With the amount of time, energy and big bucks spent on the battleground states, the rest of the nation is taken for granted and thus devalued. Had I remained a resident of New York my vote wouldn’t be worth two cents because of my loyalty to the Democratic party. Here in Florida it must be worth about five bucks because of the fifty dollar swing voters down here that will decide who is the majority. Voting has become the return of the prodigal son of politics. Politicians pander to the base only in the primaries and after which it is patted on the ass and sent into oblivion unless you reside in the swing states, in which case they don’t trust you to stay the course and the love affair continues. In New York, what’s 20,000 votes one way or another, the state will never change its color to red inasmuch as ostensibly Republican congressional districts are constrained to bend to the left.

The point is loyalist states like Texas and California, though carrying the most weight in the electoral vote, are ironically insignificant. It’s like removing Barry Bonds from the lineup and no one notices.

Copyright © 2004 Richard R. Kennedy All rights reserved. Revised: August 10, 2004.