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YES! Magazine / Op-Ed
Published: Thursday 20 September 2012
Your favored candidates may be outspent, but if they out-organize, they may be able to prevail.
3 Ways to Make Your Vote Count in a Money-Soaked Election
Recently, a respected friend sent me an outraged email. His subject line: "BOYCOTT VOTING!" He was at wit's end over the vast sums of money that wealthy individuals and corporations are pouring into our elections: $400 million from the Koch Brothers; $100 million from Sheldon Adelson. If big money is going to buy the election, he said, then he will “withdraw his consent” by not voting.
I, too, am apoplectic at the money flooding our elections. It speaks of a level of corruption that undermines my hopes for solving the big problems of our time. That’s why I’m promoting the passage of a constitutional amendment to curtail unlimited election spending.
But is boycotting the vote the right response? Here’s how I see it: the big money doesn’t buy votes. It mostly buys television ads to influence our votes or discourage us from voting at all. So why would I fall into the trap of doing what the big money wants? As I wrote to my friend, after the election, no one will notice your boycott. They will only notice who won. Think of your vote as an act of protest and vote for candidates who vow to change the system. Here's what you can do:
1. Vote the Whole Ballot
Vote the whole ballot. When we reach the bottom of the ballot, many of us find a bunch of names and initiatives we don’t know and skip them. Judicial positions are notorious for low vote tallies. So a few voters can determine who wins positions that can have a huge impact on our lives. I prepare by reading the voter pamphlet with care, especially watching for partisan buzzwords. Then I check with friends for additional information. I also sign up for emails from organizations that recommend candidates who match my values. So when I go to vote, I make my choices with confidence.
2. Contribute to Campaigns ...
Another conundrum in this money-soaked election season is whether to give money to candidates. Does our measly $25, $50, or even $500 mean anything when the 1 percent can so far outspend us? My husband is pretty cynical about political contributions. But do we want to force candidates to get their funds only from the wealthy? One candidate told me, “I need to raise at least one-fifth of what my deep-pocketed opponent raises. Otherwise, I’m just not a player.” I like this candidate. I think she has smarts and integrity. She wants to overturn Citizens United and other laws that make campaigns so expensive. So I (yes, together with my husband) made a contribution to her campaign, as well as to several other candidates we believe in.
3. ... But Not Just Money
Fortunately, money is not the only way to influence an election. Giving time can be even more valuable. One respectful conversation with a potential voter can reverse the effects of thousands of dollars of ads. Going door to door, phoning, helping people get registered and to the polls can all make a difference. Your favored candidates may be outspent, but if they out-organize, they may be able to prevail. Organizing, of course, means getting people like you and me to volunteer.
It’s easy to be discouraged about a political system that seems so out of reach. I take heart from history. In the Gilded Age of the late 19th century, income inequality was similar to today’s. There was widespread political corruption. Then people rose up and ushered in the Progressive Era. They voted in candidates who instituted the estate tax and progressive income taxes, changed election laws, and made many other reforms.
By the 1950s through the 1970s we had an expanding middle class and a fairer election system. We can make those changes again. But only if we get engaged and informed, and vote.
Fran Korten wrote this article for It's Your Body, the Fall 2012 issue of YES! Magazine. Fran is publisher of YES!
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By Green Shadow Cabinet
9 comments on "3 Ways to Make Your Vote Count in a Money-Soaked Election"
September 20, 2012 10:48pm
"I'll show them! I won't vote!"
You'd be surprised, I guess, to discover how many voters have such a senseless attitude. Who are they going to "show?" And what will they show? As has been said here and other places many times, low voter turnout does work in favor of the Republicans, at least in the national elections.
I guess I ought to be one of the "dependent victims" Mitt the Snob was talking about, and vote for Obama reflexively. Or maybe I can be part of the 5 or 10% he seeks to influence? Somehow I'd like him to worry about my vote.
What a nerd. I guess it's an ego trip for him to get up before these adoring crowds and promise them solutions to the economic mess that he refuses to specify. Trying to ape Obama? Now he's promising his public "change," and I wouldn't be surprised to hear him say, "Yes, we can!"
If he does, the "we" he'd refer to would be the gaggle of secret donors who just want to undo the New Deal and the Fair Deal and give everyone in the 99% the Raw Deal. That's the "change" he's talking about, but I guess everyone here knows that.
No, not voting is not going to prove anything except that you don't give a damn. But it's a truism that if you don't vote, you don't have any right to complain. Hey, I know there's a lot of work ahead of us if we're ever to get the money out of politics, but we have to start somewhere, and keeping the transformed GOP (Greedy Old Plutocrats) out of the White House would be a good first step.
A lot of people in America must bow down before people with money. Some think that Donald Trump is some kind of genius, and he's even written a book about "How to Make a Fortune." If he expects people to follow his example, he'll have to devote the first chapter to "Choosing your parents wisely," like he did.
Anyway, a lot of people seem awed by Mitt because he made money as a financier.
"Wow! He must be smart, huh? He knows how to run a business, so he can be a great president who'll create a lot of jobs."
Sure. In China and India. Maybe even the Bahamas. But don't let on that you know, huh? Act stupid and swallow his blather, and everything will turn out just fine... for him and his kind, of course.
But don't we all daydream of being rich? Listen to Mitt and you can pretend. Big time!
September 20, 2012 8:28pm
My life has changed because what happened after 9/11 forced me to come out of denial. Denial that I didn’t even know I had. It forced me to recognize the fact that during the Bush-Cheney administration our great United States of America willingly sacrificed American blood for Mid East countries’ oil. It forced me to recognize that we do not in practice have two governing parties in our U.S. Congress. Instead of the Republican Party and the Democratic Party in actual practice we only have one party. That one party is the U.S. Corporations Party. And that one party, especially since 9/11, has been in absolute control of our U.S. Congress. Government of the people by the Lobbyists for the rich and powerful U.S. Corporations made it easy for our great nation to sacrifice blood for oil. In addition to the controlling influence our U.S. Big Oil corporations have, we also have experienced the controlling influence of our Big U.S. banks and Investment firms. Specifically evidenced by the way many billions of dollars worth of fraudulent Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS’) were created by Wall Street and sold to “unsuspecting” and naïve pension fund managers and investors. The result of all of the above actions caused our financial crash in 2008. When adding the unpaid cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to the fraudulent Wall Street MBS investment packages the sum equals the Multi Trillion Dollar Debt which we are now experiencing. We cannot permit our gridlocked Congress to continue in its present condition. There is only one way to heal our Congress and that is by taking the money out of politics. And the only way to do that is with a simple Amendment to our Constitution. To see how and why that is done click on, or copy and paste into your browser this link: http://signon.org/sign/take-money-out-of-politics
September 20, 2012 9:59pm
You certainly are tireless in your cut-and-paste posting at NOC. Why don't you give it a rest?
September 20, 2012 6:50pm
Voting in any election is never just about the election. It's also about the voter. A voter is typically more interested in the results of the voting by virtue of being a participant in the process. Of course, a misinformed or uneducated vote is not helpful, but unless you vote with a blindfold on, you're voting for an idea (if nothing else). Whether or not a single vote makes a huge difference is not the point. The point is that you have the RIGHT to vote. Don't, under any circumstances, give up that right. Like most things in life, you'll only miss it if you lose the privilege. Do some research, some thinking and make a decision about what you stand for in life. Not voting says the concept is bogus and not worth protecting because it's so easily tossed away. I can't disagree strongly enough.
September 20, 2012 6:33pm
I have a math PhD, but it took me decades to do the math of elections - and yet the math for a typical election is very simple: your lone vote has de facto ZIPPO probability of influencing the outcome. Voting is a populist veneer to give you the illusion of power without the reality. Ironically, it's only in a very-low-turnout election (which allegedly is civics bad news) where your lone vote might, just might, make the difference as to winner. Of course, who wins need not be the only outcome of interest that your vote might slightly influence. Your vote (especially if for a small third party) could (maybe) help change perceptions of whose votes will be in play - and toward which parties and ideologies - in future elections.
Anyhow, government by a political oligarchy, made nice-looking with a populist veneer of mass popularity-contest circus voting, is ILLEGITIMATE in our time. The 1787 federal constitution and all its copycat state constitutions were 'progressive', sort of, 200 years ago, but not now - 225 years later, when info travels at the speed of light, not of horse, and with 100 times the original USA population. The political oligarchy - comprising long-term-serving officials - neither knows how to use modern decision analysis nor is required to make use any sort of scientific and reasoned basis for decision-making. Instead it is free to indulge in partisan half-baked-ideological rah-rah conflicts, and to disregard even a show of genuine democracy.
What counts is not your infrequent vote but your day-in-day-out joining in what will be strident and incessant demands to change public-decision-making to one where public decision-making power is widely distributed among manyh short-term decision teams of ordinary citizens who take a small time off from work to do a manageable amount of public service, using reasoned and scientific decision procedures.
In brief, the solution is neither voting nor not-voting, nor 'cleaner' elections nor 'better' candidates for political oligarchs. The solution is not more populist-veneer readily corrupted republican oligarchy. The solution is REASONING DEMOCRACY.
September 20, 2012 5:04pm
To the person stating he's fed up and just will not vote:
Please reconsider and cast your ballot. Not voting is a vote for the GOP who are trying to reduce the number of voters. Repubs benefit from low voter turnout. Their filling the airways with garbage is mainly aimed at obfuscation to confuse potential voters and cause them not to vote. Their passing of voter restrictions is another tactic to limit voter turnout. I also agree with MajorPayne.
Anything put on the air by GOP operatives is mainly to confuse the people and lower voter turnout.
September 20, 2012 3:39pm
Like a politician wont promise anything just to get elected and look where pacs and 501 cs have got us. We need new people in office. What happened to the occupy wall street new personnel that would run for office I would vote for them or Jesse the body Ventura any day of the week. We also need a single tv channel to run political ads for your region and only allow that channel to be paid for by the people of this country yes eliminate cbs , fox , cnn, msnbc and all other tv media from running ads. Make all lobbist a one time 1 hour per year
meeting in public recorded when they meet your represenative and that is all the time they are allowed with our rep. All current news channels bitchand moan
when it is not their candidate that is winning but they all want those advertising dollars so every 4 years they are just as whores as ever. Americans need to demand one issue at a time with massive demostrations and phone calls and letters we could and have to start with one issue and beat the door down with it until they start working for us again.
September 20, 2012 2:32pm
1. Yes, vote the whole ballot, but too many ignorant voters is as bad as not enough voters. In most elections in my state, about half the registered voters bother to fill out a ballot at all, so winning 26% of the electorate is often enough.
2. Contributing to campaigns is a waste of money unless you have money to waste. Initiatives can be won or lost by big majorities even when roughly the same amount of money is spent by both sides. You can't defeat the wealthy by doing what they do. Most of the money they contribute ends up as bribes "laundered" through lobbyists, not political advertising. Commercial advertising, not political ads or individual subscriptions, is what circulates newspapers. The number of subscribers only tells businesses where to spend their advertising dollars, but the editorial opinions of some editors and publishers can definitely be influenced by wealthy corporatists who place full-page ads. Anything you can find in a public library is free. Choose a source you trust and don't expect truth to be delivered to your doorstep.
3. No individual letter to the editor amounts to much because the editor must accommodate "all other points of view." Those who bother to read an astute email rarely pass it on to "everyone they know." Posting on blogs is usually like pissing in the wind. Everybody is waiting for everyone else to shut up so he/she can chime in. Doorbelling works only when the occupant already is friendly to your candidate or cause, or at least undecided, and the next caller or TV "personality" may instantly reverse any influence you thought you had.
September 20, 2012 10:51am
The best way to make your vote count in state and federal legislative races is to ask the candidates if they will support a constitutional amendment to abolish corporate personhood, BAN corporate campaign expenditures and re-empower Congress to limit individual campaign contributions to candidates, PACS and 501.cs.
To find out if a candidate in your state or district has made a pledge to support such a campaign, go to this website of Soldiers For Peace International and check out the Pledge to Amend campaign: http://www.soldiersforpeaceinternational.org