| Friday, May 16, 2008 |  |  Election time draws near and once again, in theory at least, you prepare to march forward and exercise your constitutional duty and cast that much sought after vote. The question is: Are the candidates looking for you? Chances are they?re not. They want the SUPER VOTER!!!! And now, maybe you are sitting there and wondering just what a super voter is, or more importantly, are you one? An even better question though is: What?s the difference between a super voter and a regular voter? Thought we were all the same? Think again.
Arguably, all campaigns cost a lot of money these days just look at the last Presidential race, both sides raised a COMBINED TOTAL OF HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of dollars. Yes Martha,?HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS.? Yet neither party campaigned uniformly across the 50 apple pie United States. Why? The ubiquitous Super Voter! Here?s how it works.
In any given political race there are a couple of basic business rules that come into play for the campaign. First, get the most bang for the buck and second try to figure out how many people need to be reached to get elected, I know, your thinking of outdoor Town Square stump speeches, free hot dogs and marching bands right? No, not in the real world. Remember that bang for the buck? The first stop is to the County Clerk of the Court office or the Office of Elections in your area. Next a copy of the precinct voting records is purchased that will impact the race. Yes, your voting record is available in the public domain just by asking. From a candidate?s point of view, why bother trying to reach all of the people when (in reality) just a few of us folks are going to show at the polls. Now that?s what I call bang for the buck. It gets better. Once the candidate has the voter list in their grubby little mits, a quick head count is taken to see how many registered voters there are as opposed to how many people actually went out and visited the polls. Then the list is narrowed down even further to determine how many of the people that voted have voted in, say, the last three races. All of the people registered to vote in the last election and those that registered but did not vote can safely be called regular voters. The smaller group of people are what Politicos call Super Voters. And, for the rest of you that aren?t registered and didn?t vote, well, have a nice day.
Now that is not to say a candidate or incumbent for that matter, doesn?t care, they?re just facing a political reality. There is only so much money to go around and campaigns take lots of time. It is easier for the candidate to simply concentrate on the precinct?s listed super voters with yard signs, flyers, mailings, personal appearances ( personal appearances net campaign contribution checks). The regular voters will typically see the newspaper ads, maybe catch them on a local radio talk show or might even be lucky enough to get a letter or a brochure in the mail. For those of you that did not vote, you will see the signs around town, maybe an ad in the local paper and that is about it. I agree, it?s a sorry state of affairs but those of us that don?t vote are the cause of current campaign strategy and more often than not these are the same folks griping the most.
So, is a super voter a person that simply goes out and does what every American in this country should do, or is a regular voter a person that does a super job of not showing up at the polls. Apparently, the politicians have done a grand job of figuring this little ?Catch 22? out. How will you know you?ve crossed over from the ranks of the regular voter to the hallowed halls of the super voter? Chances are it?ll be a knock on the door at election time from a smiling politician.
Vote early and vote often
The Editor Apr 06, 2006 | | | | | |
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