15%… that’s what this election (as well as most in recent history) will come down to. That’s it. In fact, the number might be lower, but you don’t really know. Polls are notoriously wrong. When the major polls say that Barack Obama leads John McCain by 6-7 points, that is actually more like 2-3 points. Why? Mainly because the people who take these polls are not working (because the polls are during the day), uneducated (because they are not working during the day), and uninformed (the polls are designed with questions on soundbites, not issues). Now realistically, these are vast generalizations, but they are nonetheless true for the most part.
What 15% am I talking about. The 15% of voters that every candidate drools over. It’s the 15% of voters who start paying attention to politics around primary times, and around the time of the worthless debates. It’s the 30 second-soundbite crowd, who pick a cable or network news channel to listen to and form opinions off of what some partisan hack on TV has to say. Basically, it’s the people that shouldn’t be voting, but do any way because they think they will feel better about themselves.
Don’t be part of that group, that mindless, uneducated, uninformed 15% who voted more times for the last American Idol than for President of the united States. 85% of Americans (or more) have already made up there minds. The two main parties can count on their base of support, as well as ten to fifteen percent of people that aren’t registered Democrats of Republicans but who will lean that way and vote that way a majority of the time. If you are truly torn between the two main candidates (and I don’t see how that can be), that is one thing. I’m not talking to you.
I’m talking to the masses of voters who stream into polls every four years, expecting government to solve their problems. I’m talking to the 18-22 year old college stuents who have been told in no uncertain terms by their college professors that liberalism works and that they should vote for Barack Obama. I’m talking to the people who vote to feel all good about themselves like Bob Schieffer said last night. Bob, I don’t vote to feel good about myself. I vote to express my belief in ideals and to voice beliefs on issues that I deem important. In fact, most of the time, I don’t feel very good about voting. I’m left dumbfounded, saying to myself, ‘Is this all there is? Certainly there is somebody better.” Alas, I leave the polling place with my American flag sticker that proudly states, “I voted” in dismay, knowing that some girl out there with a limited high school education of civics just negated my vote because she listened to CNN that morning before she spent four dollars at Starbucks for sugary coffee, getting into her brand-new (and leased) minivan with her “My government-educated son is smarter than you government-educated son” sticker on the back. She’ll go to PTA that night and hear teachers who are members of teachers’ unions talk about how much they think that “school choice” and “vouchers” and “charter schools” are a bad idea because it will make education a business and not a right. She’ll collect her paycheck the next week and not understand why the government takes so much of her paycheck, but will hope that the “Change” that she just voted for was enough to help her pay her mortgage that she can’t afford on the new house she bought on an Adjustable-Rate Mortgage three years ago that she and her husband bought because they wanted to live “The American Dream (whatever that is). She’ll also hope that the “Change” she voted for will give her affodable health insurance, which she heard one time was her “right.” She’ll open up her credit card bill the next day and see that she and her husband spent more than they said they were going to spend this month, which only adds to their mounting personal debt. She looks at some of the charges and sees Comcast Cable, Applebee’s, Walt Disney World (for next month’s family vacation), and of course, Starbucks (“Dang, honey, $4.32 at Starbucks everyday is really adding up.” her husband says. “I deserve it,” she responds emphatically).
Folks, this is not hard. If you want your taxes to go up, vote for “Change.” If you want the Freedom of Choice Act (allowing unrestricted abortion in every state) to be passed within the first three months of a new administration, vote for “Change.” If you want our soldiers, airmen, and sailors to come home to a country that denigrates their service, vote for “Change.” If you want your government-educated, government-employed, $12.32/hour case-worker to tell you when you are allowed to go to the dentist or when you are allowed to get the x-ray of your foot that you injured last night, and if you want to put ANYBODY in government (Democrat or Republican) in charge of the health care decisions that you make, vote for “Change.” If you want to vote for change for change’s sake (not because it is the right thing to do, vote for “Change.” If you want to see your favorite boutique, your favorite local restaurant, your favorite golf course, and your favorite local supermarket go out of business because of higher taxes, vote for “Change.” Go for it… do it… I know you want to.
But if you think to yourself, “Government isn’t the answer to my problems – I am,” don’t vote for change. Vote for somebody else, but don’t vote to change. If you look at the markets and say to yourself, “Dang, my 401(k) sure did take a hit this year – that’s alright, I’m in it for the long haul. This is the free market at work”, don’t vote for change. If you think that the unborn children of the world deserve to be protected and preserved, and not discarded like they are some nuisnace or some pest, treated instead like who they are – children of God, made in the image of God, for the glory of God – precious creations that deserve to be nurtured and loved, don’t vote for change. If you think that you can make your own decisions about your health care and prefer not to have to run to “Change” to ask if it’s okay to get seen for your abdominal pain or sinus problems, don’t vote for change. If you want more control over your life and would prefer the government to leave you the heck alone, don’t vote for change.
The decision is yours. Unfortunately, more people than not are eerily similar to the family I described above. That’s why I do not see John McCain winning this election. I also don’t see Barack Obama winning by more than 3-4 points, if that. As my wife said last night, “We survived Clinton.” I suppose we did… why not move forward though?
Excellence in Everything, and All to the Glory of God 