1/ A little thread on voting.

Working on a local political campaign confirmed something I had long suspected: candidates base their campaigns on who is likely to vote, and make those estimates based on who reliably voted in the past.

2/ In other words, at no point does a candidate say, "who didn't vote?" or "why not?" It's just not worth their time. They need votes. They're going to have an easier time getting those votes from people who already voted.

3/ Then, the candidate identifies things important to those voters. In my (aging) district, that means talking about senior citizens, small businesses, etc. Initially, we talked about a campaign to reach younger voters but scrapped it. The data showed we needed reliable voters.

4/ To which you might say, "hey, if you spoke about issues important to young people, they'd vote!" But I hope Bernie's primary puts that myth to rest. He said everything you could possibly say to get young voters, and their turnout was still low.

5/ Not voting or "protest" voting then becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. You don't vote, a candidate sees that and focuses on other voters, then you don't like their message, so you don't vote again, so they don't see you as important, and they focus on other people.

6/6 If you really want to get their attention, here's what you do: vote in every single election. Vote for your town's dog catcher. People do this, and politicians notice. Vote every time, always picking the best possible candidate. That's how you get a voice in our gov't.

A final thought here: not voting is a lose-lose. If the bad guy wins, congrats, some bastard is gonna spend the next 2-6 years using endangers species for target practice or something. If the better candidate wins, congrats, they got there w/out you and don't care what you think.

There's nothing to gain from not voting and everything to gain from voting. It's not purity. It's not a protest. It's cynicism, laziness, and self-defeat. Make your voice heard. People will notice if you do.