Today is Election Day and a great peace descends upon the land.
The candidates have argued, debated, reached out, asked for support, and talked themselves hoarse.
After weeks and months of ever-more-strident election ads on TV, persistent demands to donate money for your chosen candidate or party, continuous polling that will probably be wrong, and media pundits opining on the likely results, we all get to have our say.
Go to the Polls
Those of us who have not voted early or by mail will go out to the polls and register our decisions. For some, like me, voting will present no problems because we live in a state that hasn’t restricted access to the polls. For others, it will be difficult as they face long lines, bad weather, and armed insurrectionists in camo. But, still, we persist.
We persist because we know how important it is to vote—and how increasingly important our votes have become. We also know that, after today, voting may become even more difficult in too many places. Depending on the results of today’s voting, in some places corrupt officials may toss out the people’s will.
As of this morning, before most Election Day voting places had opened their doors, 44 million Americans had already voted. That’s an astonishing result for a midterm election where turnout is historically low.
A Barrage of Polling
In the past few weeks, the media have barraged us with the results of polls, as if poll opinions equaled votes. They ignore how polling has been wrong in the last two presidential elections and the results are likely to be wrong again now.
The polls got it wrong in 2016 because the pollsters missed large numbers of newly registered Trump voters. I predict the polls will be wrong again in 2022 because the pollsters have overlooked the large numbers of young people and women, who are newly Democratic voters.
Young people have signed up to vote so they can protest gun violence and school shootings. Women are voting to protect a woman’s right to control her own body. Botho issues provide a powerful motivation.
A Gullible Media
Now, I understand why the media focus on the polls: those numbers and charts give them something to talk about before Americans actually vote. Poll numbers keep the pundits busy and numbers write their own headlines in newspapers and on web sites. The gullible media report those results as if the story was the results and not who funded the barrage of polling in the first place. They don’t look behind the curtain to ask who is employing this tactic and why.
Oh, you might say, that’s because the “liberal media” just doesn’t get it. Consider this:
- Twitter is owned by Republican.
- Fox News is owned by a Republican.
- The Wall Street Journal is owned by a Republican
- CNN is owned by a Republican.
- OANN is owned by a Republican.
- Parler is owned by a Republican.
- Newsmax is owned by a Republican.
- Daily Wire is owned by a Republican.
You won’t find any liberal media in that list.
Voting is Up to Us
As of today, however, the media have had their say. The electioneers have done their best (sometimes). Now the midterm election is up to us.
If you haven’t voted yet, put on your coat and go to the polls. Yes, now. Right now. Don’t wait.
Tomorrow all this will be over. The American people will have some peace for about a year until the presidential campaigns rev up their engines.
Voting is your civic duty as an America. Persist.