Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig continues with my next scheduled show on May 29th (Tuesday at 9:30-9:55 am CT) on KPFT in Houston (90.1 FM). You can listen live when the show is on-air by clicking here: Listen Live (32k)
The date for this show was set far in advance, but by serendipitous political chance, it also turned out to be on Texas Primary Election Day. I’ve decided to do something apropos.
My scheduled guest is Dr. Cole Blease Graham, Jr., a visiting professor of political science and government at Texas A&M University, at The Bush School of Government and Public Service.
The tentative topic will be … Elections! How close they can get, and how to motivate voters and potential voters to participate in them.
Texas is notorious among the states for low voter turnout. Whatever the causes, this lack of citizen participation has consequences.
Whether it’s choosing the candidates who will run in the general elections or the general elections which decide who will actually govern, failure of the citizenry to vote has potentially grave consequences. Election outcomes determine such things as war and peace, prosperity or poverty, and respect for personal rights or government intrusion into those rights.
Low voter turnouts mean that some other group — a motivated minority — makes these choices for you.
Imagine a scenario: You and 15 other friends are deciding what movie to go see. One of you steps away for a little while and comes back with 16 movie tickets to “Ishtar“. This person spent your money and made a choice for you. You can’t opt out. You not only don’t like their choice, you feel particularly cheated at not having had a voice in it.
Of course, you could have had a voice … if you’d bothered to go to the box office to help choose.
Statistically speaking, this reflects most many non-presidential elections in Texas.
Early voting in Texas ends May 25th. Election day his May 29th.
Be there. (But listen to my show first.)
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Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig 