What's up with undecided voters?

"I have cats, but I love dogs, and I've been thinking about it like five years already if I should adopt a dog. It's a lot of responsibility and at my age I'm afraid to do it, but if I found a dog that's 10 years old so he doesn't live too much longer after me," she said. "And I want to buy another car because my car is old, but I keep thinking, if I just fix it . . ." (She did not hesitate, however, to say yes to her late husband of 50 years: "He swept me off my feet.")

Presidential elections don't always rise to the level of monumental decisions, but with two wars, a crippled economy and an energy crisis, this one does, and the undecided mind swings back and forth, amassing evidence, unwilling -- unable? -- to rush it.

Don Sayers, 48, of Liberty Center, Ohio, has lost one night's sleep (he allows that this might also have been caused by too much coffee). A union member and quality-control manager at an auto plant where everybody is for Obama, he says it's no fun being the odd man out.

The problem is this: The last candidate Sayers got excited about was Bill Clinton, whose wanton behavior let him down. "It's like he cheated on the country. It was traumatic. I don't want to be fooled again," Sayers said.

He never considered voting for Obama, who he believes will take away his hunting gun, even though Obama says he won't. The choice is between a third-party candidate and McCain, who has failed to impress Sayers, despite the fact that he lives 20 minutes from Joe Wurzelbacher, better known as Joe the Plumber.

"Now maybe if McCain had a plumber's card," he mused, noting that the Arizona senator was born with "a silver spoon."

Sayers is researching on the Internet, listening to Rush Limbaugh and watching bits of the Sunday news shows before church. "I just don't trust politicians," he said.

Joyce Noland, 66, of Wilmington, Ohio, has the opposite problem. She thinks McCain and Obama are "both good men," and can't decide which one she likes more.

"I'm leaning McCain, but I think Obama is like a breath of fresh air," she said, having voted twice for George W. Bush. She thinks Obama's running mate, Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, is "a blowhard." But no matter what happens, she plans to wake up happy on Wednesday.

Many undecided voters say they are waiting for that "one thing" that will lift the fog. John Moore, 64, of Sarasota, Fla., found his just this week. Retired from a telecommunications company, he is a Republican who never liked McCain, and was tempted to stay home. Then it came to him -- the reason to vote: The Democrats could end up controlling Washington unchecked.