Sex and Money Used As Voting Carrot

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Two new efforts to get out the vote here in the U.S. are relying on the two cornerstones of modern-day advertising--sex and greed. An Arizona ballot initiative proposes to award 1 million dollars to one lucky voter in a lottery-style system. So Arizona voters will vote on whether voters will win money by voting. I like those odds. Nationally, an ad campaign sponsored by the non-partisan group Women's Voices features sexy Hollywood actresses talking about the "first time" they... voted. In a sign that they're probably on the right track, syndicated radio blow-hard Rush Limbaugh has called the spots demeaning to women.

The lottery voting campaign certainly has its detractors--director of the American University Center for the Study of the American Electorate (ah yes, the unwieldy AUCSAE) Curtis Gans says, "It may increase the numbers, but by increasing the numbers, you will hide the real problems. There is nothing good about this initiative." Columnist E.J. Montini of the Arizona Republic newspaper heartily supports the initiative, writing, "As we all know, the only Americans currently in a position to accept large amounts of cash in exchange for votes are politicians. Why should they have all the fun?" The "First Time" spots are an effort to target the country's fastest growing demographic--unmarried women. Noting the ineffectiveness of many Get Out The Vote (GOTV) efforts, president of Women's Voices Page Gardner says, "If you look at all the ads that are ever done about 'go vote', it does remind me of this 'eat-your-peas' approach to politics." Sex and money--politics is AWESOME.

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This is exactly what we need...
Posted by Joe Bleaux on 2006-10-31 11:53:15
...an incentive to get people who are ignorant of the issues to vote. Go vote, it's like a free lotto ticket! Yeah. I can see it now. Maybe that guy in New York running on legalization of marijuana stands a chance in the not too distant future after all. There's a reason for the US being founded on an oligarchy instead of a pure democracy... The AVERAGE American is an idiot. The reason to vote should need no incentive or persuasion and those who promote these means normally have the agenda of influencing the outcome of an election. Sorry, but I've got to agree with the blowhard Limbaugh on this one.
 

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