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2010 Election Results

November 2, 2010 by · Comments Off on 2010 Election Results 

2010 Election Results, Candidates, pollsters, experts, media and political consultants who are all these crazy campaign ads have had their say. Now it’s up to voters.

Despite all the hype about what a landslide election that could be for the Republicans, I predict a lot of races will be very close – within a few thousand votes. And that means that every vote does count.

When we speak of the Republican wave of 1994 – something I know quite a bit since I wrote the book The Freshmen: What Happened to the Republican Revolution? About this election and its consequences – they forget how many of these breeds have been.

Among the freshmen elected to the 73 GOP House of Representatives this year, 29 won with 52 percent of the vote or less, that many a few thousand votes and others by only a few hundred.

This fall, I made many trips to the country to interview candidates and citizens for a book on the independence of undecided voters /. When I asked two candidates from different parties in what will probably be two elections of the tightest and most closely watched in the country what they expected to get off – they both gave me the same answer – votes.

Republican Ken Buck, who is running for U.S. Senate in Colorado and Ted Strickland, running for reelection as governor of Ohio, the two looked me straight in the eye and said he would voice and participation. And that’s exactly what it will come around.

Both sides will do their best to get their voters, but it is even more important for 37 percent of American voters who consider themselves independent or unaffiliated voters go to the polls. This election is too important to let the two political parties.

In his rally on the center this weekend, comedian / political expert Jon Stewart missed a huge opportunity in my opinion. This was no small feat for him to collect hundreds of thousands of people around the country.

Most people I interviewed that day – all age groups and demographics and all over the country – said they were there mostly to have fun.

I spoke with three sisters from Kentucky and West Virginia between the ages of 56-66 who said they were going to DC because they were big fans of Stewart. They said they had a good time and met some nice people. But finally, they were disappointed that Stewart had not closed the rally by encouraging all those present to vote today.

I also met a number of young people who said they were not registered, did not know who was their congressman, and probably did not intend to vote.

Stewart likes to say he is just a comic, but the rally on Saturday proved otherwise. He closed the event with an indictment of mainstream media. “The image of Americans is reflected by our political process and the media is wrong,” said Stewart.

But what the media will be back tonight, reflecting the outcome of elections in the country.

The first step in addressing and resolving our problems is for everyone to be involved – not participating in a rally Saturday afternoon, but by voting, being in contact with their local and national representatives, and raise their voices and opinions.

It does not matter what we say or do here today, “Stewart told the crowd,” it matters what is reported about what we did or said here today. “Without a doubt, he was joking, but it is also wrong. He should have caused all these people who cared enough to travel hundreds or even thousands of miles away to go a few miles of their journey and to give one day a few minutes to vote. Stewart could rally of great importance but in the end it was just a game.

Stewart blew the chance to make a difference. Maybe this is not his goal. But it is just as hypocritical as the media and the politicians he likes to skewer it says they do not represent the true America, then declines to do something, even making the slightest encouragement, to solve the problem.

So for those of you who have not voted yet, I’ll do what Jon Stewart and would not encourage you to go to the polls.

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