Who is running this country?

In all are readings and discussions I am left with a few thoughts.

People believe different things and are unlikely to change those views even when presented with conflicting data. In the political realm, there seems to be about equal amounts of people who consistently are liberal or conservative with a smaller group changing its vote every election. How else would we continually flip between a republican and democratic president. So who is really running this country? My thought is that it is that small group. But who are they? Are we to assume they are Rational? Do they carefully monitor various news sources to gather enough data to make a sound rational decision? Or are there decisions based on other reasons?

At age 47 I am still relatively new to the area of political behavior. Did not give it much attention for many years. So my voting decisions were most likely not based on rational ideas, but more based on how the economy was (or how I thought it was). I wonder what affect, in any, does the battle between liberal and conservative media really have on voter behavior.

If the Democrats lose in the upcoming midterm elections, does that mean we want Republican control again? How can we change our minds so quickly? Or is this just some pattern that has been going on for many years.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/11/conflicting-signs-for-midterm-elections/