Why people don't vote

A very sad thing happened on Tuesday. We held a runoff election in
Texas and 97 percent of the registered voters in Austin stayed home.
Austin, in case you don't remember your high school geography, is the
capital of Texas. It is also a high-tech Mecca and one of the fastest
growing cities in America.

Yet only 3 percent of the registered voters cared enough about who
would be their judicial, state school board, Texas House of
Representative or constable candidates to vote. What makes the 3
percent turnout even more depressing is that our early voting period
spans ten days. In addition, 98 percent of those who are eligible to
vote in Austin are registered.

When you ask people why they didn't vote, the answers come in all
flavors. But the bottom line is the same. Far too many Americans have
lost faith in the political process. It's no longer relevant to their
lives. They are tired of the lies. And they don't think that there is
a dime's bit of difference between the two parties.

If you doubt my words, then chew on this. This week, the press
reported that Newt Gingrich's divorce was finalized. It turns out that
while Newt was talking about family values and the Contract for America
in 1993, he was cheating on his wife with a House of Representatives
staffer who was about Monica's age. I believe that Newt's infidelity to
his wife had more to do with the failed impeachment vote on Clinton than
anyone wants to admit. After all, how can Republicans impeach a
president for doing exactly what their speaker of the House was doing?

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What makes Newt's sin so egregious is that no one cares anymore.
It's not front-page news. It's not fodder for the talk shows. It's
just not important to most of us anymore.

That's how far we have fallen, my friends. And we can't blame it all
on the Democrats or the liberals, either. There is a pox on all of our
houses, and I am worried about what will come next.

A wise man once said that people who don't believe in something will
fall for anything. My friends, far too many Americans no longer believe
in the importance of the political process. Far too few Americans
believe that they can make a difference in what their country, their
state or their community does.

We are at a frightening time in America's history. Far too many
Americans are desperate for meaning in their lives. I fear that they
are ripe for a strong, charismatic demagogue to fire them up and give
them something to believe in.

If people don't care enough to vote in the capital of the state whose
governor is running for president, I shudder to think what is happening
out in the hinterlands. Remember, this is the most important election
that we will have in the next two decades. We have the census, a
presidential election with no incumbent, and every seat in the U.S. and
every state House of Representatives up for grabs. Next year, because
of
November's election and the Census, we will change every congressional
and state representative district.

The November election is huge, yet in Austin, only 3 percent cared
enough to vote in a runoff election to decide who was going to be on the
November ballot.

So what do we do? We, those of us who know how precious America is.
Those of us who care about the men and women who died so we could be
free to vote. Those of us who have seen tyranny with our own eyes.
Those of us who are sick and tired of the professional politicians of
both parties. We must get off our collective behinds and make sure that
all of our friends and neighbors vote in November.

America is too important to trust the politicians to do the right
thing by us. Anyway, it's our darn country and our money. It's time
for us to act like owners.

Each of you who reads my words must promise me that you will get 10
people to vote in November who haven't voted before. Because if you
don't, it won't happen.

The stakes are frighteningly clear. No one has guaranteed America
anything.

If we the people don't revitalize our political process, we will lose
this great country. Because the dry rot is at an advanced stage, my
friends. If we don't stop it soon, we will fall like every great
country and empire that came, conquered and fell before us.