Time to Talk About Voter Motivation

              Time to talk about Voter Motivation.

              This was a post I was considering for a little bit, given a recent tweet blow up, and also just getting tired of explaining to people the same thing over and over again.

              Then the abortion decision draft got leaked and the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had this to say:

Pretty sure its May right now dude, so who’s the stupid one now?

              Thanks Husband & Father for calling millions of pissed off, sad, panicked, and frustrated people, “Stupid.”

              But Congressperson Maloney isn’t the only one spouting this type of baloney. It’s common among certain types of liberals to scold “Young Voters”, who range from eighteen to forty, that they need to stop demanding like entitled brats and just vote. Just vote. Go out there you little shit, and vote. This often comes up when people demand Student Debt Cancellation, Weed Decriminalization, or Climate Change reform. Social justice issues that are incredibly important for all, but get turned into “being selfish.”

              The thing is. To get people to the polls and voting, they need to be motivated. They have to believe there is a point to waiting in line, and casting a ballot. For many people, the action of voting requires taking time off work, or even waiting hours in line. People need to believe that its worth their time and money.

              The GOP motivates their voters, and clearly voter motivation has helped them. But they mainly work off of lies and fear mongering. Networks like FoxNews and OAN work to rile up the voters and get them afraid of Democrats, and the GOP continues this rhetoric. It all works to get Republicans willing to sacrifice even their personal ethics if anything to prevent the Democrats from taking over.

              The Democratic propaganda machine on the other hand? Tends to smear progressive Democrats that are popular with younger voters, and still sees the GOP as reasonable.

              Now do I want all media to use the same level of fear-mongering as FoxNews? No, of course not. That would be horrendous, and terrible for people’s mental health. It would make us no different.

              But we do need to recognize that the GOP have their fear mongering motivation down pat, meanwhile the Democrats tend to go, “Vote for us, we’re less evil than the other guy!”

              That’s not sustainable in the long term, as evident by the increasing number of people who are disillusioned by how “less evil” has still resulted in war, war crimes, increased police funding, permits to oil companies, eroding of EPA regulations and more terrible things. It also makes the wins the Dems do get, appear tiny in comparison.

              So how can we motivate voters, so people go out to the polls and vote out the GOP?

              Positive reinforcement.

              Its like the old adage, “You catch more flies with honey than vinegar.” Its been proven many times over that positive reinforcement is more effective in getting people to do things than negative reinforcement.

See! They’re even on flowers and-Look I have to use that canva subscription for SOMETHING and no one likes just a ton of text.

              In the case of getting people to polls, its twofold.

              First off, we need those currently in power to use that power. Yes, I know there’s 52 Republicans in the Senate, so nothing will get through. Are we forgetting Executive Orders? Those things the president can sign? No, they’re not all powerful and can be struck down. But, if Biden does things like Marijuana Rescheduling through Executive action and the Senate Dems fight to keep it from being changed, or even to further it and decriminalize marijuana, that would go a long way to motivating people to vote for these people. And that’s just one example! Others have already figured out what executive orders Biden can sign. Here’s one list! Oh, and here’s another! A lot of good could be done via Executive Order, and it would be things that would motivate voters to keep voting for these people.

              Second? Our elected officials need to stop insulting their constituents. Maloney is just the latest. Who else remembers Biden saying he doesn’t even need millennials and their votes? Presumably forgetting most millennials are over thirty at this point with their own kids in school. Insulting the people whose votes you need is. It’s just stupid, okay? Negging women doesn’t work, and neither does negging voters.

              Oh! And actually there’s a third thing. Big one too. This one goes out to all you Dems who call for people to vote: No more insulting people because they criticized your favorite politician and/or want change. Yelling at people who dare ask for more from their public servants is negative reinforcement, and only reinforces the idea the Democratic party doesn’t care about people. Also? It’s just a really shitty thing to do. Just block them if their opinion bothers you so much. But even better than blocking? Join these people in contacting politicians and demanding change. Not only will it help with midterms, but its likely that saving the climate or weed decrim will help you too!

              So to reiterate: I want to win the midterms, but we can’t do that with negative reinforcement or fear mongering. No more negging voters, and instead let’s focus on getting the folks in charge to actually fight for the American people.