[saymaListserv] Campaign Reform

[Steve Livingston]

Recently there have been several news items in the MSM about "getting 
out the vote". They have focused on methods used by the principle 
parties to identify potential voters and incentives. To my mind, 
"getting more people" is not always a good thing, especially when the 
people are single issue voters who know nothing more about the candidate 
than what they hear in a single telephone call from a campaign worker. 
For example, in the news report I heard yesterday on NPR, there was a 
clip of a worker asking an elderly woman what issue was most important 
to her. "Illegal Immigration" was her reply. Would this woman be 
persuaded to vote on that basis?  If she knew that the candidate she was 
being persuaded to vote for was also a strong supporter of gutting her 
Social Security, would that affect her decision?

I have a hard time with the idea of "all the people" voting when so many 
are disinterested in or disenchanted with the political process, or 
voting on the basis of unenlightened self-interest. I don't think 
getting out the vote on election day is really in right order. I think 
it's more important to address what potential voters are getting out of 
the campaign process prior to election day than what the candidates are 
getting out of potential voters on election day.

Steve