Get It Together

I spent too many years voting for the party, or the candidate most of my friends were voting for or even the one with the most known organizations “endorsing” them.  I would like to think it was mostly out of ignorance. But the truth being known it was out of apathy.

Not unlike thousands of other Americans, I most often had taken my voting privilege seriously, although I must admit that I missed some “smaller” elections thinking they really were not all that important (now I know how incredibly ignorant that approach is). Until two years ago I never considered “vetting.” a candidate or issue. Why do that? To what end? Aren’t they all pretty much the same thing?

What I have learned in the past several months, however, is that it is my responsibility alone to know who a candidate actually is. Before the internet and social media people may of had the excuse of accessibility. But no longer. Every candidate has a Twitter, Facebook, Website, youtube vidoes and an e-mail account. All the excuses suddenly are gone.

In his blog, writer Alstair Croll correctly explains how social networks, “will forever change how we vet candidates.” The Harris Poll he cites from 2009 states shows 74 percent of Americans between 18 and 34 have and account on Facebook or MySpace. Mashable </> , a website dedicated to social media, reports that, of the 309 million people in America, over 116 million have a Facebook and if Facebook were a nation it would be the 3rd largest populated on the planet.

There are endless websites, organizations, blogs and the like filled with a plethora of information (yes, one also has to vet their vetting info). But suffice to say that the days of endless phone calls, trips to the library and attending countless campaign functions has gone by the way side. Now there really is no legitimate excuse for not doing at least some research.

American Majority is on the forefront of helping citizens learn and utilize these tools. Arkansans have a unique opportunity this Saturday, June 12^th, uniting conservatives from across the state to reinforce our conservative infrastructure.

Attend the Defending the American Dream Summit and “join America’s foremost free-market voices, top experts on grassroots mobilization, and Arkansas’ largest gathering of grassroots leaders from across the state in a massive show of force for our shared belief in lower taxes and more limited government.”
Arkansans, November is coming and many opportunities exist for us to change the direction of our state. This means above all, we must be “eternally vigilant.”