According to Robert Reich, the largest political party is the party of non-voters. See "The Politics of Fear and the Party of Non-Voters" on his blog, 2012-10-09.
My own take was published in today's Duluth News Tribune at http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/247683/group/Opinion/ and follows
Will another election be given away by no-shows?
Consider that more people have stayed away in most elections than have voted for the eventual winners.
The following data is compiled from the American Presidency Project at presidency.ucsb.edu/.
Since 1980, turnouts varied between 47 percent and 53 percent of the voting-age populations. That means that more people stayed away than voted for the successful candidates.
If we multiply the turnout by the winner’s percentage of votes cast, we get:
--26.6 percent for President Reagan in 1980
--31.2 percent for Reagan in 1984
--26.8 percent for President Bush in 1988
--23.7 percent for President Clinton in 1992
--24.1 percent for Clinton in 1996
--24.6 percent for President George W. Bush in 2000
--28.0 percent for Bush in 2004
--30.4 percent for President Obama 2008
No matter who you favor, consider that if you stay away from the polls because you don’t want to vote for “the lesser of two evils,” you actually may be helping elect the candidate you consider “the greater of two evils.”
If you want a better democracy, show up on Election Day, vote for your choices, and proudly wear your “I voted” sticker.
Melvyn Magree
Duluth
- End of letter
And remind your friends and relatives to vote!
