The infamous 47 percent quote that has been blasted by the media comes from the book “The Myth of the Independent Voter.” The book contains a lot of formulae and statistical theory. But the net result is that in any election, 47.5 percent of the voters will vote Democrat regardless of what anyone says, and 47.5 percent will vote Republican regardless of what anyone says. So to win the election a candidate must convince the remaining 5 percent of the electorate to vote for him.

Candidate Mitt Romney will never convince the 47.5 percent of President Obama supporters to change their mind for whatever their reasons. I am sure that he cares about the 47.5 percent of Democrats just as much as President Obama cares about the 47.5 percent of Republicans, but in terms of winning the election, he must spend his resources convincing the 5 percent undecided to vote for him.

We would be better off if the 47.5 percent would take a more pragmatic view and consider both sides, instead of hiding behind their tired unsupported beliefs.

Michael Shea

Marion