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Dose of Politics
Nick Anderson of The Houston Chronicle
November 9, 2008
The power of voter turnout even in a single assembly district is a force of nature, like a tsunami or a hurricane. The sheer intent of a group of people, jointly focused on creating a reality by casting their vote is the fulfillment of democracy's unstoppable promise.
Think of each portion of the American electorate as a much needed muscle, driving the functioning of the total US body, like an arm or leg muscle, say a hamstring or even the heart. Tuesday's election was the end of a marathon of sorts. It was the finish line of a race that thousands of volunteers, unions and grassroots organizations had prepared the American electorate for during a 20 month training camp.
So, in light of electoral power, just like a human muscle -- you either use or lose it.
Consequently, like any well-trained athlete hitting his or her stride, the US needs to continue to train, to drink its Gatorade and do its sit-ups. Newly registered voters, first-time voters, never voted but registered voters, some of the time voters and hard line consistent voters, cannot stop with this Presidential election as the only mark of their civic duty. And, I don't use the word "duty" lightly. Voters must continue to find reasons to stay fired up and essentially, to come out to vote. Again and again. It's our duty.
Is this wishful thinking? Possibly, I'm afraid. Why? Apathy, or even worse, actual voter disgust, can set back in, especially at the state and local level, where machine politics rule and it is hard to move the electorate with a single, well-orchestrated, positive vision. There is simply far less wiggle room.
Now, I don't say these things in a knee-jerk patriotic way, as I am clearly not a blind patriot in the "Country First" sense. As more of a critic of the American system, and a lover of our nation's ability to both correct itself and allow its people to play fast and loose with its principles, I am anxious. I am anxious that Americans' enormous voter turnout on Tuesday will prove a mere flirtation with what could be a long, passionate and meaningful relationship. Or at least a starter marriage with kids.
Essentially, there are currently two estimates of voter turnout being purported. The first is about 134 million Americans, a record set 44 years ago. Other reports, including those by the AP were higher -- 135.6 million.
Grassroots organizers in the voter registration and protection areas of this election cycle, however, believe it was even higher. Quite a bit higher. But, we may never know because of the overwhelming number of registered voters and the lag between the act of voter registration and the Board of Elections data input practice. And, as predicted, many, voters arrived at the polls, having registered, but found their names missing from the poll books at their election district. This discrepancy occurred at nearly a rate of 30-50% in some assembly districts; especially where there is usually very low voter turnout. This includes transient neighborhoods and minority neighborhoods. The Board of Elections was simply unprepared.
Having worked in both voter registration and protection every day for about a year, I saw with my own eyes and heard from others who manned their own registration and protection ships and kept an accounting of how many people they registered per district, that turnout in many districts was nearly perfect. But, this turnout was reflective of the specific party breakdown in that district. Where there were fervent Democrats, liberals, young people, African-Americans and progressive, relatively high socio-economic pools, or well-educated electorates, there was record-breaking voter turnout.
Politico noted that there was actually a voter turnout decrease among Republicans. And while this is certainly not surprising, this broad statistic of overall voter turnout that includes Republican voter resistance masks the micro-phenomena of nearly perfect voter turnout in the above mentioned assembly districts.
Perfect turnout, imagine that.... Everyone who registered in a given district turned out to vote. How 'bout that?
Now, don't be naive, many in the state and local governments think this kind of huge turnout is threatening. You can see how terrifying huge voter turnout can be if you were a Republican in the House or Senate in New York. Democrats' victory here is a powerful testament to the incredible force of voter excitement and turnout.
Good candidates with a vision for their constituencies keep electorates engaged. Many Americans who never felt impassioned enough about any candidate to register let alone actually vote, did so on Tuesday. And, the accumulation of these people, district after district, turned the country over for Obama and ultimately to the Democrats, in an electoral landslide.
So people close to the Obama campaign keep asking each other, What's Next? How else can we be helpful? I think keeping voter's engaged in the process, educated about how issues that matter to them either can be or fail to be addressed by their state and local candidates, is 'the next big thing.' It is at the local and state levels where the effect of political policy making can be felt the most anyway.
Without continued new and never before voted, voter engagement in the process, we are back to square one. Please, let's keep it rolling.
