QUOLKE’S CORNER #134
Elections are Important…Elections Matter….Elections Have Consequences!
As the last 6 days of this election season come to a close – I wanted to take a few minutes to talk about how close things are in Ohio and how important your vote and your time are to all of us.
In a Plain Dealer/Ohio Newspaper Poll that was released over the weekend shows that Obama and Romney are tied 49% to 49%. Not only does this mean that Ohio is very, very close but that there are very few undecided voters left in Ohio. Everyone from political scientists, to pundits, to analysts, to my friends in Florida, DC, and Pennsylvania knows that Ohio is going to be the state that determines the next President.
No longer is this election about convincing Ohioans who is the best candidate, but making sure that everyone goes out and casts a vote. Think back to 2010. Cuyahoga County underperformed what was anticipated in the Strickland/Kasich race. Many people sat out of that election for various reasons. In the end Kasich became Governor by exactly 2 percentage points and less than two months later brought us Senate Bill 5. Just bringing a handful of voters to each precinct in Cuyahoga County (5-10 voters) could have changed the result of that election. Just 2 more people at each precinct would have changed the result of that election. In 2000 the vote in Florida was determined by less than 600 votes. There are over 1,000 voting precincts in Cuyahoga County alone – every vote at every precinct counts.
Elections are Important…Elections Matter….Elections Have Consequences!
I say all of this to make the point that voting matters. The Presidential Election is not the only important election on the November ballot. Vote all the way down the ballot – there are critical Senate, Congressional, Ohio House, Ohio Senate, and Ohio Supreme Court races where your vote will also make a difference. For Cleveland residents – do not forget about the Cleveland School Levy Issue 107. This is the most critical levy that this district has faced in all of my years. It has never been more important for the children of Cleveland and the future of the city.
Elections are Important…Elections Matter….Elections Have Consequences!
Are you nervous about how these races are going to turn out on Tuesday? I am. The stakes are very high for us as educators, workers, and the middle class. You can help bring the critical votes to the ballot box. There is a full weekend of GOTV (Get Out The Vote) opportunities - phone calls, canvassing, and volunteering at the polls on election day. Giving 3 hours of your time this weekend can help bring more voters out to vote. Ohio is too close and too important.
Please don’t forget what Romney said at the Presidential Debate on October 22:
ROMNEY: “We’re going to have to have training programs that work for our workers and schools that finally put the parents and the teachers and the kids first, and the teachers union’s going to have to go behind.”
At the same debate, President Obama stood with educators:
OBAMA: “Governor Romney, when you were asked by teachers whether or not hiring more teachers would help the economy grow – you said this isn’t going to help the economy grow. When you were asked about reduced class sizes, you said class sizes don’t make a difference. But I tell you if you talk to teachers, they will tell you it does make a difference. And if we’ve got math teachers who are able to provide the kind of support that they need for our kids, that’s what is going to determine whether or not the new businesses are created here.”
Elections are Important…Elections Matter….Elections Have Consequences!
Six more days – help bring this election to a successful end.
In Union,
David