Get Out the Vote

Today on Oprah--yes, Oprah, by the time I get out of organic chemistry I'm too braindead to do anything that requires extensive thought--they had a show about getting out the vote, and voter registration.

One of the things they did (aside from the predictable celebrity speeches about how important it is to vote) was to send some actors out to sign students up to vote.

Now, I have to ask--what, exactly, do they expect to accomplish.

So people are registered--what are they odds they are going to actually vote? If they couldn't even be bothered to register, I doubt they'll vote. Unless Oprah sends more celebrities to herd them to the polls. I also question their numbers....sure, people signed up. But if Jake Gyllenhaall came to my school and asked everyone who wasn't registered to vote to go with him, you can be damn sure I'd forget about my voter registration card real quick.

According to the Federal Election Commission website, only 67% of registered voters actually voted in 2000, 51% of the total eligible population (I've rounded the numbers to exclude decimal places, rounding down).

Looking at those numbers--which, given some of the classes I've taken, seem to be a generous estimate--perhaps we shouldn't be focusing on voter registration as the issue.

It's actually rather simple--you need to register to vote. Other than, it's pretty much useless. Someone is on campus with table, you get a shirt or a button or a coupon or to talk to Jake Gyllenhaall if you sign up. So, you sign up. Ten minutes later you're cramming for your orgo exam and you've forgotten about the entire thing (well, maybe not the Jake Gyllenhaall part).

The trick here is not to get people to register. The trick is to make them want to vote. If they want to vote, then they'll register. In order to have B, you must have A. Simply signing up voters IS NOT ENOUGH.

What is, you ask?

That's a good question. I don't know. If I did, I'd be a whole lot more important than I currently am. I do have a few ideas of where to start. Which I will expand on in later entries.

1. Education. Education is key. Getting adults to change their minds is hard. Kids, given the right incentive, will believe that the sky is green and the grass blue. Get 'em while they're young.

2. Lose the jargon. Politicians, political scientists, media, good newspapers...all of them fling jargon about like it's going to be extinct tomorrow. Most people don't understand it. Use plain english. Nobody liked the geeky kid in school, they haven't changed since they graduated.

3. Emphasize reality over ideology. This means talking about how things affect people's lives, not about grand moral or intellectual theories. It also means being willing to compromise because it's what's best for the country, not holding firm to an ideological ideal that is so unrealistic you'll never reach it.

The thing is though--these things aren't going to happen by themselves. A lot of people in power are part of the 'elite'. They like where they are and have no reason to change. It's up to us--normal, everyday Americans--to push them. By voting, by writing your representatives, by showing that we're going to do something more than sit on our asses and bitch about getting screwed over by the goverment. Talk to your friends, family, the guy on the metro (and if he's hot, get his number too).

Hey, it's worth a shot.