Don’t Complain If You Don’t Vote (Them Out)
By Wes Keene | February 16, 2010 | In Category: Elections, General
Reason Magazine recently posted analysis of a poll conducted by CBS News and the New York Times. The headline? 8% of Americans actually want Congress to be re-elected. 80% say Congress is more interested in helping special interests, than them. The article correctly points out:
“And yet, that same public will almost undoubtedly return about 90 percent of incumbents running for reelection to office.”
“Americans are pretty terrible at throwing the bums out, no matter what we tell pollsters.”
Sadly, it’s true. We whine and complain and some of us even write heated mails, but who will dare go to the polls armed with actual research and vote what’s right, not who’s name looks more familiar on the ballot.
Indeed, the statistics show we rarely ever do what’s right in the voting booth. In particular, you could be surprised to learn that the best year for kicking bums out of office was 1980 when only 55% of the Senate got re-elected. That’s still pathetic. In a completely dysfunctional government, 45% of those responsible get to keep their jobs. That’s not acting like responsible voters.
Everyone likes to talk about 1994 when the GOP took over. Well, it wasn’t such a banner year statistically because we re-elected 90% of the House and 92% of the Senate that year. It was barely a blip on the radar.
If you wonder why Pelosi, Reid, Nelson, Shumer, and others act with such reckless disregard for their constituents, it’s because you’ll keep letting them.
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