USATODAY.com – Fewer primary voters ‘define the range of choices’
I found this via Raising Kaine via Daily Kos. 3.5% of Virginia voters turned out to vote in the primary. At the school where I voted, it was about 6%, which I thought was pretty terrible, but apparently we were ahead of the rest of the state. Now, I know there’s a Republican incumbent, so the Republican half of the primary is pretty trivial. But Virginia allows you to vote in either one. Those who want Senator George Allen to retain his seat certainly could have decided which of the two Democrats had a better chance of winning, and voted for the other guy.
This seems to be either voter stupidity or voter apathy. We have a President with a 36% approval rating. If that doesn’t get people out to vote, what will? Maybe we need to lose some more civil rights to the war on terror. Maybe we do need a national ID card, something we’d be required to present all the time to prove our citizenship. Maybe a draft, to send ground troops in to help Israel, or to invade North Korea.
It blows my mind that people don’t vote. And then they try to use dissatisfaction with the government as justification. If you don’t vote, then you don’t get to complain about the government. I don’t care if George W. Bush himself comes to your house, installs a bug in your phone, and then kicks your dog. I have no sympathy for you if you don’t vote.