Suffering Suffrage
Many of the readers of this lovely blog are in places due to vote at some point in the primary season, especially on Tuesday. There are also those who read this blog who have the very last vote in the primaries living in Pennsylvania. It is all too tempting for those of us not living in Super Tuesday states to write off voting in the primary. It's easy to think it doesn't matter so long as you vote in the general election. While it is true it is the general election that matters a whole lot more, the primaries matter as well. Of course, they are also a bit more complicated, since it isn't just necessarily walk in and vote. There are open and closed contest and caucuses versus primaries. Now, there have been previous rants about how the primary system works, so in order to avoid retreading old territory, let's just assume you all know how it works. The Green Papers has a pretty good set of records of primaries and all that, despite a lousy layout. So, where ever you are, please look up when you can vote and please do so. Because, well, that's the tenor of the Republic.
Yes, this is going to be a cheerleading kind of rant telling us all why we should vote. It never ceases to be destructive to a country, or any group claiming to be representative, when certain members don't vote on the basis of "I don't feel like it". People will complain that their vote doesn't count, so they don't vote. Which is akin to complaining that no one will listen to you by not talking to them anymore. It's like boycotting a business that you feel won't serve you. Getting the picture? Anyone you want to piss off by not voting is probably not gonna care and will most likely celebrate the fact you're too stupid to vote. Any political group you want to hate will not be saddened by the face you chose not to vote. There are people who do not care about you who want you to vote because they care about voting. And more importantly, there are people who want to control as much as they can, so the less other people vote, the more they can claim to control.
No specifics are mentioned since, well, it's everyone. Republicans want less Democrats to vote and vice versa. Misogynist men want less women voting and misandrist women want less men voting. Note, the dictionary doesn't recognize the word misandrist, so let's just go with Feminist(tm). Military types want less peaceniks, and hippies want less soldiers voting. For some things, politics is a zero sum game, and public support is kind of one of those things. If one side gets 90% of the vote and the other gets the rest, side A can show how much more public support they have. Even if the only thing they did was convince the supporters of side B not to vote. See America pre-Civil Rights Act. Blacks had the legal right to vote since the 1860s if male, since 1920 if female and since 1971 if between 18 and 21, but in a lot of states were blocked from voting by various bullshit political pressures, like Jim Crow laws or other exclusionary practices. People were effectively denied the vote and what's scary is that people now are denying themselves the vote because they think it might not count enough for their liking.
All any of our ancestors was some kind, any kind, of voice in government. There are people who are in living memory of women not having the right to vote in America. It's only been 37 years since people between the ages of 18 and 21 were granted the right to vote, but the group least likely vote are young people between 18 and 25. Blacks are also less likely to vote than whites, even though that vote was only secured about 40 years ago with the Civil Rights Act. People think they don't have enough "clout" per vote, even though "one man, one vote" was a laudable goal and fought hard for back in the day. While we do our best to limit the money going in and out of Washington to make sure ever single person's vote counts and no one gets steamrollled by big money. But it all begins in the primary process, and here we are. For the Democrats, it really will all come down to the wire and that wire is Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania is a closed primary state, which means only registered Democrats can vote in that Democratic primary. Even though so many pundits may tell you it all comes down to super Tuesday, it doesn't. It really doesn't. Greater turnouts mean greater attention paid during the general, which means greater power at the convention which is when the real policy matters get worked out. Which, to be really clear, is when things that affect the everyday man and woman are done by government.
Which is when people really get screwed.
So it is written, so do I see it.
Yes, this is going to be a cheerleading kind of rant telling us all why we should vote. It never ceases to be destructive to a country, or any group claiming to be representative, when certain members don't vote on the basis of "I don't feel like it". People will complain that their vote doesn't count, so they don't vote. Which is akin to complaining that no one will listen to you by not talking to them anymore. It's like boycotting a business that you feel won't serve you. Getting the picture? Anyone you want to piss off by not voting is probably not gonna care and will most likely celebrate the fact you're too stupid to vote. Any political group you want to hate will not be saddened by the face you chose not to vote. There are people who do not care about you who want you to vote because they care about voting. And more importantly, there are people who want to control as much as they can, so the less other people vote, the more they can claim to control.
No specifics are mentioned since, well, it's everyone. Republicans want less Democrats to vote and vice versa. Misogynist men want less women voting and misandrist women want less men voting. Note, the dictionary doesn't recognize the word misandrist, so let's just go with Feminist(tm). Military types want less peaceniks, and hippies want less soldiers voting. For some things, politics is a zero sum game, and public support is kind of one of those things. If one side gets 90% of the vote and the other gets the rest, side A can show how much more public support they have. Even if the only thing they did was convince the supporters of side B not to vote. See America pre-Civil Rights Act. Blacks had the legal right to vote since the 1860s if male, since 1920 if female and since 1971 if between 18 and 21, but in a lot of states were blocked from voting by various bullshit political pressures, like Jim Crow laws or other exclusionary practices. People were effectively denied the vote and what's scary is that people now are denying themselves the vote because they think it might not count enough for their liking.
All any of our ancestors was some kind, any kind, of voice in government. There are people who are in living memory of women not having the right to vote in America. It's only been 37 years since people between the ages of 18 and 21 were granted the right to vote, but the group least likely vote are young people between 18 and 25. Blacks are also less likely to vote than whites, even though that vote was only secured about 40 years ago with the Civil Rights Act. People think they don't have enough "clout" per vote, even though "one man, one vote" was a laudable goal and fought hard for back in the day. While we do our best to limit the money going in and out of Washington to make sure ever single person's vote counts and no one gets steamrollled by big money. But it all begins in the primary process, and here we are. For the Democrats, it really will all come down to the wire and that wire is Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania is a closed primary state, which means only registered Democrats can vote in that Democratic primary. Even though so many pundits may tell you it all comes down to super Tuesday, it doesn't. It really doesn't. Greater turnouts mean greater attention paid during the general, which means greater power at the convention which is when the real policy matters get worked out. Which, to be really clear, is when things that affect the everyday man and woman are done by government.
Which is when people really get screwed.
So it is written, so do I see it.