^I think you give too much credit to many of the voters. A lot of them couldn't care less about politics in general, don't know or understand what policies each of the candidates represent nor understand the policies or their effects in any meaningful way. Basic human behavior also comes into play, for a lot of people it's important to just be "in the winning team", whichever that is. If it starts to look like the person you are voting for seems to be losing, that alone may be enough to sway some votes. I bet an unhealthy percentage of voters make their final decision in the voting booth.