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Originally posted by smooth
How do we know that the informed aren't the ones staying home?
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That's exactly my point -- by staying home you achieve nothing since no one can distinguish those that stay home out of apathy from those that stay home out of frustration with the current options.
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[i]We seem to be making an interesting assumption here--that the people currently voting are doing so based on careful research and without regard to personality, etc.
I would argue the opposite. Most of our votes seem to be contigent on various emotionally charged topics, not on careful research of the candidates' policies and actions. [/B]
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I don't think we're making that assumption -- i think the vast majority of people who vote today do so based on very little research. Too many of us are lead by our instincts and easily duped by appeals to our heartstrings or prejudices. However, i think it is becoming rather difficult to become properly informed -- it often seems that the public is being feed directly conflicting information and in order to figure out who you actually side with one must commit to reading a lot of news from a lot of different sources. I think most voters resort to voting in line with a group that they personally identify with, be that one of the major parties or a special interest group.