Price of Admission

We call it an amusement park because the idea is to laugh, and have a good, fun time. Elections are a lot like amusement parks. Except for the amusing part. 

Lots of rides that go around and around, up and down, and upside down; all sorts of exhibits that show you something never seen before; games of chance where the chance to win is actually in question. The process itself and its participants are all too similar. Giving the consumer/voter the impression that we are getting something for our investment, and that we should enjoy doing it. 

Given how campaign ads can pop up on one’s phone, it has been hard to totally ignore the noise of “vote for me” alerts. I have done my best. I know enough about the players. I don’t need any encouragement.

What I did notice is the lack of targeting of the young voters. There are an estimated 500,000 kids, 18 – 22, who are voting for the first time. That is a lot of votes. It is also a population that has been sent to battle, has watched fathers and brothers being sent to battle. Too young to remember the retreat from Gaza, they grew up watching how it didn’t matter that we were no longer there. The Arabs were still trying to kill us. They also know how what we have done until now has not worked. This demographic is ripe for the picking. Or so I would have thought. 

The polls tell us that it’s really close, and that it’s entirely possible that we will need to do it again soon after. The process can be like this sometimes. On the other hand, the polls can be shown to be totally out of touch with what’s really happening, and the people make a definitive statement. 

Regardless of how this does play out, it should be reiterated – we are not done here. What happens might take more or less time, but we will be here.