The Apathy Party

I am a very politically active person. (Wish I could say the same about my physical activity level...) I like to consider myself as informed as the average Jane on matters of national politics, and much more so in regard to issues in the state of Iowa. I vote. I contact my elected officials (sometimes much to their chagrin). I read the news, keep up on current events, and like to indulge in the occasional online poll. This brings me to my musing for the day - since when did Apathy become a political party?

I just finished clicking 'yes' on a rather controversial question. After taking an online poll like this, readers are generally rewarded with the chance to see the current results. On this issue, the 'yeses' accounted for 94% of answers. 'No's' were 5%, and another 1% answered 'No Opinion.' Really? No opinion whatsoever?

I mean, it isn't like this was a complicated question with answer options that were nuanced and only subtly different. It also wasn't as though participants were awakened out of a deep sleep, blinded by a bright flashlight right in the eyes, and forced to come up with an opinion as a matter of life or death. This was a voluntary poll. You had to 1.) see the poll 2.) think about the poll 3.) decide whether or not you wanted to participate in the poll 4.) click on the link to the poll 5.) click on your desired answer, and 6.) hit the submit button. Who does all of those things only to register their opinion as 'No opinion'? Apparently a full 1% of pollsters - that's who.

I would like to say that this was an anomaly, but it's not. It seems that lots and lots of  people these days are under-informed, under-active, and (here's the crux of the issue) proud of it. I helped with a political campaign for the first time this year by making cold calls to un-registered constituents. At first I balked at the idea. I mean, how much difference can it possibly make for me (a stranger with no credentials) to call people I don't know and tell them they should vote for somebody just because I said so? Apparently, quite a lot. It turns out, cold calls from genuine-sounding volunteers makes a big difference in helping undecided voters know who to choose at the ballot - as much or even more so than pre-recorded calls from political figures. Who are these people who don't know who they want, or why, or even what party they most closely align themselves with?

After having people promise to vote for my candidate just because I sounded nice (they actually said this to me) and even asking me to tell them who else they should vote for (and making me wait while they got a pen and paper to write my suggestions down) I am firmly convinced that the two party system is no longer our political reality. No more are there just Republicans and Democrats - or even Green Party, Libertarian, or Tea Party members. I'm guessing that an alarmingly-large portion of voters could rightly say they belong to the Apathy Party.

The good news, of course, is that even if they do frustrate pollsters by insisting on having no opinion, at least these folks won't spend hours and hours volunteering for a candidate you don't like or take your parking spot at rallies. Even better, all it takes is a pleasant voice and a few suggestions to get them to swing their vote to your favor. All in all, even though I'd never join it, I guess the Apathy Party isn't all bad. And, one thing's for sure - at least they're not                     s. 

[In the interest of remaining politically neutral and not offending anyone, the last word has been redacted. Maybe I'm more suited for the Apathy Party than I thought...]