Elections '06
November 7th, 2006...
Help, I'm Being Supressed!
My voice has been heard. But it was nearly not so.
I went to vote a moment ago (on my way to a local pizza parlor, actually), and saw two women standing outside the polling place. Both were in their 60s, I would say, and were holding, as people standing around outside polling places usually are, little stickers and cards and things.
One of them handed me one of said stickers. The second started to, but stopped, and asked me this:
"Are you a Democrat?"
I politely (with a hint of a grin, actually) reply "no." She then proceeds to hit me with her sticker-card thingies. My savage sticker-beating was accompanied by a "tsk" sound, if I recall correctly. It's so hard to remember specifics after a trauma.
In all seriousness, it was in jest, and I took it in the playful way it was probably (half) intended. That said, Punditish wonders just what these card-wielding crusaders hope to accomplish? Is anyone persuaded by these last-minute name-only advertisements? And aren't the types of people who might be unlikely enough to vote to begin with, let alone in the midterm elections?
This is not to say that I, as a littler Ish, did not once shiver uncontrollably handing out ads the day of the local County Commissioner race. But I tend to regard those sorts of events as a rite of a passage more than any genuine campaign tactic.
But I digress. I merely wish to warn other prospective voters: beware of the elderly Democratic activists and their adhesive projectiles.
The Only Poll That Matters
Well, it's Election Day. For some, the day invokes a feeling not unlike that of the Super Bowl. For others, it's a bit more like jury duty.
I don't know how the 110th Congress will look when the chads have settled sometime near Midnight, but I do know that, short of an absolute shellacking, Republicans should not despair over Congressional losses. After all, we've been repeatedly informed that the ruling party, historically, loses seats in mid-term elections. The last few elections, however, have turned this precedent on its head. This may be due to the GOP's sophistimocated get-out-the-vote strategery, or it may be the result of the War on Terror. I do not pretend to know.
What I do know, however, is that this previously common wisdom is under fire, to the point at which Democrats are positively giddy at the possibility that they might actually take control of a segment of Congress. Republicans, on the other hand, have become so accustomed to winning that they've grown despondent at the prospect of something which, until recently, was considered par for the course.
Electoral standards have been raised on the right side of the aisle, and correspondingly lowered on the left. And while I cannot fault conservative voters for being disappointed with what might unfold today, I do hope that disappointment, if it materializes, is tempered by perspective.
I say this not because I support all conservative candidates, or because I regard Democratic control of the House or Senate as an unmitigated bad. To the contrary, I have come to believe that no party will entirely behave itself if given free reign, and that a sane and competitive Democratic party is ultimately in the interest of all conservatives.
Whoever you are, do not be deterred by precedent, or even failure. Every election matters, but the truly worthy ideas will rise to the top. Maybe not this election, or even the next one. But they will. They always do. They do because the people who believe in them believe strongly enough to go out and support them, each and every time.
Anyone can answer a pollster. You have to care about what you believe in to go vote. Today, we find out who cares, and what it is they care about.
UPDATE: Mark Coffey of Decision '08 (whose forward-thinking site title is going to be the envy of Google in about 24 hours) wisely points out that if the Democrats do come out on top today, the, eh, fringier elements will probably take the credit. He also makes a very perceptive point about Hurricane Katrina:
Mark Coffey - November 7th, 2006 No, if the Dems win this one, the true culprit is clear: an air of incompetence surrounding Republicans over our handling of the occupation, fueled by the initial tepid response to Katrina.
Katrina? Have I lost my mind? Yes, Katrina…because prior to Katrina, there was still a feeling that there was a need to be measured in criticism of the Commander-In-Chief (remember the outrage directed towards the Dixie Chicks? Today, it would barely register). Après Katrina le deluge - on more levels than one…
November 6th, 2006...
"Decisions Are Made By Those Who Show Up"
Thus sayeth fictionaleth President Jed Bartlett, of the late, eminently quotable series The West Wing. I can think of no one sentence which more appropriately summarizes tomorrow's elections.
Now, I am not going to echo the numerous celebrities who seem insistent that we should all vote no matter our rationale or thought process. I do not believe that voting is, in and of itself, an unmitigated good. Voting is like speaking: it may or may not be good; it all depends on what you have to say, and why you're saying it. If you're voting because P. Diddy's threatening you, and not because you've studied the issues and come to an informed conclusion, I daresay the nation will be better off without your ballot.
This will surely be sacreligious to some. The media in general is disgusted with the electorate's generally declining turnout, and all involved seem to have agreed that anything which helps reverse this trend is good.
This is true, to a degree. Low turnouts are bad, but higher turnouts are not necessarily good if they are not the result of increased interest and/or education. We don't need more voting; we need more engagement. People who encourage the former without encouraging the latter have confused the goal with how we go about measuring it. Voting without genuine interest is just noise, and the political landscape is noisy enough without a disinterested chorus singing backup.
People who care will vote, but not all voters will care. The former is the important part. Saying we need more voting is like saying we need more writing. Isn't the important thing that the voting, like the writing, have something worthwhile to say?
I don't know what tomorrow's turnout will be. It may be very low, and if it is, we'll probably hear more than one pundit decry the nation's lack of initiative. But this is not the worst-case scenario. The worst-case scenario is that the turnout will be high, but comprised largely of people with only a passing interest in the candiates they vote for.
In other words, we shouldn't have to "get out the vote." The truly worthwhile vote should get out to the polls all by itself.
UPDATE: "Oak Leaf" over on PoliPundit notes that Florida's Seminole County's early voting appears to be exceeding 2004.
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