Comments on: Cumberland County Ballot Position http://www.courageofconviction.org/blog/2007/03/14/cumberland-county-ballot-position/ Unleashing Courage Wed, 07 Jan 2009 10:14:32 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.4 by: Publius http://www.courageofconviction.org/blog/2007/03/14/cumberland-county-ballot-position/#comment-9478 Thu, 15 Mar 2007 06:10:28 +0000 http://www.courageofconviction.org/blog/2007/03/14/cumberland-county-ballot-position/#comment-9478 I think that there's a certain level of involvement that, once you pass it, you can never go back again. Its like the blood/brain barrier...in a way. Its hard for "politicos" to look back on the general electorate and accurately say, "I know what the people want." At the same time, I think there's also a language barrier when a "politico" sits down with a voter and says, "I study the polls and read the blogs and talk to the media guys - I know what you people want." To people who are involved and "speak the language," I think that ballot position doesn't really matter. But to people who don't pay attention and don't read about the drama and the squabbles and the endorsements, I think that ballot position can play an important role. Although, with that said, it all depends on how much you let that control the campaign. I think that there’s a certain level of involvement that, once you pass it, you can never go back again. Its like the blood/brain barrier…in a way. Its hard for “politicos” to look back on the general electorate and accurately say, “I know what the people want.” At the same time, I think there’s also a language barrier when a “politico” sits down with a voter and says, “I study the polls and read the blogs and talk to the media guys - I know what you people want.”

To people who are involved and “speak the language,” I think that ballot position doesn’t really matter. But to people who don’t pay attention and don’t read about the drama and the squabbles and the endorsements, I think that ballot position can play an important role. Although, with that said, it all depends on how much you let that control the campaign.

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