The vast majority of voters, and Americans in general, are woefully underinformed regarding the working of government. Most people hear what they hear on TV and on the radio. Media drives the education of most Americans, and for college kids it is skewed by the agenda of the intelligentsia, which is often far more skewed than even the media. This means we will really never have an educated voter base on most issues. They hear "pro-life" or "big business" or "flip-flopper" and immediately form opinions regarding the candidates based on talking points. I have always made a real effort with my kids to get them to dig into the issues, figure out what is important to them and what the candidates are saying about those issues, and form their own opinions. This year I had 3 kids old enough to vote and we had some very good conversations about things from the economy to race relations to international relations and lots in between. But in the end that is the issue.