It is not lost on me that though I grew up in the Middle East, I was born a citizen of the United States. I am incredibly grateful that I have a say in deciding who is going to run the government that runs my country. While women in the country where I was raised are still fighting for an opportunity simply to drive a car, I am given the opportunity tomorrow to get in my car, well truck, drive to the polls and cast my vote.
I read this morning that officials are expecting less than 25% of the population to come out to the polls. This to me is a great travesty. It completely blows my mind.
I remember one time, I think it was a presidential election, I had to stand on line and wait. There were two very tall men who were friends on either side of me, they were talking above me. This is fairly common for me, considering that I'm am incredibly short compared to my family, and I work with very tall people.
Anyway, the night before I had gone through and made myself a cheat sheet to take to the polls so I would remember who I wanted to vote for in the local races, and whether I wanted to vote yes or no on item 72. Anyone who has ever voted knows that there are always local items on the ballot, and if you don't prepare, you have no idea what to vote. Unfortunately many people often vote based on name recognition or party without actually knowing who or what they are voting for. Because my parents always voted absentee when we were kids, I actually got to watch them read the directions, and go through and punch holes in the right squares. I knew before the first time I ever voted that there would be more than just the question about the president.
Back to the taller than me men, one of them looked down at my organized paper and said "we have to vote on all that?"
"yes"
"can I borrow your paper?"
Ummm...
So this morning, with an election tomorrow, I was working on my list. There isn't too much on the ballot this time. I especially appreciate the
website that has the spreadsheet with each candidates' ideals. I don't appreciate the candidates that don't answer the questions. I mainly ignore the campaigning until about the week before and then go read about all the candidates.
A side note, I think a great way to reduce the cost and waste associated with campaigning would be to just have everyone answer the questions, and then have people vote based on that info. Candidates could create their own websites too and call it a day. It would be pretty much free.
Back to the election. This year I will be voting on the commissioner of agriculture, which in Kentucky seems to be a decently important position. With the horse industry in the middle of the state and the corn, soy bean, wheat, and tobacco production here is west Kentucky, agriculture is a big source of state revenue.
So I was reading about the two candidates, which I previously knew nothing about. Let me break it down for you. The democratic candidate is a guy whose last name is Farmer. He has worked in private business, in marketing and advertising. He has no farming experience, he said so himself. He wants to heavily market the agricultural industry. He also has never held a public office before, another thing he stated himself. As I drove home for lunch I noticed his catchy "Farmer Bob" signs. A little misleading I think.
The other guy, the republican candidate, has a nondescript name. He has always worked in farming. He has also held office in the state house of representatives. He has held other leadership roles within Kentucky agriculture. I think he raises beef cattle, but don't quote me. He wants to increase export of Kentucky products, increase rural development, protect Kentucky agriculture, and lastly, one small statement about using social media and other modern marketing techniques to market Kentucky agriculture better.
My co-worker and I were discussing this, and the other candidates in the other races. He, thankfully, takes voting seriously, he will probably wear an "I voted" sticker all day tomorrow. He said "yeah because so many farmers check facebook as they drive their tractors."
But then I got to thinking about it. The guy that first helped me figure out how to use my iphone is an Ag major, he is from a soybean and corn growing family. He actually gets daily texts about the market value of wheat, corn, and soybeans. I am not kidding. My East Coast, and West Coast, and Canadian friends are probably laughing. He has also fixed my internet in hotels on team trips.
I'm not sure for sure who to vote for yet, I need to talk to some people.
But my question is this, of the 25% of people (or less) who will actually show up to vote tomorrow, how many of them will think about who they are voting for on any item other than governor before arriving at the polls? And how many of them will vote for the guy named Farmer, just because of his name?
