Remember Soccer Moms and NASCAR Dads? Meet the RAMs.

For anyone reading this blog, it’s safe to say that in our collective memories there has never been a presidential contest as interesting or exciting as this one. But what really separates this election contest from all others is how confusing it is. Pundits, pollsters, and other supposedly expert observers continue to analyze “trends” but they often miss the mark. According to Doug Schoen, a pollster and advisor to both President Bill Clinton and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the reason the “chattering classes” have so consistently called this election wrong is that they are missing the most important dynamic of the race: “the appearance of a crucially important new bloc of voters who are clamoring for bold, non-partisan solutions and are disgusted with today’s Washington politics.” Schoen goes on to say that “voters today aren’t just fed up with the status quo; they’re furious.” Who are these angry voters? Schoen calls them RAMs, “restless and anxious moderates.” These voters tend to be “practical, non-ideological and unabashedly results-oriented. . .  They are tough-minded pragmatists who insist on confronting the intractable problems facing the country.”