Don’t mess with Missouri
So you switched your vote to Missouri, eh? You wanted to play hardball in a swing state? That’s all well and good, but as a native Missourian, I have one request: if you’re a student from out of state and won’t have the time to research the candidates, please don’t vote in Missouri’s state and local races. Go ahead and cast your all-important votes for president/vice president – but don’t meddle in Missouri’s affairs.
I bring this issue to the table because I just came across a “Progressive Voter’s Guide” from the “League of Pissed Off Voters” summarizing why one should vote for every left-wing candidate (and no one else) in St. Louis. The pamphlet contains a chart pitting each Green or Democrat against the corresponding Republican contender. Each left-wing candidate is ascribed a short set of positive statements like “Advocates more efficient education spending,” while the right-wing candidates get such constructive comments as “Supports Matt Blunt – Yikes!” In every case, the left-wing candidate is given a check mark, the pamphlet’s seal of approval. My out-of-state friends, I fear that you’ll be taken in by propaganda like this, propaganda exhorting, “Take me into the voting booth,” and I fear that as a result you’ll really screw up our local elections.
Perhaps my fears are unfounded; perhaps all of you newly minted Missouri voters will do the right thing and research the state candidates you’ll be asked to vote for, digging a bit deeper than the cursory “Does s/he support gay marriage?” I fear, however, that the election-year fervor that prompted you to register in Missouri in the first place will leave you contemplating local candidates on Election Day that you know nothing about. Before that happens, do some research – and I wouldn’t suggest consulting an obviously partisan pamphlet like the one above.
According to the pamphlet, for instance, Claire McCaskill is the lady you want for governor, as she “increased employment of minorities in her state auditor office by 15%.” As an out-of-stater, however, can you claim to know much about her role in Missouri politics? Would you have known, for instance, that Ms. McCaskill recently built an enormous mansion in Ladue in anticipation of winning her bid for governor?
Similarly, if you’d been an undergraduate here a few years ago and cast a straight “progressive” ticket, thereby putting Governor Holden in power, you probably wouldn’t have been around to experience his “inept and fiscally undisciplined” term – but your Missouri friends would have been. Voting in a local race when you won’t even be around in a few years’ time to experience the fallout from your decision is terribly irresponsible. Your uninformed, transient vote can make a real difference – for the worse – in Missouri.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with playing swing state hopscotch, but there is something very wrong with assuming that Missouri politics are identical to the politics where you come from and voting accordingly. There’s something wrong with casting your vote for a Missouri state candidate upon the basis of whatever heady issue interests you most (e.g. gay marriage or abortion) while ignoring that candidate’s record in basic areas that truly make a difference to Missourians, e.g. education budgets, health care, litigation reform, highway maintenance, prison reform and the state’s economy. Our local and state candidates certainly have positions on other things besides the ethical concerns currently at the forefront of our national consciousness – and the average Missouri citizen cares a lot more about those issues than anything else, as those are the issues that will most affect residents’ long-term prosperity and well-being.
It’s fine that many of you are trying to make a difference by casting your presidential votes in Missouri – but again, if you’re not going to stick around for more than four years and don’t plan to deeply research the candidates, please don’t vote in our local and state races.
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