christmas, election day, same difference
Dawn permalink | categories: education, election '06, media, non-profit, radio, tampaby Dawn @ 1:58 pm
Here’s to hoping we get who we wish for.
Miss Julie, fair receptionist at WMNF, told me this afternoon that listeners had been calling in all day asking her who they should vote for.
Are people really that clueless with all the newspapers and televised debates & radio discussions, local blogs panning and picking candidates? How much more information do people need before they’ll actually pay attention?!
I want to know, mostly, because when I headed out the door on Saturday to vote, I was still in a fog with all the judges and amendments. (Wayne Garcia’s column came in mighty handy in the car on the way there.)
You’d think that by simply being present in the media pile that is my life, I’d have picked up all the knowledge I’d need to vote comfortably at the polls. But as I stood in front of the archaic touch screen voting machine with that ill-prepared butterfly sensation that I haven’t felt since the last time I failed to properly prepare for a test, I understood why so many people don’t come out on election day.
I am a much more sentimental person than I am political. I find the entire campaigning process a wasteful farce, from the amount of money spent on essential advertising to the mudwrestling even the most anti-war candidate does in order to claim their seat.
The past few months have been a real education and I feel I’ve made a huge leap into learning by doing and being and seeing. But I have a long way to go.
I still don’t read the paper every day, though I would love to be able to do that. It’s empowering to have that information in my hands and be able to make decisions backed by a basis of knowledge. But the slacker in me still takes over sometimes and working as a techie on a newscast has become the equivalent of being slipped Cliff’s Notes. I sit back and listen, pick up enough to pass the test not thinking just then about how much I’ll actually retain. Tsk, tsk.
I may not know what’s wrong with the world, but at least I know what’s wrong with me. Getting myself motivated to make self improvements, that’s a whole other blog.
Happy voting!
Tune into 88.5 WMNF from 8-11pm tonight to hear Mitch Perry and Rob Lorei announce the results of the election as they come in. There will also be interviews with the winners & losers as well as national election coverage from Pacifica.
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November 7th, 2006 at 3:45 pm
I seriously doubt reading the paper every day would help all that much. That’s not a dig at the papers - I just don’t think it’s terribly healthy to ingest that much news.
And bless your heart for being honest about it. I dare say those who would consider themselves quite political gave much less thought to their vote, instead just voting for whoever their party or media source of choice told them to vote for - if you’re voting Cliff’s Notes, they’re voting stolen answer key. Nothing learned.
November 7th, 2006 at 4:52 pm
Honesty…is such a lonely word. Heh. Thanks!
tangent from today’s observations: One of my young coworkers (under 20) said she voted for the “names she liked best.” And one of my registered-D relatives voted down the party line with the exception of Campbell because of the adoption kiss and tell thing. (Apparently the Clinton kiss and tell thing was less offensive.)
People have a lot of weird reasons for doing what they do. Is this better than them not having voted at all?
November 7th, 2006 at 9:35 pm
What candidates has Sticks endorsed this election? Do you have a link? Sticks is suddenly a politivcal blog when they feel like declaring themselves so. Except with the heavy lifting stuff. Cutting and pasting Tampa Tribune questionaires is not hard work.
November 7th, 2006 at 9:47 pm
SoF is a collective of local writers reporting on what moves us in our community & providing our neighbors with a virtual front porch to sit back and discuss. Speaking for only myself, I have endorsed no one. Although I do have a Lorei ‘08 sticker on my fridge, but that’s neither here nor there.
November 8th, 2006 at 1:48 am
Seriously, Michael, what the heck? I was really prepared to ignore the Duncan/Hussey brouhaha, but this is obviously personal.
Are we not allowed to write posts about politics because we also occasionally write about bikini bars? Are endorsements a requirement if you’re going to write about politics? No one is giving you crap about your frequent Cat Power videos - as much as I don’t like Cat Power musically, I still dig that you can stand back for a minute and get away from the politicking.
Is Sticks the first blog ever to be guilty of just pasting content from a newspaper? We know it’s not, but why aren’t you giving them a hard time?
This is still a site with content from people with other actual jobs and lives (I myself regret not writing much leading up to the elections, but buying a new home got in the way - c’est la vie). If we can’t meet your lofty expectations of what a blog should be, oh well. If you strongly disagree with the idea of Sticks as an activist site, I still don’t think that precludes our ability to write a political post or two.
I’m sure we all here are still trying to figure out precisely into what shape to mold this site. Without focus groups it may take some time to find a voice. I hope that people will cut us some slack in the meantime. If they lose patience and stop reading, then we’ll be sorry to see them go. If they stick around, we will appreciate them.
November 8th, 2006 at 7:54 am
one side listens to Rush Limbaugh and Fox News, and goes to vote. The other side listens to WMNF and Weekly Planet’s Garcia, then goes to vote. I hope there are some moderates remaining. Perhaps they think for themselves. I am suspicious of WMNF’s political power.
November 8th, 2006 at 9:05 am
As you should be. WMNF meets needs ignored by Tampa’s commercial media - like the good being done in our neighborhoods, the strife in Mexico and around the world. You know, all that stuff that doesn’t make anyone any money and is easily swept under the rug of American society. It gets people thinking. So yes, be highly suspicious of anyone in an MNF t-shirt. They might just have a few good ideas that will rock the leaky boat and save us all.
November 8th, 2006 at 10:20 am
More voters need to get off their butts and do some real research before voting instead of just using whatever the Tampa Tribune and St. Pete Times picks out for them. At least we have a choice here and have the ability to make that choice for ourselves unlike some countries. Do everyone a favor and either make yourself informed or don’t go at all.
Voting shouldn’t be a fuzzy feel-good process to show off a stupid sticker.
November 8th, 2006 at 8:05 pm
If Sticks makes a statement that they “picked” candidates then they should back it up. If not then why say so?
November 9th, 2006 at 1:42 pm
So it should say “panning OR picking.” Fair enough - I can appreciate semantics. But really, there’s a little bit of a mountain/molehill there.