Think this is a different kind of election? Right about now during the 1976 presidential campaign, fully a third of the electorate was undecided. This year the undecideds comprise about 7 percent of the electorate.
What’s the difference? The candidates, the country, the national mood, everything. But 1976 is a good place to start to understand what is happening with the candidates, country, national mood — indeed everything.
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