Why Rummy should stay.

Because if he takes the fall for the Administration, Bush is off the hook for all the defense (and offense) failures that have taken place on his watch. Call me Machiavellian if you want, but Rumsfeld ‘walking the plank’ gives Bush an easy scapegoat – and once again, he avoids having to take responsibility for his own incompetency.

Need to Vote

One of Jeanne’s posts from last week commented on an LA Times Op-Ed by David Shipley, Why John Kerry Needs the Needy. Shipley & Jeanne both discuss something I’ve been thinking about, myself, this electoral season.

Historically, the lower a person’s income is, the greater his support for the Democrats — but the less likely he is to vote.

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Because the poor don’t vote in large numbers, candidates don’t usually speak to their issues. And because their issues are not addressed, the poor don’t see much point in voting.

There are two other aspects to this self-defeating voting pattern: address stability and single-issue voting. The very poor are more likely to move frequently – or be homeless – than the general population, so they are less likely to receive voting & campaign materials, and less likely to be fully informed of ballot issues, candidate positions, and even their own polling place. Single-issue voting is fairly self-explanatory – lots of folks vote in favor of GOP policies that pay lip-service to "supporting troops" or "improving Medicare" or "fighting terrorism" and so on, but they often don’t have the time or wherewithal to research the policies behind the soundbites. Yes, many poor folks who are adversely affected by GOP policies (cutting Veteran’s benefits, for example) actually supported them. This has more to do with how the GOP frames the debate – and reduces the issues to manageable sound-bites – than with a lack of interest in policy issues among poor voters (or non-voters, as the case may be) or a deep support for the GOP Agenda. So the question is, how to inform and excite low-income non-voters? How to get those MOST affected by Bush’s policies to the voting booth in November? The same way you encourage ALL non-voters: accessibility. How to do it:

1. Vote on Saturday or on a newly-designated polling holiday.
2. Open polls for the entire 24-hour period (12:01 AM to 12:00 Midnight) of Election Day. This frees up those who don’t work day shifts, or those who are otherwise legitimately indisposed from 7am to 9pm – those who are less likely to vote because they are stuck at work, those who get stuck working double-shifts – to still make it to the polls, even if they are burdened by an excessive commute. Even if Election Day was a holiday, there are too many employers to list who will still remain open – many retailers and restaurants no longer observe holidays, and in fact run special sales on holidays, requiring additional employees to work holidays – leaving many low-income workers STILL unable to vote during standard work hours.
3. Accept the fact that most people get their news and opinions from mass media – Television and Radio. Use it.
   • Aggressively advertise the election itself on Television and Radio – the fact of it, leaving aside campaign rhetoric. Market the drama of the direct democratic act of voting.
   • Push for more mandated, FREE TV/Radio non-partisan coverage of election issues and candidate debates, including a minimum number of public debates. Nothing irks me more during a campaign season than not being allowed to watch debates – debates being reduced to cable-only, that’s a blow against democracy. Poor people can’t afford cable. Hell, I can’t afford cable. Let the candidates make their FULL cases for election, let them present their platforms – don’t leave it to the news outlets to decide what we should hear. Assume we’re all intelligent enough to understand, rather than spoonfeeding the candidates’ talking points to us. USE the media – we’ve been used by it long enough.
4. More polling places. How, I don’t know. More of them, with smaller precincts, to make it easier on those who don’t have the luxury of access to wheels of their own. Perhaps a kind of mobile voting booth that could be set-up wherever needed.
5. With all this to-do of electronic voting, isn’t it fairly easy to allow folks to check-in at a polling place of their choice, and vote wherever is actually closest to their place of employment or daytime location? Options, options, options.

Add your own suggestions! The point is to make voting as inclusive a process as possible. Yes, voting is worth working for … but it’s also worth making accessible to everyone equally. And inclusion isn’t just about walking distance (though that’s an important matter – a two-mile walk for a disabled vet without access to transit services is much further than a two-mile drive for someone able-bodied and financially more stable) – it’s about information. Access to information should not be exclusively available to those of us with home computers or cable televison.

Anyone done a Meetup?

Surely some of you internet activist types out there have taken part in a Meetup. What do you think? Is it a successful way to build grassroots support? To build a network of campaign volunteers? Learn about a candidate?

I’ve been tempted for far too long. I finally signed on with the Kerry Meetup group. We’ll see if the Curse of Sacramento Ennui implodes this group.

Jerry Springer? THE Jerry Springer?

Jerry Springer for Ohio :: A Hello To Everyone from Jesse Taylor.

Pandagon’s Jesse is now blogging for Jerry. Jerry for Ohio. Jerry Springer. Yes, THAT Jerry Springer.

Um … what?