(click headline for full text.)Remember, most people in most elections who do NOT know anything about the particular race they are being asked to vote on will USUALLY opt for the incumbent. It's not fair, we know, but that is what happens.
You have to be able to show your potential voters that NOT VOTING for you would be EVEN WORSE than the short amount of chaos they might encounter while transitioning from what they have now.
CHANGE MEANS CHAOS AND THAT SOUNDS BAD!
People equate CHANGE with CHAOS. And CHAOS, by definition is an unorderly chain of events that are typically spurred on by some sort of event or trauma. Therefore, to avoid the CHAOS, we also will avoid CHANGE.
It's like we are all saying, "Yeah, I know my poor miserable existence is not working for me, but it's MY poor, miserable experience and no one can take that away from me! I'm going to sit right here for as long as I possibly can and just be poor and miserable and I'll be perfectly happy about it, too! Ha! So there! Take that!"
AND IF I DECIDE NOT TO CHOOSE ...
Psychologists and those who study organizational and group behavior have determined that human beings, as a general rule, do not like or seek out CHANGE of any kind. Most creatures, if given a choice, will elect to do NOTHING in any given situation because they do not wish to change their normal, everyday patterns of behavior .... even if they actually believe that the change would be good for them. We will still resist our own urges to change and we may even put up a fight against others who are trying to encourage us to change.
In order to really CHANGE or even to make us WANT to change, we have to be motivated by our own will power OR by some sort of urgent message that pushes us out of our everyday habits and practically into that "FIGHT OR FLIGHT" mode.
When a decision feels like it MUST BE MADE IMMEDIATELY because it is either KILL OR BE KILLED, we will finally break down and make a choice.
I CAN'T DECIDE RIGHT NOW. I NEED MORE TIME...
We DISLIKE change SO MUCH that we will even resist the very decision itself about whether or not we should change. Doesn't that sound nuts? But, it is true. We do not even want to be forced to decide between two things even if one of them means that we can continue to receive more of the same. It's the old "should I stay or should I go?" dilemma.
But what we all need to realize is that choosing to DO NOTHING is actually a THIRD CHOICE you are making. But, "DO NOTHING," is about the WORST POSSIBLE CHOICE that you can make!
By choosing to "DO NOTHING," you are essentially saying, "I have so little confidence in my own ability to decide what to do in this situation that I am going to just stick my head in the sand and let other people step up and make this terrible choice for me. I just hope they will let me know what they decided when it is all over so I will know what to do."
IF I CAN'T DECIDE, WILL THERE BE ANYONE TO HELP ME?
There are PLENTY of other people out there who are MORE THAN WILLING to step up and make all your decisions for you. They will determine who educates your children and how to spend your money.
They might even determine whether or not you will have a job next year and, ultimately, whether or not you can keep your home, put food on your table or even be allowed to see a doctor when you get sick.
I REALLY, REALLY WANT TO DECIDE, BUT...
If you really, really just want someone else to decide for you, then take a recommendation from us. (refer to the MC-MC-MC-SPEAKS comments at the bottom of this article.) Voting, even if it is purely on the advice of someone you trust is still better than not voting at all. And, if you are asked by others how you think they should vote, then you just overcame your own objection that your "one vote" won't really count much because now you just made the equivalent of TWO VOTES. (Spouses of people who are not interested in politics or parents of children who only recently became registered voters should really remember this point!)
THE FUN OF WEARING A STICKER AND PUSHING LITTLE BUTTONS
So, we hope we have established how VOTING FOR SOMEONE is better than NOT VOTING at all. It is even sort of fun to get in there are push those little buttons! Just like an elevator - everyone loves to push little buttons, right??
When you get out there and VOTE you have at least been able to show yourself that you are capable of making a decision.
You might even get on a roll that day and make a bunch MORE decisions that you have been putting off for no good reason, but let's not get too carried away, okay? You may want to rest for a short while and bask in your own awesomeness!
Get your little sticker and put it on your lapel and wear it proudly for the rest of the day! You just exercised one of the most important rights you have as a citizen of the U.S. (Now, get back to work!)
*** GET THE CELL OUT ATLANTA ENCOURAGES THE MC-MC-MC-SPEAKS VOTE IN THE DEKALB SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS. AND, PLEASE VOTE NO ON THE CELL TOWER REFERENDUM QUESTION! ***
MC-MC-MC-SPEAKS is the easy way to remember the best candidates for the DeKalb School Board Election. It's as easy as 2-4-6-8. No matter what district you are in, 2, 4 or 6, just look for the "MC" and if you vote in the Super District election, vote for the one who "SPEAKS" for you!
For more about these candidates, refer to the DeKalb School Watch Blog, http://dekalbschoolwatch.wordpress.com/ or Crossroads News at: http://www.crossroadsnews.com/.
You can also check out the AJC Voter’s Guide to all races in the Tuesday, July 31 election, prepared by the League of Women Voters is available online, with unedited information from the candidates themselves:
DeKalb School Board, District 2
DeKalb School Board, District 4
DeKalb School Board, District 6
DeKalb School Board, District 8
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