Reading notes

William makes a striking observation:

The favorite talking point among political pundits on the cable news stations is that we are a deeply divided nation. The 2000 election showed this clearly, we are told. Half of the people who voted went Red, half went Blue, and if you listen to the pundits, the same situation looms before us on Tuesday.

The truth of the matter, however, is that the nation is only divided among those who actually vote. 25% of registered voters went Republican in 2000, 25% went Democratic, and 50% of registered voters cast no ballot at all. If there is division in the American electorate, it has come about because half the country has opted out of the process. The process is controlled by that half of the electorate which stands forth and raises a hand. The ‘divisions’ we hear about are in truth only among those who bother to vote.

The non-voting half of the electorate must be made aware of their power, for they control the fate and fortune of the nation. Consider: In the 2000 election, Bush received 50,456,002 votes. Gore received 50,999,897 votes. The difference came to 543,895 votes, a margin of 0.51% in the popular count. If 1% of those who did not cast a ballot in 2000 decide to do so this Tuesday, 1,000,000 votes would be injected into the process. If 10% of those who did not vote in 2000 decide to do so this Tuesday, 10,000,000 votes would be injected into the process. And so forth. And so on.

Such an uprising would shatter these notions of a ‘divided nation’ decisively. Such an uprising would bulldoze through the looming electoral problems we have been hearing so much about. … If 10% of that missing majority were to show up at the polls on Tuesday, most voting problems would be overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

Wow, what an encouraging thought! To find that collectively we are decisively not divided, not bifurcated, but rather that many or most of us truly are in agreement, will make this election a transforming moment of this generation.