KOKO AND THE VOTERS

It’s hard for the ape to believe he descended from man. ~ H.L. Mencken 

For me the dispiriting reality of our current federal political scene is that the administration’s morally-vacuous, hurtful policies are being countered only with logically-based rejoinders that are wholly inadequate. As we’ve all come to expect, these mostly frail, spiteful but unsystematic policies are founded only on the president’s nanosecond, fact-free demonic impulses, not careful thought. The Republican Congress is wholly complicit in allowing such draconian social and economic plans to stand without reprimand, censure or opposition. The Democrats are guilty of not offering unified alternatives that have a chance of widespread public acceptance. Both parties seem far more interested in medieval jousting rather than crafting solutions for our mounting public issues.

As part of their preparations for the November elections, the Democratic leadership and other critics would do well to remember Philip Roth’s The Plot Against America. The protagonist in this novel mentions that he hadn’t understood “how the shameless vanity of utter fools can strongly determine the fate of others.” Neither had most of us on November 9, 2016. But the “fool” is no longer in the closet; he’s in the White House. And he’s successfully playing to many people’s heartfelt fears, not their logic or best interests. The latest Gallup presidential approval ratings show that a formidable 87% of Republicans support the president.

In addition to bemoaning the 18-month tenure of our 45th president and wondering what species he really is, I also mourn the passing of Koko. Koko was a female western lowland gorilla born 46 years ago and died this past week who knew over 2,000 words, and mastered using 1,000 ASL signs. Did she rival our vainglorious president’s vocabulary; we’ll never know. She befriended two of my favorite people, Mr. (Fred) Rodgers and Robin Williams, in addition to large numbers of her followers. The Gorilla Foundation mentioned in Koko’s obituary that she became a renowned icon for interspecies communication. Compared to the political zoo at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, inhabited by a fair number of unknown, perhaps alien species, Koko’s life appeared wonderfully positive and affirmative. Her genuine interspecies communications talents will be sorely missed, especially in Washington D.C.

But back to the political animals vying for elective office in 131 days. As a raft of talking heads has mentioned here and here, the Repubs have been taken over by the gang of Trumpist cronies and the man himself. As usual, progressive and moderate Dems are wrestling among themselves about what path to take for electoral victory and to determine who’s going to assume the mantle of the party this fall.

The Dems continue focusing on identity groups including Hispanics, Blacks, women, immigrant citizens, millennials and the LGBTQIA+ communities. Although Bernie Sanders hasn’t had much success in backing primary election victors so far, he, Elizabeth Warren and other liberals have clearly moved the Dems’ policy and legislative dreams significantly leftward, should they regain actual political power. The Dems’ policy thrusts include single-payer health insurance, sturdy but unfettered immigration, minimum wage based on living costs, universal pre-K and childcare and universal basic income. Each one might be potentially worthy, but will require significant changes, much-expanded government activities and higher taxes.

Whatever messages, tactics and policies the Dems and Repubs each adopts in this fall’s campaigns, getting out the vote on November 6 will be crucial for success, as always. Recently the US Census has made available data describing the composition and participation of people who registered for and voted in the November 2016 presidential election. These data confirm the long-standing challenges of getting younger and minority citizens to actually vote. Midterm election voter turnout has been miserable. Only 36.4% of eligible voters voted in the 2014 midterm elections.  
     The following table summarizes the reported voter participation for the November 2016 election. Overall, just 56% of citizens voted in the last presidential election. The US ranked 26th out of 35 highly-developed, democratic nations in voter turnout. 

Reported Voting Participation in the November 2016 Election

Population Segment		Total Reported Voting
Total Population, Both Sexes
18yrs+older		56.0%
18-24yrs		39.4%
65-74yrs		70.1%
Hispanic, Both Sexes
18yrs+older		32.5%
18-24yrs		27.2%
65-74yrs		47.8%
White Alone, Both Sexes
18yrs+older		58.2%
18-24yrs		41.1%
65-74yrs		72.0%
Black Alone, Both Sexes
18yrs+older		55.9%
18-24yrs		40.2%
65-74yrs		62.1%
Education Level, Both Sexes, 18yrs+older
9th-12th grade, no diploma		29.3%
High School graduate		47.4%
B.A. degree		69.2%
Advanced Degree		73.9%
Source: Current Population Survey, Nov. 2016.
By Segment: Highest voting rate in Bold; Lowest
voting rate in Italics.

As the table shows, young voters (18 to 24 years old) across the US voted only 70% as often as the overall total population (18 years and older). Black voters participated at the same rate as all voters. However Hispanic voters, a key Democrat target, participated only 58% as often as the total voter population. The Dems have yet to figure out how to motivate more young and Hispanic citizens to step inside a voting booth. Expectedly, the more educated a voter is, the higher is his/her voter participation rate. Voters with a B.A. degree participated 24% more often than the total population.

Perhaps the 2018 midterm elections will be different than 2016; they’ll need to be. For Dems, encouraging information about this year’s primary elections is that their supporters have been turning out and voting in record numbers. If that also happens in November, Democrats in the Congress may be celebrating the beginnings of a really super-divided federal government. Oh yeah. And it’s a l o n g road before that may happen. The primary season doesn’t actually end until November 6, when Louisiana holds its primary for all parties on the same day the rest of the country holds the general election. Go figure.

In the meantime I’m going to pause for several moments each day to remember Koko and her extra-ordinary accomplishments that aided humans in a purely positive fashion. We need more Koko’s and far fewer kooks inside the DC Beltway and beyond.