montanadave
11-21-11, 17:08
Let's cut to the chase. To no one's surprise, the election in 2012 is going to be the most expensive in history. While some are estimating candidates and their supporters are going to shell out $6 billion to buy their way into office (http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/30/us-usa-campaign-spending-idUSTRE77T3ZX20110830), what with the Citizen's United SCOTUS decision and all, the actual number is probably going to be greater than that.
Only a fool would dispute the fact that our government is for sale to the highest bidder. People are willing to pay big money for votes. But, in reality, most of those votes are going for free, right? There's probably forty percent of the folks on the right that will vote for whatever stiff the GOP props up in front of them and an equal number of folks on the left who will vote to re-elect Obama regardless of what kind of shit leadership he's provided.
So the votes in play are actually that twenty percent of Americans hanging out in the middle who are pretty ambivalent about the whole thing, seeing it as a Hobson's choice between Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. So what are those votes worth?
About 130 million folks voted in the 2008 presidential election. Given Obama's lackluster (feel free to chose a stronger adjective if the spirit moves you) performance, he is unlikely to mobilize his base as strongly as he did four years ago. And, given the current GOP field, it's doubtful they are going to set any records either. And it's going to get ugly, real ugly, and that's probably going to sour more than a few folks on the whole enchilada.
Just for argument's sake, let's say we get 125 million voters to the polls. The twenty percent that's up for grabs translates into around 25 million people. Doing a little math, I divvy up that $6 billion and come up with about $240 a head (someone please check my math, I'm terrible with numbers). Not a king's ransom, to be sure, but it's not chump change either.
So, here's my deal. My vote for president is going to cost somebody a C-note. There's a senate seat up in Montana next year so that's going for $50. Ditto on Montana's one and only House seat. The local state reps can quibble over who's going to pony up the remaining forty bucks. Cash, no checks.
Now some reading this might think, "Jeepers, Dave, you seem to have become a tad skeptical, if not downright cynical, about our democratic process." On the contrary, I'm just trying to work within the system as it currently exists. As Charlie Brown's little sister, Sally, says while composing her Christmas letter to Santa Claus, "All I want is what I have coming to me. All I want is my fair share."
It is readily obvious that our political leadership in Washington have given up all pretense of attempting to govern, assuming they were ever capable of doing so in the first place. So I have few, if any, qualms about giving up any pretense of being a willing participant in this charade being passed off as a participatory democracy.
And when the first wise ass candidate asks how he/she can be assured that I will actually vote for them after taking their money, I'll just wink and tell 'em, "Guess you'll just have to trust me the same way I've always trusted you to vote to protect my best interests."
Only a fool would dispute the fact that our government is for sale to the highest bidder. People are willing to pay big money for votes. But, in reality, most of those votes are going for free, right? There's probably forty percent of the folks on the right that will vote for whatever stiff the GOP props up in front of them and an equal number of folks on the left who will vote to re-elect Obama regardless of what kind of shit leadership he's provided.
So the votes in play are actually that twenty percent of Americans hanging out in the middle who are pretty ambivalent about the whole thing, seeing it as a Hobson's choice between Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. So what are those votes worth?
About 130 million folks voted in the 2008 presidential election. Given Obama's lackluster (feel free to chose a stronger adjective if the spirit moves you) performance, he is unlikely to mobilize his base as strongly as he did four years ago. And, given the current GOP field, it's doubtful they are going to set any records either. And it's going to get ugly, real ugly, and that's probably going to sour more than a few folks on the whole enchilada.
Just for argument's sake, let's say we get 125 million voters to the polls. The twenty percent that's up for grabs translates into around 25 million people. Doing a little math, I divvy up that $6 billion and come up with about $240 a head (someone please check my math, I'm terrible with numbers). Not a king's ransom, to be sure, but it's not chump change either.
So, here's my deal. My vote for president is going to cost somebody a C-note. There's a senate seat up in Montana next year so that's going for $50. Ditto on Montana's one and only House seat. The local state reps can quibble over who's going to pony up the remaining forty bucks. Cash, no checks.
Now some reading this might think, "Jeepers, Dave, you seem to have become a tad skeptical, if not downright cynical, about our democratic process." On the contrary, I'm just trying to work within the system as it currently exists. As Charlie Brown's little sister, Sally, says while composing her Christmas letter to Santa Claus, "All I want is what I have coming to me. All I want is my fair share."
It is readily obvious that our political leadership in Washington have given up all pretense of attempting to govern, assuming they were ever capable of doing so in the first place. So I have few, if any, qualms about giving up any pretense of being a willing participant in this charade being passed off as a participatory democracy.
And when the first wise ass candidate asks how he/she can be assured that I will actually vote for them after taking their money, I'll just wink and tell 'em, "Guess you'll just have to trust me the same way I've always trusted you to vote to protect my best interests."