Have You Done Your Homework About This Presidential Election?

Have you read about this presidential election? This guy you plan to vote for, have you read any books about him? Read them completely through? Have you read any books written by people who don’t like him? Have you read any books about the other candidate?

Don’t you think maybe you should? After all, this is the highest office in the land and all that. How can you say you are well-informed for this election if you have yet to read something substantial about both guys? Is your plan simply to depend on a few sound bites and attack ads? And a slip-up in one of the debates?

Have you even gone to the website of your guy? How about the other guy? Have you read each candidate’s positions on the issues?

If you haven’t done any of this, join the crowd. Most voters do a minimum of prep work before casting a ballot. 

Well, if you always vote the same party, why bother? We know your vote for the next 10 elections. And if you vote in a state that is not a swing state, why bother? You know your state’s electoral votes are baked in the cake. 

We could declare all the electoral votes from the non-swing states months in advance of the election. Then the debates could be directed solely toward voters in the swing states. And on election night we could simply follow the returns from those states.

Maybe you should still vote. Even if your vote doesn’t count. Show your spirit. Show your patriotism. To whom, though? Nobody is going to pay attention. Because your state’s electoral votes are already in the bag.

Wait a minute. There must be some reason to vote. Well, how about for the honor of it? Many people in this world are denied the vote. Go vote, to show the world you are proud to possess and practice this right.

But what if you stick your head up and somebody notices? Somebody like the infernal fundraisers. Those political buzzards. The ones who plug your mailbox with pleas. The ones who call you at night. Correction: The ones whose machines call you at night. They don’t care what state you vote in. They don’t care if you are in the State of New York, a state of confusion, a state of siege, or a state of disarray. As long as you are in a state of grace with your bank or credit card company and can make donations to their coffers.

This may be a good thing. They zero in on you and maybe you will give money. And your money will support the effort of your guy to win Ohio, Virginia, and Florida. Those are the swing states. You cannot vote with your votes in those states, but you can vote with your money.

Have you noticed how the candidates give lots of speeches in states they have no hope of carrying? Those speeches are for no other purpose than to raise money. Or maybe to create a headline. Romney’s chances of carrying New York are the same as Penn State’s chances of going to a bowl game next year. His chances of carrying away baskets of money from New York are excellent. He can do the same in Chicago. 

We could always bring in proportional voting. In other words, the electoral votes of a state would be divvied up. The divvying would be according to the popular vote. Romney would maybe get one New York electoral vote, Obama the other 28. 

A change like this would have its good and bad points. You could read about them. What are the chances you will? About the same as the chances you will read a lot of stuff about both candidates. 

I wish you good reading.

From Tom...as in Morgan.   

Tom Morgan writes about political, financial, and other subjects from his home near Oneonta, in addition to his radio shows and new TV show. For more information about him, visit his website at www.tomasinmorgan.com