“Uniformed, ““Unarmed, “Uninsured, and “Unintended” and "Undermined"

Low information voters, also known as LIVs or misinformation voters, are people who may vote, but who are generally poorly informed about politics. The phrase is mainly used in the United States, and has become popular since the mid-1990s.

American pollster and political scientist Samuel Popkin coined the term "low-information" in 1991 when he used the phrase "low-information signaling" in his book “The Reasoning Voter: Communication and Persuasion in Presidential Campaigns.” Low-information signaling referred to cues or heuristics used by voters, in lieu of substantial information.

Definition, Low Information Voters

The meaning and connotations of words have power when communicating with and persuading low information voters.

Uniformed - Rush Limbaugh, the conservative talk show host, has popularized the term “low information voter,” to characterize uninformed liberals who do not think like he does and who he thinks are prisoners of their ideology. the term is not original with Limbaugh, and his interpretation is too narrow. To me “low information voter ” applies to anyone - liberal, conservative, or independent- who reacts viscerally and predictably to any political situation or verbal political cue as a consequence of their political bias. Their uninformed gut reaction is usually not substantiated by facts and is rooted in ideological mythology.

Unarmed - An example is the media’s frequent reference to the killing of the “unarmed” black teenager, Michael Brown, in Ferguson, Missouri, by a white policemen. “Unarmed” is a cue for white guilt. Some in the low information crowd immediately assumes the killing was the premeditated act of a white police bigot. Never mind the details that may have led to the killing, such as an 18 year old 6’4” 280 pound black teen punching the face of a small-boned 28 year old police officer and fracturing the officer’s eye socket. The policeman is presumed guilty before the evidence is in or the investigation is completed.

Uninsured - When the word “uninsured” is used, it assumed those being described are poor, immigrants, the young, unemployed, or otherwise disenfranchised. This is usually be the case, but not always. One of five of uninsured Americans have said they do not wish to be uninsured. The premiums and deductibles are too high, the enrollment process is too complicated, it’s just too much trouble, and divulging the details of getting enrolled is simply too revealing.

Unintended - This adjective is frequently rolled out when one is talking about the consequences of ObamaCare – unaffordable premiums, soaring deductibles, cancelled policies or policies that must be switched, part-time employment without benefits, slowing of hiring, economic stagnation , doctor shortages, narrowing of physician and hospital networks. These consequences are acceptable, say proponents of the health law, because the intentions of the law was noble – to cover as many of the uninsured as possible. It does not matter that the planning for healthcare.gov suffered from incompetent planning and oversight or that the launch was botched. The intentions were honorable and that, not the consequences, are what counts.

Undermined - Although the Surpreme Court has ruled the ACA constitutional when considered as a tax, critics claim the health laws' mandates and regulations undermine the Constitution's foundation.