Voting in a One-Day Sale (Craig Douglass On Consumers) - Arkansas Business Online

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A pope is elected and has been, in one form or another, beginning 200 years after the birth of Jesus. A pope is elected, not appointed nor determined through family succession. Is this democracy? Hardly. But in a religious context, the pope does illustrate a type of representation; he represents Christ on Earth, serving as a vicar or representative of a community.

We elect representatives, too. Well, some represent and, thankfully, some lead. But the “we” in this democratic equation has not always been a broad-based electorate. At the inception of our nation or, originally, our loose confederation, voting was limited to white male landowners. Over time, through the genius of our constitutional process, access to the right to vote in local and national elections has been expanded.

This is an Opinion

The narrow path became a broad highway — until such suppressive policies as poll taxes and literacy tests and, egregiously, when the U.S. Supreme Court, in June 2013, stripped provisions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that required states to submit to the Department of Justice for review any election statute revisions. Because a number of states had a history of discriminatory changes to voting laws, thus limiting voting rights or suppressing the votes of minorities, the decision was characterized by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg as “like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.”

Since 2013, in one example after another, some states have moved to suppress voting. They’ve done this by passing confusing voter-identification laws, limiting the number of polling locations, reducing early voting dates and removing names from county voter rolls. Or they’ve simply promoted unsubstantiated and outright false voter fraud theories, a kind of institutional destabilization.

The judicial process allowing plaintiffs to attack these policies and prove harm is slow and deliberate. During the past several months, it has been difficult to identify and root out anti-voting policies, many initiated by local clerks, governors and secretaries of state. Consequently, voters have been encouraged to take matters into their own hands through mail-in voting or by their feet through early voting, standing in line and standing tall.

There are many types of consumers. Among them are political consumers: those who seemingly have a hunger for news and information about politics. It is the essence of democracy. For democracy is a political system requiring citizen participation in the political process. The key action in the process is voting.

Voting may also be compared to consumer participation in a sales transaction. One can characterize the action of casting a vote as a one-day sale. All product promotion ultimately must culminate in the sale.

Now, politicians eschew the comparison of being packaged and sold like soap. But if you think about it, in retail the consumer has to be motivated to engage in the marketplace, select the promoted product from among competing offers and make a purchase. Isn’t that like voting? After all, voting involves requesting a ballot or going to a polling place, selecting among a number of competing candidates and making a selection.

There are five key elements of both sales promotion and campaigning:

Crafting a personal message to a specific target audience.
Offering a compelling solution to perceived problems.
Demonstrating value.
Encouraging and promoting third-party endorsements.
Following up and turning out the consumer or voter to make a choice at the store or in the voting booth.

At a time when the messaging includes misdirection, misstatements and outright lies, when the societal, health care and economic problems to be solved expressed by one candidate are the opposite of those expressed by another, when real value and third parties seem to be irrelevant, and when the institution of voting is questioned, what is a participating electorate supposed to do?

It seems to us that one very simple action is required: voting in such overwhelming numbers that the outcome of the election cannot be effectively questioned. Showing up. Turning out.

If you haven’t yet voted — voted absentee or voted — your time is now. Participating in the one-day sale honors all who have gone before us, from those who founded this democratic experiment and those who fought to protect it to those who will inherit it.