Power from the People...
...so, Ohio voter turnout declined a few points to 48.7%.
That means 51.3% of Ohio voters "voted" for the Republican landslide that we got.
Yes, this is a "don't vote, don't complain" rant, but it's bigger than that. It's an "evil triumphs when good does nothing" rant.
If you don't want to see Republicans or Democrats in your statehouses, Senate seats, and Congress chairs, then it's not enough to not vote for them. No, you have to actively oppose them by voting for someone else.
And your voice can be heard. If enough people knew this, they could change the elections by themselves.
Let's show what I'm talking about. Let's suppose that one-quarter of Ohioans that didn't vote were R or D supporters that didn't get out to the polls. The 75% that are left are disillusioned by the system, or hate their candidate but don't want to vote for the other. So, they stayed home. That's 38.5% of all the voters in Ohio. (Well, 38.475).
If that 38.475% of voters all voted for a single candidate that didn't win (be it the other party or any other candidate on the ballot), that candidate would, in general, beat any candidate who did not get 79% of the vote on Election Day.
Not one Ohio candidate on any side of the aisle got 79% of the vote on Election Day. That means literally any candidate supported by the disillusioned non-voters would have won the election.
Any. One.
But this is what both the Republicans and Democrats don't want. Some would say the Republicans want it more than the Democrats, but neither wants the disillusioned voters to wake up and find out that there were three other candidates for Senator other than the red and the blue candidate, or that there were two other candidates for Governor, or that there were other candidates in all of the other statewide races, or that there were other candidates in all but four of the House races (the sweatiest the establishment got was the 16.1% third-party vote in the 17th district, which went, unsurprisingly, to the incumbent, who was, surprisingly, a Democrat). That would mean that they lose just a tiny sliver of their power over the country, and the big businesses and corporatists that back them can't have that. They'd much rather the disillusioned do what they do every election, including this one: just say, screw it, roll over, and go to sleep, never knowing the actual power they have over the elections.
And it works most egregiously on the supposed "throw away your vote" meme that all third parties bring. Well, not voting also throws away your vote. It's just like timeouts in sports; you can't save 'em from election to election, there's no value in them outside the election booth, so you might as well vote for someone. 'Cuz if you don't, the shit sandwich your representative serves you is what you ordered, even though you had the option for something different.
That means 51.3% of Ohio voters "voted" for the Republican landslide that we got.
Yes, this is a "don't vote, don't complain" rant, but it's bigger than that. It's an "evil triumphs when good does nothing" rant.
If you don't want to see Republicans or Democrats in your statehouses, Senate seats, and Congress chairs, then it's not enough to not vote for them. No, you have to actively oppose them by voting for someone else.
And your voice can be heard. If enough people knew this, they could change the elections by themselves.
Let's show what I'm talking about. Let's suppose that one-quarter of Ohioans that didn't vote were R or D supporters that didn't get out to the polls. The 75% that are left are disillusioned by the system, or hate their candidate but don't want to vote for the other. So, they stayed home. That's 38.5% of all the voters in Ohio. (Well, 38.475).
If that 38.475% of voters all voted for a single candidate that didn't win (be it the other party or any other candidate on the ballot), that candidate would, in general, beat any candidate who did not get 79% of the vote on Election Day.
Not one Ohio candidate on any side of the aisle got 79% of the vote on Election Day. That means literally any candidate supported by the disillusioned non-voters would have won the election.
Any. One.
But this is what both the Republicans and Democrats don't want. Some would say the Republicans want it more than the Democrats, but neither wants the disillusioned voters to wake up and find out that there were three other candidates for Senator other than the red and the blue candidate, or that there were two other candidates for Governor, or that there were other candidates in all of the other statewide races, or that there were other candidates in all but four of the House races (the sweatiest the establishment got was the 16.1% third-party vote in the 17th district, which went, unsurprisingly, to the incumbent, who was, surprisingly, a Democrat). That would mean that they lose just a tiny sliver of their power over the country, and the big businesses and corporatists that back them can't have that. They'd much rather the disillusioned do what they do every election, including this one: just say, screw it, roll over, and go to sleep, never knowing the actual power they have over the elections.
And it works most egregiously on the supposed "throw away your vote" meme that all third parties bring. Well, not voting also throws away your vote. It's just like timeouts in sports; you can't save 'em from election to election, there's no value in them outside the election booth, so you might as well vote for someone. 'Cuz if you don't, the shit sandwich your representative serves you is what you ordered, even though you had the option for something different.