Why Waste My Time Voting?

Went to the mailbox this morning and what did I find? Right, another “Vote for Me” flyer! I started to throw it away but as I find it difficult not to at least scan any piece of written literature (I use the term loosely here), I noticed it had pictures of both Barrett and Walker on it. I should mention that it also included a third party candidate named Trivedi whom I had never heard of. I suddenly was very interested in this flyer. Was it a Walker ad somehow lampooning Barrett or was it a Barrett ad somehow lampooning Walker? It seemed very strange having both of their pictures on the same ad. There was a mystery here. Sorry Wilma\Wanda, I could not resist putting these pictures here. 🙂

For those of you who are not from Wisconsin, I should back up a little. On June 5^th we are having a recall election for the present Governor named Scott Walker. Walker is a Republican who has managed to offend a great deal of the electorate. To his detractors he is an evil villain out to undo 100 years of labor history by marginalizing unions and stripping public employees of their pensions and other benefits. To his supporters and in fact those who voted him in by quite a margin, he is a hero. To the latter, he is a staunch defender of free enterprise and the rights of the little man who has been plagued by big government and lazy overpaid union workers.

After Walker successfully attempted to make some changes in pensions and union rights, a large number of Wisconsin residents drew up a recall petition to force another election. Over 500,000 Wisconsin voters signed this petition. The election is scheduled for June 5, 2012. Walker has or will spend over 25 million dollars in advertising and Barrett (Former Democratic Mayor of Milwaukee) will spend about 1 million (Since that is all Barrett has). I have not a clue how much Trivedi will spend since I never even heard of him until looking at this flyer.

So back to the strange mysterious flyer. Were Walker and Barrett supporting anything together? Were they somehow saying anything nice about each other? Could this flyer be some sort of a bipartisan reaching across the aisle, if so, for what purpose? Did this flyer signal a shift in electioneering from the negative to the positive side? Reading the materials they have already sent out, it does not sound like they could be in the same room together without hurting each other. Both have loudly proclaimed each other to be out and out liars. What could they possibly be doing together to show any harmony or kindness to each other much less to benefit the people of Wisconsin? Was there some sort of subliminal message embedded in the ad that would induce me to vote for one candidate or the other? I did not want to be too quick to assume any well-meaning intentions in this flyer. Some enlightenment might be attained by finding out which one of the many “Friends of” committees paid for this ad.

Well, reading on (the Flyer that is) I was pleasantly surprised. Here is what the ad copy said:

“It’s time to do our civic duty. Be sure to do your duty and vote. The only way to ensure a positive result for Wisconsin is for as many citizens as possible to vote on June 5. Your Vote is Your Choice.” Paid for by the Legacy Foundation, Iowa.

A little investigation shows that the mission of the Legacy Foundation is to:

Advance individual liberty, free enterprise and limited, accountable government. Our efforts center around public policy research and alternative policy initiatives in, but not limited to, these core areas: state fiscal and tax policy, the creation of an entrepreneurial environment, education, labor-management relations, citizenship, civil rights and government transparency issues.

I could not detect any conspiracy theory here. Thus, I was shocked but also very pleased. Here was an ad (seemingly bi-partisan) that is actually extolling people to vote. An ad that is not telling you who to vote for but simply reminding people that it is their responsibility and privilege to participate in the most important process in America. Despite the wars and deaths sacrificed to preserve this freedom, most Americans do not vote. In fact, do you realize that only about 50 percent of Americans usually vote in the Presidential election and less vote in most other elections? It is very likely that more Americans will watch the Super Bowl than will turn out to vote in November. It is also likely than the upcoming recall election will be decided by a minority of the electorate in Wisconsin. This is not sad or a shame, it is an outrage. Below are the actual voter figures from 1960 to 2010.

National Voter Turnout in Federal Elections: 1960–2010

This page provides information about voter statistics, including age of voting population, voter registration, turnout, and more.

Year	Voting-age population	Voter registration	Voter turnout	Turnout of voting-age population (percent)
2010**	235,809,266	NA	90,682,968	37.8%
2008*	231,229,580	NA	132,618,580*	56.8
2006	220,600,000	135,889,600	80,588,000	37.1
2004	221,256,931	174,800,000	122,294,978	55.3
2002	215,473,000	150,990,598	79,830,119	37.0
2000	205,815,000	156,421,311	105,586,274	51.3
1998	200,929,000	141,850,558	73,117,022	36.4
1996	196,511,000	146,211,960	96,456,345	49.1
1994	193,650,000	130,292,822	75,105,860	38.8
1992	189,529,000	133,821,178	104,405,155	55.1
1990	185,812,000	121,105,630	67,859,189	36.5
1988	182,778,000	126,379,628	91,594,693	50.1
1986	178,566,000	118,399,984	64,991,128	36.4
1984	174,466,000	124,150,614	92,652,680	53.1
1982	169,938,000	110,671,225	67,615,576	39.8
1980	164,597,000	113,043,734	86,515,221	52.6
1978	158,373,000	103,291,265	58,917,938	37.2
1976	152,309,190	105,037,986	81,555,789	53.6
1974	146,336,000	96,199,020¹	55,943,834	38.2
1972	140,776,000	97,328,541	77,718,554	55.2
1970	124,498,000	82,496,747²	58,014,338	46.6
1968	120,328,186	81,658,180	73,211,875	60.8
1966	116,132,000	76,288,283³	56,188,046	48.4
1964	114,090,000	73,715,818	70,644,592	61.9
1962	112,423,000	65,393,751⁴	53,141,227	47.3
1960	109,159,000	64,833,096⁵	68,838,204	63.1

*Source 2008 election results: http://elections.gmu.edu/Turnout_2008G.html.

The flyer went on to say “ON JUNE 5^th, YOUR VOTE IS IMPORTANT.” Dam right, your vote is important. Whether you are Republican or Democratic or Independent, it is the most important right and responsibility that you have in America. It has often been said (In fact, I say it often myself) that “People get the government and the politicians they deserve.” If you would rather be watching the baseball game on Election Day or some idiotic television sitcom, then you have absolutely no right to complain about your government or the quality of the politicians that serve you in office. My good friend and mentor Sister Giovanni often said: “People want rights without responsibilities.”

For more than a generation now, we have been hearing about the “entitlement” generation. This is simply people who want their rights without any responsibilities. This is nothing but lazy mindless thinking and behaving. Sister G also said “For every right there is a corresponding responsibility.” If you want to live in a free country, if you want a choice of who runs your country, if you want to be able to walk the streets a free person with the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, you have to pay for it. There are no free lunches. Your payment is the responsibilities you must undertake to ensure and protect the freedoms I have mentioned. One of the most important of these responsibilities is that of being informed. Meaning you take the time to learn about the records and backgrounds of those running for office. Most important (to restate it again) is that you get out and vote.

Are you registered to vote? Do you know where your voting place is? Have you arranged your time to fit in voting? Do you know the records of those running? Have you selected a candidate based on a solid knowledge of facts and not rhetoric? Are you making up your own mind or are you going along with your friends and relatives? Are you looking at who will do the best job both long and short term or are you only worried about who will help you make the most money in the short term? Are you as concerned with the social, global, environmental and ethical policies of your candidate as you are with his/her economic policies Do you realize that without a future there will be no tomorrow’s?

Aging Capriciously