Can you make a difference with your vote? You sure can!
Using ball park numbers, consider only 50% vote in national elections; 33% vote in state elections and 18% vote in municipal elections. To get elected all you need is half of those numbers. This is why the obscene political money plays such an important role.
Moreover, America's media has become deregulated and monopolized whereby five conglomerate corporations now control 90% of the media. When money and media get combined the end result becomes favorable for corporations, not for people. How else can Congress maintain a 15% approval rating but a 95% re-election rate? And the lobbyists who influence how congress votes work for corporations, not for the people. This is why and how America has become an oligarchy (see The Princeton Study).
- VOTING IN THE PRIMARY (Vote Out Most Incumbents!):
If you're a Democrat or if you're an Independent who prefers voting for Democrats, make sure you're voting for a real Democrat in the primary. A Democrat who legislatively joins Republicans to vote for a 720 billion dollar defense budget is not a real Democrat; a Democrat who votes to provide Donald Trump increased spying powers is not a real Democrat;
and a Democrat who perpetuates the drug war and private prisons is not a real Democrat. Only support real Democrats! If necessary, vote for the challenger to the incumbent in the primary. Send a message!
- VOTING IN GENERAL ELECTION (Vote Out All Republicans):
The American Dream -- America's great middle class began collapsing when the Reagan-Bush Administration attacked labor unions and pensions, sent jobs offshore for cheap labor exploitation, privatized the municipal hospital system and began deregulating Big Defense, Big Oil, Big Banking, Big Insurance, Big Pharma, Big Agri, etc. Unfortunately, Democrats Clinton and Obama governed similarly. With Republicans in the lead the wealth that got generated in America began going to only the fat cats at the top. This is why Occupy America came into existence. Vote against ALL Republicans in the general election. Send a message!
- VOTER REGISTRATION (Register to Vote Independent!):
Independents make up around 45% of the voter registrations and Democrats and Republicans fluctuate between 25-30% (see Gallop monthly tracking polls). Every 10 years, following the National Census, the state legislatures redraw the voting districts. Due to this, the Republicans have gerrymandered the voting districts to favor their candidates and this is why they've had a lock on Congress since 2010. Make it more difficult for them to gerrymander the voting districts by being a registered Independent! Send a message!
Spread this message to every ham and egg diner on Main Street, Everywhere USA! It's time to fight back and get a government that is responsive to the needs of people rather than the needs of corporations.