Mr. President
Today's an important day for this country. With the polls saying the people are divided, 48% for incumbent President George W. Bush and 47% for the challenger Senator John F. Kerry, this is going to be as close as it gets. Vegas doesn't even know how to calculate the odds on this one.
Of course I have made some observances in this political season that I'd like to address.
One of the impacts of this election, arguably, would be documentary filmmaker Michael Moore's piece titled Fahrenheit 9/11 which was pretty much a Bush bash fest. I enjoyed the film as I do all of Moore's pieces. I think he is an excellent documentary filmmaker and it's interesting to me to see the worship or the slams he gets because of his political work. If anything is a showcase to how people react to how they're beliefs are supported or refuted, it's Moore's work. There are tons of documentaries being done in this style, a story told from one view point, but Moore's gets the most attention and I tried to find out why. I think quite simply, it's the topic. People are very passionate about their political beliefs, and why shouldn't they? It probably has the greatest impact on their day to day lives.
I saw another documentary piece recently titled Super Size Me about a man's 30 day experiment to show you why fast food is bad for the human body. This movie was a McDonald's bash fest like what Fahrenheit did to Bush, but I haven't seen any reaction (except from McDonald's themselves) on the scale that Moore gets for his piece. Where are the McDonald's fans, the fast food fans defending or shredding such a controversial piece. The filmmaker 30 day fast food experiment wasn't even scientific which should make it more controversial, but alas, it's all about the topic. If you don't want to stir up passion (please do actually) don't mess with people's politics.
My prediction is that Senator Kerry will win this election. Even though he's down in the polls, the difference is negligible and you have to take other factors into consideration when determining the outcome, like the polls that are taken to figure out who's leading whom. A sizeable (one that would matter in this close election) group of people were unreachable by polls in this age of cell phones. Pollers can't call cell phones. People with cell phones only (like me), can't be reached. People with cell phones tend to be young adults and young adults tend to vote Democrat. I think it's enough to give Kerry the edge.
Onto another topic: The vote or shut up mentality. I don't support this attitude. Vote or not vote, it doesn't matter. It only takes a small percentage, something like 4 percent, if the group is properly mixed to represent the whole group, we would get an accurate result by the 4 percent. The trouble is when the group isn't properly mixed, when all of one group decides to not vote. If you want an accurate election, pressure society to vote. Don't blame the media for doing its job.
Next, delayed results. Get your act together. Get those votes counted quick. Cut down on the lawsuits that delay the results past election night. Voters will quit voting if this keeps up. Fix the system.
Nader deciding to run which both sides claimed would hurt the Dems is a good thing. Kudos to Nader for exercising the format of how our democracy is supposed to work. The Constitution doesn't support a two party system, it's society that's supporting that. So if you don't like having a third or fourth or more parties running, stealing votes from the your precious two party system, change society's views on the two party system and encourage people to vote for the actual candidate they like the most, not vote for the party. Straight ticket voting is for the lazy. There are liberal Republicans and there are conservative Democrats.
Finally, persecution of the undecided voter. It's simple. Undecided voters are being pressured to pick the guy who likes chocolate over the guy who likes peanut butter. It doesn't matter who becomes President. That's why they're undecided. Because you take your issues more seriously blinds you from understanding why the undecided exist.
This will be my first time voting in a booth. I've only done absentee in the past. I hope I know how to work it. There are some clueless people out there voting, I'm sure I can figure it out. Just an hour away now before Mrs. Lock and I head out to make our voice heard.
That's all for now.
Lock
