"So it becomes a purely emotional thing, based on which person the voters identify with personally."

Many young voters, he said, identify themselves as Republican but vote Democratic at the ballot box.

It works once voters identify as part of the 'we' you're trying to create.

"He's all over the lot, showing the same lack of center as before, and voters don't identify with that."

In other words, voters aren't identifying with either party the way they once did.

How voters identify themselves has been fairly stable over the last two decades.

Because of Šķēle's powerful personality, many voters identified the party with its leader during this period.

And many younger voters do not identify with the Kennedy legacy any more than they feel ties to a particular party.

The voters also seemed different this year, or identified themselves differently.

When voters identify themselves to the election officials, they must request a party's specific ballot.