海角大神

Does anybody like both main presidential candidates, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton? Veteran Democratic pollster Peter Hart puts the question to a table of 12 undecided voters in Charlotte, N.C.

No hands go up.

Does anybody like even one of the candidates?

Crickets.

OK, then. How about this: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 like either candidate.鈥�

All hands go up.

At this late stage in the 2016 campaign, watching a focus group of undecided voters can be painful. Some participants liken the campaign to a prize fight (Ali vs. Frazier or 鈥淩ocky鈥�), or even the Vietnam War 鈥� 鈥渘o good outcome either way.鈥� These Americans want to believe in someone, anyone, but they鈥檙e stuck in a loop. They鈥檝e nervous about this one, they don鈥檛 trust that one, and around and around it goes.

When asked for short descriptions of Mr. Trump鈥檚 behavior during the campaign, they answer easily: 鈥渟poiled brat,鈥� 鈥渃hild having a tantrum,鈥� 鈥渞ich kid,鈥� 鈥渂ully.鈥� Mrs. Clinton doesn鈥檛 fare much better: 鈥渞obotic,鈥� 鈥渓iar, liar pants on fire,鈥� 鈥減rivileged,鈥� 鈥渃ool operator.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 embarrassing,鈥� says Jennifer, a 40-something homemaker. 鈥淚 have a 12-year-old son and he listens to this stuff.... It鈥檚 hard to explain why adults are acting this way.鈥�

Nevertheless, Jennifer and the others 鈥� who gathered on Tuesday evening, and were viewed by reporters via live-stream 鈥� are determined to vote. In North Carolina, one of the nation鈥檚 top battlegrounds, a slate of tossup races makes each vote especially important 鈥� not only for the state鈥檚 15 presidential electoral votes but also in the races for governor and US Senate.

But Gary, a banking consultant in his 60s, says he may not decide until he gets into the voting booth.

鈥淚鈥檝e been on both sides, and I鈥檓 really having a tough time,鈥� he says. 鈥淭rump scares me. He鈥檚 thin-skinned. I鈥檓 worried he might start a war.鈥�

鈥淥n the other hand, Clinton scares me with what the Supreme Court could do,鈥� Gary adds, referring to the president鈥檚 power to nominate justices and shape jurisprudence for decades to come. 鈥淪o it truly is the lesser of two evils.

鈥淲ill you vote for one of the two?鈥� asks Mr. Hart, who moderates 鈥淰oice of the Voters鈥� focus groups on behalf of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. 聽

鈥淚 have to,鈥� Gary says. 鈥淚f I don鈥檛, I can鈥檛 complain.鈥�

Another conflicted voter has devised her own system for making a decision. She鈥檚 boiled her choice down to the Republican Trump and Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, and is comparing her views to the positions of their parties.

鈥淚鈥檝e decided to dispel personalities, and look at the platforms,鈥� says Tracy, a 50-something writer of romance novels and a self-described moderate. 鈥淭here鈥檚 checks and balances, and while Trump scares me, he doesn鈥檛 have the power to make things happen.鈥�

In Tracy鈥檚 scoring system, Trump came in ahead of Mr. Johnson by three points. 鈥淏ut I鈥檓 waiting to see what happens in the next week or two,鈥� she says.

Then Matt chimes in. He, too, is considering Johnson. 鈥淗illary, to me, embodies a lot of what we鈥檝e talked about in terms of partisanship,鈥� he says.

But when he thinks about his presidential vote, he thinks about leadership 鈥� and 鈥渋n some ways, Hillary鈥檚 actually demonstrated phenomenal leadership,鈥� in the way that she orchestrated her path to the Democratic nomination.

Still, 鈥渢hat鈥檚 only leadership with her supporters,鈥� says Matt, who is in jewelry sales. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think she鈥檚 got the ability to reach out beyond that.鈥�

Trump the outsider is 鈥渁 wild card, in the sense of, can he bring people to the table to form consensus to pass legislation that鈥檚 going to be effective,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what I don鈥檛 know.鈥�

Other participants said they needed to do more research before making a decision 鈥� and in the process, revealed another casualty of this election, trust in the news media. It was already declining, but is now at record lows.

鈥淚 try to stay away from the media,鈥� and instead 鈥渄o research on facts,鈥� says Katie, a 30-year-old financial planner.

She seems to include social media in her definition of "the media," blaming voters for following social media, and not doing any 鈥渃ritical thinking.鈥� She and others also mention social media's negative impact on children, in particular, as well as its larger impact on the country.

Denise, who has an e-commerce business, blames social media for the nation鈥檚 celebrity-obsessed culture. 鈥淲ho are the heroes now?鈥� she asks. 鈥淣obody with morals 鈥� movie stars, music people, rich people.鈥�

But when Hart asks the voters whether they believe the election might be 鈥渞igged,鈥� as Trump has said, it becomes clear that old-fashioned news media are right in the bull鈥檚 eye.

Matt, the jewelry salesman, says he needs to dig deeper into the question of a potentially 鈥渞igged election鈥� 鈥� beyond the assertions of the major news outlets. Then he refers to an email revealed by Wikileaks, in which a few dozen high-profile reporters were invited by the Clinton campaign for cocktails before she announced her latest presidential bid. For Matt, that email created a sense that the media are 鈥渋n the tank for one candidate,鈥� creating 鈥渁n inherent bias in their reporting.鈥�

Ultimately, though, at least some in the group felt a sense of optimism about the future of the country 鈥� and that something positive can come out of this most divisive of elections.

鈥淚 think we鈥檙e a good country,鈥� says Donna, a retired finance director. 鈥�9/11 brought us down, but my feeling is we did regroup, we came back together. And I think we as a country will take whatever candidate becomes president and work it.鈥�

鈥淭hat鈥檚 exactly what I was going to say,鈥� chimes in Denise. 鈥淚 think we鈥檙e a hardy bunch, and we will recover, and I think we鈥檒l be great.鈥�