An interesting psychological phenomenon is happening to some people who voted for Obama.

According to The Hill, who conducted the poll, with ANGA:

Two-thirds of voters in key battleground districts will be thinking about President Obama when they choose their next member of Congress, according to a 2010 midterm election poll from The Hill and ANGA.The poll surveyed likely voters in 12 competitive congressional districts held by first-term Democratic lawmakers who came into office with the president in 2008. ***

“All politics is local, but not all voting,” said pollster Mark Penn of Penn Schoen Berland, which conducted the poll. “I think, without question, people view this as a national election,” Penn said. “The strongest thing working against the administration today is the number of people dissatisfied with the economy and the government and who are willing to take their votes and vote on a national basis rather than on the merits of the individual candidate.” One telling finding is that only 42 percent of respondents said they recalled voting for Obama in 2008 even though the president received, on average, 53 percent of the vote in those districts. Pollsters said that finding could indicate voter remorse, which may reflect a major drop in enthusiasm for the president. Another explanation may be that many of those who supported Obama in 2008 are unlikely to vote this year.

I think the finding reveals the human brain has a biological mechanism to block unwanted memories.

Research has shown that “people are capable of repeatedly blocking thoughts of experiences they don’t want to remember until they can no longer retrieve the memory, even if they want to”.

If I had voted for Obama, I’d be so embarrassed and ashamed, I’d probably block it from my memory, too.

Another possibility?, (via Lash3 on Twitter):

Trauma induced amnesia

UPDATE:

Okay, another explanation I should have thought of:

Keith Arnold Says:

October, 6, 2010

Still another possibility? You’d need an exhumation order or a ouija board to find out who the dead voted for, and whether they remember it. I understand Obama’s polling among the dead was quite high, even outside Chicago.

CORRECTION:



Daniel Blatt at Gay Patriot (and commenter, JeffreyQuick) inform me I’m wrong in my math…it’s even worse than we thought:



11% of American voters don’t remember voting for Obama, but if we look at Obama voters, we divide that 11 (53 minus 42) by 53 to get 20.75.

Hat tip: Weasel Zippers

Linked by AoSHQ in Top Headlines, Michelle Malkin in Buzzworthy, and Say Anything Blog, thanks!

