In every election your vote is important. The view that you should only bother to show up at the polls every four years to elect a president works about as well as claiming to be a practicing Catholic who only visits a church for Christmas or Easter Sunday mass.
With a number of 2010 races in a statistical dead heat the well-worn saying that “Every vote counts” has an even stronger meaning than in the past.
Numerous ballot issues this year (as reflected on www.ballotpedia.org ) range from legalizing marijuana in California and continuing to use lottery funds for natural resources in Oregon to the Campaign Finance Requirement Repeal in Florida, the pro-life leaning Fetal Personhood amendment in Colorado, the No Sales Tax for Alcohol Initiative in Massachusetts and the Schools Energy Efficiency Projects in Washington. All are vital matters that will affect the way American society and culture moves forward or backward in the future.
Together, it makes for a significant argument that demands you, as a member of a democratic republic, to take a few minutes of your time on Nov. 2 to find your voting precinct and make your mark in history.
Being taxpaying citizens who live in this country, the music community has as much interest in who represents them and what laws are enacted as anyone else should be.
“In this day and age there’s really no excuse,” said Neil Fallon of Clutch. “I’m voting and I’m on tour. Just download an absentee ballot, print it out, and send it in. So, you don’t really have that excuse. And in a day and age where privatization is starting to dictate how we live our lives, this is the one thing that we own, and that’s the U.S. government. And we’re all stockholders in it. That’s how we can influence it to our liking.
“I think that it’s a duty. Many people died so that we could enjoy and preserve, and that’s about as solid a reason that I can think of.”
Ryan Montbleau admitted that he hasn’t been closely following the election coverage. “You mean there are elections going on?” he said, mocking the nonstop influx of ads on TV and discussion in the media and referencing his busy schedule. “It can be hard to keep up, but democracy does require constant participation. It doesn’t just stop. Get out there and vote!”
On the other hand, the road warriors in Umphrey’s McGee released a band statement that gives an indication that despite the passing of miles on the road, the members remain attentive to the world around them.
“Governance is a full time occupation. Only voting every four years is like only changing your socks every other tour.”
With a desire to encourage the current generation of eligible voters to be active, otherwise such indifference enables the government to do whatever it wants, HeadCount has been registering and aiding voters since 2004. Its board members encompass musicians, promoters and managers. For the non-partisan organization, the idea that midterms matter is not just a catchphrase but a rallying cry.
At a media conference last week, HeadCount co-founder Andy Bernstein pointed out that while it’s best known for registering voters at concerts, the group has expanded to keep those registered connected, informed and returning to their polling stations.
“And in midterm elections, getting out the vote is as important as registering voters,” Bernstein said.
More than 22 million voters under the age of 30 years old participated in 2008. “That’s a lot of voters we want to see come back to the polls. We’re not telling anyone who to vote for or what should be important to them. Our goal is to keep young people engaged.”
As part of the 2010 get-out-the-vote campaign it asked those who encountered the HeadCount reps throughout the year to make a promise to cast a 2010 ballot. A select number will receive a reminder call from a musician that they chose when they signed the pledge. The list includes Bob Weir, Marc Brownstein (Disco Biscuits), Adam Gardner (Guster), Warren Haynes, Wayne Coyne, Willie Nelson and Questlove.
While some of the calls will be pre-recorded, others will be person-to-person. Just a matter of the luck of the draw. Brownstein plans to contact a number of people on Monday, November 1st at 8PM EST, which will be streamed live on Relix.com and the HeadCount blog.
“It’s just a way of adding some creative spark to get out the vote,” said Bernstein.
Addressing how the Grateful Dead inspired him as a musician and in life, Brownstein credited Weir’s idea of contacting potential voters directly as the idea for taking part in the live event.
“Hopefully, we’re going to be able to get on the phone with hundreds of our fans, all these musicians, and get a buzz going here about this very, very, very important and very integral election,” said Brownstein, a co-founder of HeadCount. “And hopefully we’re going to be able to inspire the youth that we’re engaged with to get out the vote. That’s what we’re doing here.”
Weir, who also took part in the conference, elaborated on his desire to make personal contact. “One of the reasons I want to make these calls is I want to hear these folks.”
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