You Have Power

The election race is tight again. There are about 44-45% for McCain and 44-45% for Obama. That leaves 10-12% undecided. With millions of dollars and millions of voters in play, people typically feel they really can't have much of an impact as individuals. And while that is probably true, those individuals acting in the aggregate can have an enormous impact. Here's a plea for getting involved.

There are always a lot of people unregistered. According to the census bureau, in the last presidential election in 2004, 28% of the people weren't registered as you can see here. There are also always a lot of people who are registered but don't vote. Even in the most high-interest presidential elections that's usually more than 40%. In 2004 again, the same Census Bureau report finds that 63% of the voting age population actually did turn out. And that was the most since 1992.

So, what am I getting at? Well, in the past three weeks I've registered five people to vote. All I had to do was go to the county office, get some forms and have them available. You know, it turns out a lot of people, particularly younger ones, have never been asked to register. They just need someone to invite them to and make it convenient and friendly. I recommended they all register for vote by mail, too. This they all did. That makes it more likely they actually will vote. I've heard that Oregon, which is all VBM, gets turnouts of 86%.

So suppose you are a McCain or Obama fan. The 44% of the people who are for your guy is really only 44% of the likely voters, in other words, 44% of the 63%. Of the total population that works out to about 28% for each candidate and 8% likely to vote but undecided. That leaves a whopping 36% who aren't likely to vote. That's more people than are for either major party candidate! There are a lot of potential voters out there for your guy. In raw numbers that means there are currently 70 million people for McCain, 70 million for Obama, 20 million who will pretty surely vote who are still trying to make up their minds, and 90 million who probably aren't going to vote.

Now suppose just 1% of your candidate's supporters go out and do what I did. That would mean 700,000 people would go out and sign up five family, friends, co-workers, people at the coffee shop, or what have you. That would mean an extra THREE AND A HALF MILLION VOTES for your guy. A close election turns into a clear win with just that much minimum effort by 1% of his supporters.

And I'm not talking about going door to door or setting up a table outside a store and sitting there all day. I'm just talking about maybe wearing a button for your favorite. It's a conversation starter among people who like your guy. You get around to asking if they're registered, you have a few forms in you car, purse, briefcase, tool box or what have you, and bingo. You can even feel like you're getting really involved by taking down their phone number and calling them when the absentees are mailed out, saying, "Hi, remember me?" and reminding them to fill out the ballot and send it in.

I've signed up five in three weeks, and there are still eight weeks to go. What do you think you might be able to do? Want to feel like you're making a difference? Go ahead and give it a try. If you're like me you'll be glad you did.