician has made an effort to inform the electorate. On four key issues, the Democrats have only exploited the ignorance of the voters. On one issue, even the Republican candidate, Sen. John McCain, has been of no help in educating voters.