Open Letter to an Undecided Florida Swing Voter

Dear friend,

As I promised you, I will not reveal your name to people who would otherwise have your head on a pike, because I am the soul of charity. However, I didn't say anything about posting open letters on the internet. So that's just what I'm going to do.

I was shocked -- shocked! -- to learn that you are undecided. As you know, I'm a Florida voter too. In the interest of making my vote count twice, I shall endeavor to help you make up your mind in a way that totally agrees with me. Join me, won't you?

Now then, first things first. In our conversation yesterday, you implied that you were thinking about not voting at all. Well, we can't have that.

Take a look at Electoral Vote. The guy who runs the site takes all the most recent polls by state, averages them together, and comes up with some idea of what the election might look like if it was held today. It's fun to follow, but the reason I want you to look at it is to take a peek at Georgia. Georgia, as you may or may not know, is a "red state" -- we knew months ago that its 15 electoral votes are going to Bush, and there's not much anyone can do about it. Even the 350,000 new registered voters probably won't make more than a dent.

People here take it for granted that their vote -- be it for Bush, Kerry, or anyone else -- doesn't count. You get the sense that they feel like they don't get to participate in the national election, and it's kind of true. An extra Bush vote is wasted here where it could make a difference in another state; a Kerry vote here is simply worthless.

Florida, meanwhile, is the fourth-biggest state in terms of electoral votes, and the very biggest swing state. It's the swingiest state of them all. [Assuming your vote is fairly counted,] Florida votes count more than other votes. In short, you'd be a fool to throw away that kind of power. Americans in 28 states -- including the 3 biggest by population -- only get to watch the election on television, and you get to actually participate.

As if that wasn't enough impetus, voting happens to be your civic duty. A lot of people think of voting as a right, but it isn't -- it's considered a civic responsibility, like paying taxes or showing up when they draft you or serving in jury boxes or what have you. It's part of the price you're expected to pay for living in the most powerful, wealthy country in all the land.

In sum: vote, dammit. If you absolutely insist on voting for neither candidate, you can always go with a 3rd-party candidate who reflects your views, or even cast a blank ballot if you think that will make a statement, but vote.

Next imperative: you must keep yourself informed in order to make the right decisions. It seems to me that you're using the wrong news filter (friends? family?), because you weren't sure whether Bush or Kerry won the first presidential debate. In fact, there's virtually no question on the subject -- blues and reds alike agree that it was a particularly bad day for Bush. You mentioned that your family taped the debate -- off the Fox News Channel of all places! -- so I encourage you to watch the tape and make up your own mind.

I certainly thought Kerry was the clear debate winner, but in last night's VP debate I was a lot less certain. Both candidates were confident and prepared, and neither of them said anything particularly stupid. I called it "too close to call," but I'm seeing evidence that people saw this debate as a major Dem. victory as well. Keep that in mind when you hear talking points that say the exact opposite.

That's all for now. You have some homework to do in the form of presidential-debate-watching, and there will be a quiz. I'll be badgering you some more in this forum, and don't even think about not reading it, or I will release your identity to people who are a million billion times more obnoxious then me, and you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Ever yours,
Andrew