Lifehacker has a great list of tips to help maximize your influence in the election. The most important one is the last one, and it’s the one I’ve been trying to explain to people for months.
McCain is not going to do anything about speeding on my street and Obama is not going to cut my property taxes. Some guy living and working right here in my city has a helluva lot more impact on my (daily) life than the POTUS.
Act local: Your local county or municipal government are more accessible, and are far more likely to have power over things that affect your life day-to-day, from potholes to public transportation, arts funding to property taxes; third parties and independent candidates are actual forces to be reckoned with; ballot measures, voter propositions and referendums in some states and districts allow laws to be created or stricken by popular demand; and campaign budgets are relatively meager, so even small donations go a long way. Win or lose, at least you’ll know you made a significant impact.
The current doofus has managed to do a terrible job, to be sure. He’s done such a phenomenally terrible job that he has affected my life, and that stinks. (I think the POTUS should be more like an average quarterback: Don’t do anything crazy. Just stay calm, hand the ball off most of the time, and try not to lose the game. Tom Brady and Peyton Manning are awesome, yes, but even Trent Dilfer won a Super Bowl by simply not screwing up.) But in general your local representatives should be more important to you than your President.
Most people won’t even come out for an election that isn’t a presidential election year. Kinda sucks!
Great post!