I don’t like many of the County Cronies, but I get out to vote. Unfortunately, the people who like folks like Blair showed up and those that didn’t, did not. Go figure!

And you get more than one day to vote. The library had voting all week! But then you probably don’t visit the library either if you don’t vote. Lazy and Stupid is no way to go through Life.

I worked at a company a few years ago that gave employees 2 hours off on Election Day to vote. Your choice of when. It created an urgency to vote amongst all of us. Even those that had not previously voted and the apathetic caught the fever and voted. We shamed those that didn’t!! My current employer encourages us to vote but no time off to do it. So easy to vote these days. If you live in Hernando Co and work in Tampa utilize mail in ballots or early voting.

The comedian Christian Finnegan was at the Improv in Ybor a couple of months ago. He said Tampa has the worst case of “don’t give a damn” of anywhere he’s ever been. He wasn’t making a joke. It was his observation. What he did was make me feel shameful because he is right. I think when people feel powerless they can make change happen, they don’t try. You have the current school board and Hills. County Commission steamrolling over the citizens and ignoring their wishes. After a while people just say f*#k it.
They SHOULD say f*#k it I’m gonna vote the bastards out. Start with Brian Blair!!!!!!!

seriously, voting on weekends, fri sat & sun.

1.Voting registration drives in the political off-season. During the heat of a political season, wary citizens are afraid of being bamboozled and would rather just not vote. Non-partisan door to door education about how to register and how/where to vote will increase the number of people registered to vote. Handouts to volunteers will help explain why cynicism (“it doesn’t matter who wins”) and apathy (“i don’t pay attention to politics”) damage the American philosophy of political engagement.

2.Voting parties – regular get-togethers at the polling place to remind and reinforce people of the locations they will visit when they vote. At these get-togethers non-partisan information is made available reminding people of voting days and the offices being voted on, and the responsibilities of people in these offices.

3.Monthly meetings at branch libraries with someone to explain “civic literacy” – where to vote, how to vote, why to vote, what gets voted on, the responsibilities of officeholders.

4.Voting holidays would help. Civic-minded businesses need to close for the day. It’s not just they need to allow their employees time to vote, it’s that an aura of celebration and fun needs to surround voting days. Newspapers, tv stations, blogs can provide free advertising to businesses with the gumption to close to help celebrate voting day.

5.Having a city/region you can take pride in increases public investment in what happens locally.