Reply #11: The Republican plan is working

[gratuitous]

Let's face it, folks: We are in the majority. More people believe in and support the Democratic platform than support the Republican platform. As a nation, we are comfortable paying taxes for the services we get (roads, food inspectors, prescription drug certification, etc.). So, how do the Republicans win so many races? Turnout. Specifically, they depress turnout.

When Newt Gingrich swept to victory in the Republican "landslide" of 1994, less than 40% of registered voters bothered to cast a ballot, and Republicans won race after race by 51-49 or 52-48 margins. That means that about 20% of the voting populace was running the whole show for the rest of us.

Initiatives like "motor voter" and voter registration drives are heavily opposed by Republicans. Why? Because they'd get their brains beat in if 3/4 of the folks who could vote actually did. And Democratic candidate after candidate has let them get away with it, and I think it's because they're getting bad advice. The more voters we get to the polls, the better for our candidates. Yes, you'll motivate and energize a certain percentage of Republican, Libertarian or Green voters, but you'll turn on far more voters likely to punch the card or pull the handle for a Democrat.

When you bump into someone who says they don't vote because "my vote ain't gonna fix it," ask them how they expect the mess to get fixed, then. Then inform them that by not voting, they're endorsing the status quo, and the rule of the nation by the greedy, grasping pigs who've made such a mess of things. If you want it to change, there are probably a hundred things you can do. The easiest thing, by far, is to get to the voting booth on election day.

Talk it up. Cheerlead. Wheedle. Cajole. Do whatever it takes to get these disaffected voters to re-engage. They're dissuaded from voting by a very sophisticated, very focused campaign to daunt them, and it clearly works. You and I are the antidotes to that campaign.