Campaigns: do the math

The pomp and circumstance of the election campaigns has blown me away. The candidates raise millions of dollars and spend it trying to convince us to vote for them. I've been walking around smugly with the argument: "If our votes don't count, why are they spending so much trying to win them?"

But then I started doing some pre-No-Child-Left-Behind math. Between February and June of 2004, Bush spent $8.8 million on advertising in Ohio. Kerry spent $6.8 million, and whoever those third-party candidates are spent $6.9 million. With roughly 7.6 million voters registered in the swing state, a little less than $3 was spent on each voter. Now, I'm not from Ohio, but I think my vote means more than a hamburger and fries.

Rumor has it that Lyndon Johnson gave out $5 bills to people who would vote for him in the 1948 election. Even without inflation, that's more than was spent on individual voters in Ohio.

So three bucks multiplied by 7.6 million is a lot of money. But look at what it's spent on: slanderous advertisements, divisive bumper stickers, showy rallies. It's all rhetoric that doesn't inform the public. The candidates seem to have had no trouble reaching consensus on one thing: voters are easy. Are we so cheaply bought on hardnosed "stances" and "I'm better than him" arguments? The American public, it seems, is not such a hard sell anymore. We spend more time researching the cars we buy than the candidates we elect.

I wouldn't have such a problem with nonparticipation and apathy if it didn't work to the advantage of those already in power. Those who benefit from the system are going to support the system. Studies have found that people with more education, wealth, and power are more inclined to vote. It makes sense. If the system works for you, you're going to make sure it survives. But if you don't benefit, chances are you're already disenfranchised enough that you don't really care.

We are members of the 18-24 voting bracket, the bracket least likely to vote. Simultaneously, we're the ones who stand to be the most affected by election outcomes. We're the up-and-coming leaders of the country, the backbone of the economy. Of all the voters out there today, we'll be around the longest. We'll be the ones dealing with Social Security, education costs, healthcare nightmares, the potential draft, and environmental degradation.

I don't kid myself that one vote is going to do it all. Nor do I kid myself that disengaging is going to get me anywhere fast. Going to the polls this November is one small tribute to the fact that I'm worth more than three bucks.