Shh-hhhh....Pass the word...It's time to vote.

[kentuck]

Pass the word to everyone you know that their vote is important. If they want to save our country, then they should register and cast their vote against those presently in power. Otherwise, matters are going to get worse - much worse. If they think it doesn't matter and that they are all the same, they are tragically mistaken. Don't shirk your duty as a patriotic American - vote. Your country needs you now more than ever. Do not believe what you hear - believe what you see.

[welshTerrier2]

1. ain't gonna happen ...

should it happen? sure ... will it happen? no way ...

yeah, some of these non-voters are just lazy and ignorant ...

and i'm not defending what they do ... i have very close friends who don't vote ... but they do not trust politicians ... you can't say to them: "look how bad things are ... you have to vote!!"

it just doesn't go anywhere ... they'll respond: "politicians just cater to the wealthy ... voting for them won't fix anything ..."

they just won't do it ... and nagging them about it won't help at all ... what needs to change is exactly what they complain about ... politicians aren't addressing and solving their issues ... the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer ... politicians are safely tucked away in Washington ... incumbents win over and over and over in spite of the fact that things keep getting worse and worse and worse ...

rather than beating on the non-voters, what we need to do is make our representatives more accountable, more responsible and more visible ... if we are unable to awaken America and fight for a renewal of our democratic ideals, there is no hope we will get the great mass of non-voters to participate ...

you've identified a critically important goal but you've proposed the wrong way to achieve it ... perhaps it shouldn't be that way but it is ...

[Child_Of_Isis]

2. rather than beating on the non-voters,

how about beating on diebold so those of us do vote get counted.

[karynnj]

4. Maybe you have to do both

It's true there are some people who will never vote - because they either really don't care or are lazy. I was shocked in 1972 when I was told by an 18 year old, who could have voted in her first election, that she didn't want to vote because Nixon and McGovern weren't that different. In some ways, this is a person a vote is wasted on.

I like that people like Kerry, Dean, and Edwards (and likely others) are all trying to inspire people to become activists and to "make things voting issues". If they can wake up another small part of what should be our base, this will be good. The other thing is that to do it they have to be talking about what matters.

As to making our represntatives accountable, I agree with you - if over all a politician is consistently voting against your issues, you and others should vote them out, keeping in mind that no one will always vote as you want them to.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

3. This message didn't get across in 2004.

And everyone pegged that as the most important election in modern history (if not U.S. history, period). I'm not hopeful anything further can sway the ostrich-like masses.