We’ve all heard the range of speculation on medical marijuana now that it’s assured of being on the November 2014 ballot.
John Morgan isn’t the only one who thinks it’s “advantage Democrats” because it’s a “progressive” issue in a non-presidential election year. But others note how less than convincing the correlation data is from previous states that have had medical marijuana ballot initiatives. Still others think there are more than a few closet GOPster potheads, so it might just be an ironic wash.
All the pondering is prompted by the sobering reality that less than half of registered voters typically determine who their mayors and governors are.
But wouldn’t it be refreshing–even a new subset of “American exceptionalism”–if we didn’t routinely muse and strategize over the impact of certain issues on voter turnout? As if societal right and citizen duty were actually motivation enough.
As if we practiced democratic self-determination via the vote as fervently as we preach it as an ideal in regime-change scenarios overseas.