Vote today or forfeit you’re hard-won and patience-trying right to whine about the result and its after-effects for the next four years. Really. You tell me you don’t vote, I don’t hear what you’ve got to say about the state of the world. The Cubs, “American Idol,” Angelina Jolie, “the technique of the young Picasso vs. that of the old,” that wild stock market, the latest developments in cosmology, genetics or subatomic physics–we can converse on all that and more (though I don’t promise I’ll understand most of the above). But no bitching about politicians, the system, activist judges, shady lobbyists, budget deficits, or any of the rest of that election-implicated stuff. You open your mouth on any of that, and, to quote the immortal former Chicago cop Jack Walsh, here come two words to you.
Who Votes
I’ll refrain from beating the usual dead horse–why don’t more people vote?–just to observe that the turnout estimate for California is just over 50 percent of registered voters. To break it down with the round numbers I heard on the news, the state has 22 million-some eligible voters, 15.8 million of whom are registered. About 8.1 million of the registered group is expected to vote, because nothing is on the ballot except the usual–the state’s future. But I said I wouldn’t beat that horse, and I won’t, except to offer the quick off-the-cuff arithmetic that 8.1 million out of 22 million is something like 37 percent. I think the Iraqis, with deadly peril all around, did a lot better than that. But then, they have something to vote for.