What Is a “Meg Moment”?

November 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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If you’ve been paying attention to recent voting politics, you may have run into the term “Meg moment.” This is especially true if you reside in the state of California. So, what exactly is a “Meg moment,” and where did the term originate?

The term is based on Meg Whitman, a republican candidate for office in the state. In an interview Meg was asked what her voting habits were when she was younger. She responded by stating that she actually hadn’t voted for the majority of her adult life.

This statement was seized on by political adversaries of Whitman, who quickly began coining the phrase “Meg moment.” The idea of a Meg moment is one in which you are embarrassed due to the revelation that you didn’t vote, or regretted not voting because of the turnout of the political scene, your life, your ambitions, or something related.

The most notable place where the term has come into play is an ad sponsored by the California Labor Federation. Their brief television spot uses footage of Whitman’s own statements and concludes with a remind that everyone should go out and vote, especially since it can help avoid a “Meg moment” like the embarrassing one they witnessed in the ad.

It’s unlikely that the phrase itself will stick, especially after Whitman moves away from the mainstream political scene. Nonetheless, it is an important thing to recall that not voting can lead to regret later on in life. Even if your vote does not strongly impact the outcome, it may impact your own sense of civic responsibility, your feelings of responsibility and empowerment within your community, or even political ambitions. Whether you’d like to call it a “Meg moment” or not, be sure that you avoid the downfalls of not voting, and get out to vote in every major election your area holds.

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Voter Turnouts by Demographic

November 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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Different locations, elections, and issues will get different results from groups across the board. Men and women, people of various political backgrounds, those with different beliefs, and those from different cultural all respond to different campaign styles and issues. However, it is certain that there are many groups who are under-represented when it comes to our nation’s polls.

The group who has the strongest representation in our democratic processes are the white, middle and upper-middle class females. Women exceed men in voter turnout by portion of the population and by popular vote. The long, hard struggle to gain a voice in Washington may have this group motivated to do what they need to be heard.

However, the same does not apply to other groups who also had to struggle for a right to voice. Minorities often lack full representation, with African-Americans seeing under a fifty percent turnout, and Hispanic-Americans seeing even less than that. Both of these groups voted at nearly a two-thirds proportion during the 2008 election, proving the immense power of their group when it comes to relevant struggles. However, this remains the exception and not the rule.

Beyond gender and race demographics, economics also seem to play a significant part. While those in the middle, upper-middle, and upper class see moderate to high voter turnout, those of lower-middle or lower class make it to the polls comparatively rarely.

For democracy to function in the way it was intended, all individuals, regardless of race, culture, economic position, and so forth, must cast their vote. This is especially important if you’re part of a group that is less represented. These smaller groups often don’t vote because they lack education on the matter, but it may also be because they feel that their minority position gives them insufficient voice to make any real impact. However, if the 2008 election is any proof, this simply isn’t so.

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Tea Party Making Waves in This Year’s Election Season

October 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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What Is the Tea Party?

If you haven’t been watching the news, then you may have missed the many political protests organized by the Tea Party, a movement that has been used to promote change in the government. The name refers to the Boston Tea Party, when American colonists demonstrated their disagreement with the British Government over issues such as the importation of tea (which the British government tried to monopolize).

The modern day protests are in opposition to things such as the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and the health care reform bills that have been passed recently. Tea Party members are calling for less control from the government and the government answering to the people. One of their goals is for the government to note in every piece of legislation what gives them the right to pass that law in accordance to the Constitution. Many members feel that the government handles too many issues that should be left to the people to regulate.

Making Waves in Primaries

This grass roots movement has made a big impact on this year’s Primaries. Despite President Obama’s campaign for change, many voters feel that the changes made over the last two years have not been the changes needed. The economy is still abysmal and jobs are scarce for many people. If there were ever a time when a movement such as the Tea Party were to be successful, it would be now.

What is so surprising is how many candidates have won in the primaries despite not being backed by the Republican Party. These candidates who are supported by the Tea Party Movement are Republicans and are deeply conservative (being politically aligned on the far right of the political scale). Being so extreme, it’s surprising that so many have won their Primary elections. The next step is to knock off their Democratic opponents and win spots in the Senate.

If they win, the goal of these candidates is to repeal the health care reform acts that have been passed and make other needed changes.

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Voting for Issues, Not Candidates

October 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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There are many people who vote according to the party they align with, and oftentimes this party was selected simply because the parents of the person in question favored that party. However, a new paradigm is arriving which prompts people to vote more for the issues than the candidates. In fact, there are now more independent voters than there have been in all but a few brief segments of U.S. history.

There are various reasons why it’s important to vote on the issues rather than for the party of the candidate. The idea behind democracy is that people can elect those who best represent their ideals. However, the unfortunate reality of a system that relies just on two parties is that the ideals of the people often don’t even surface. By focusing on your core values and the important issues to you, you will be able to make a more significant and democratic impact in how the U.S. functions.

There are some additional risks because of the two-party system. If people ally with one side or the other for every issue regardless of any dissonance in stances, the parties begin to completely polarize the political scene. The extremes of each side will continue to drive one another further to the opposite end, creating a political climate of absolutes, rather than one based on actual public opinion.

Additionally, not every candidate within the same party has the same stances on all issues. There are democrats who are nonetheless pro-life, republicans who are in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage, and John McCain himself helped sponsor a bill for stem cell research. By understanding and voting on the issues themselves rather than the party that your candidate is a part of, you avoid the possibility of voting for someone who does not accurately reflect your views.

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Voter Registration Fraud Sees a Resurgence as a Mainstream Issue

October 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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It’s been a while since political news talked about voter fraud. There was the scandal with ACORN, of course, but that wasn’t actually people submitting invalid votes—it was simply a group who received government funding registering people who didn’t exist (and would subsequently never make it to the polls) in order to get bonuses. Back in 2006 there was a strong movement from conservative politicians and activists claiming that there were actually many false votes and corrupted polling locations that were tilting the scales.

It’s important that when claims like this come up they are given due diligence, and such was the case back in ’06. The research showed that there was almost no validity to the claims at all, but that didn’t prevent the controversy from damaging the voter rights movements—reducing the number of voter registration groups who could get funding, giving bad PR to those who tried to push for candidates who were a part of the accusations, and so forth.

Now, in 2010, there is a new group claiming that voter registration fraud is running rampant in our polls. The group is the Tea Party members and organizers, and they’ve begun challenging a number of applications for voter registration due to the fact that they think the person (or group of people) is ineligible.

There are many groups on the more liberal end of the spectrum, as well as voting rights advocates, who have done what they can to counter these tactics, describing them as a “scare approach” that’s aimed at shooing away both the impoverished and minorities.

Conservative activists, conversely, are pushing to be certain that the voting itself remains fair and within legal boundaries. Some have gone as far as calling for police surveillance at polls, which many voting rights advocates fear will reduce the number of people who turn out for voting, especially in an already under-voted midterm election.

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How Swing Voters Affect Elections

September 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Have you ever thought about how swing voters can affect the outcome of an election? For some areas, there are so many voters of one party or another that diminish the effect of swing voters, such as states that are deeply red or deeply blue, but for many states, a large percentage of the voters are made of independents who might vote for either a Republican candidate or a Democrat candidate depending on their platforms and values.

This is what the candidates try to appeal to these swing voters. Of course, in any election, you want to strengthen your loyal voters to vote for you as well, but it’s the swing voters, the voters who are not swayed by political party alone, that are in need of persuading.

Another thing that candidates are trying to gain through advertising is passion enough to get potential up from their seats and voting. Too many citizens of the U.S. are apathetic when it comes to politics and don’t take the time to register to vote or to take the opportunity to vote when it’s presented. Considering how many people died to give this right to us, to each and every person who is 18 years of age and older, it’s too bad that so many people take that right for granted. If candidates can get potential voters fired up about the elections and excited about voting, that candidate is more likely to win.

Swing voters are not the only thing that can effect elections. For presidential elections, swing states also have an impact. These are states that in the past have sometimes voted for the Republican candidate and sometimes voted for the Democratic candidate. It will be these states that typically determine the outcome of an election. It’s also these states that the presidential candidates will visit most often. For states that are definitively Republican or Democrat, candidates feel there is no point, but for states that can go one way or the other, candidates will visit them to try and persuade voters to vote for them. So get out and vote!

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