I was recently flying back from a conference in Las Vegas and found myself sandwiched between an elderly woman and a young attorney. The older lady noticed the legislative pin on my lapel, and looking rather surprised, she asked if I was a senator. I answered “yes,” and the next few hours were spent discussing everything from President Trump’s hair to Brian Kemp’s gun commercials. As the conversation progressed, the elderly lady became increasingly bold and began strongly voicing her opinion on a variety of political topics. It was clear from her tone that she was very unhappy about much of what she perceived was happening in government. The young attorney sparingly contributed to the conversation, but seemed to be embarrassed and frustrated as the dialogue continued.At one point, I hesitantly asked permission to gather some information from both. The first question I asked was if they voted in the past four election cycles. To my surprise, the young attorney stated that she did vote at every chance, but acknowledged she only voted for the candidate her daddy told her to. The other lady shared she only voted in the presidential elections because she felt her vote would not matter in any of the others. I followed up that question by asking if either knew who the lieutenant governor or the speaker of the house was. Uncertainty was obvious, but the senior lady sputtered out that she thought his name was “Newt something” and the lieutenant governor was “Karen Handel somebody.” The final question I asked was if they had ever met their state senator or house member? I was stunned. How could two knowledgeable professionals be so disconnected with reality?
The answer seems to be rooted in a complex web of circumstances. A huge void was created when civics was no longer a priority and was eliminated from the school curriculum. Both ladies admitted to being influenced by media, and what they had heard vs. what they researched and verified.
They both seemed surprised when I explained that their real power was in their vote during local elections. They could shape the curriculum at schools by voting for school board members, and they could influence state policy by being engaged in their state senate and house races. I shared that turnout in the recent Georgia election was a disappointing fourteen percent, so those fourteen percent made the decision for the other 86 percent who failed to participate.
to your business!