And a Dollar Short

So I received a text message today, asking me to call three friends in swing states and remind them to vote for one of the major parties. Even if I had close enough friends in important swing states who I could call on, election day seems like a little late in the season for that sort of thing. This is a message that should have shown up two months ago, along with a link to resources (or more than likely, just talking points) that could be deployed to explain to people why a vote for Candidate X would be in their interests.

The best way to reduce the influence of money in politics is for people to be effective salespeople for the candidates they support. This doesn't seem to be that much of a secret, but there also doesn't seem to be much will to formalize it. Even the most politically engaged of the people I know come across as much more eager to talk politics when the next election is at least a year out. Perhaps they would be more involved in pitching their candidates if they they more information to work with in campaign seasons.

I think that part of it is that in a nation of hundreds of millions of people, coming up with reasonably detailed plans that might sway someone is difficult. Platitudes and attacks on the opposition are significantly easier to come up with, and they don't have that large of an attack surface in return. But it seems that there would be something of a payoff to political campaigns understanding how they would put their money where their mouths are, and sharing that information with their supporters early. Friends and neighbors will always be more trustworthy sources of information than random talking heads. It's strange that conspiracy theorists seem to have a better grasp of this than political organizations. Or maybe it simply didn't cross anyone's mind until the last minute.