Local Politics and Off-Year Elections- The Smallest Big Business

Off-year elections- nobody votes. Literally, like nobody. I was trying to convince people that like 12-15% turnout in the May Pennsylvania primary wasn't bad in most counties- which is insane. If you consider how many people are not even registered to vote, and you then consider that like than one-in-five registered voters do, you understand what a mess we have. It's also why off-year elections are so much more important- they not only impact your life more, you also have a bigger voice in the process.

To say they are run anywhere near as well as the even number year elections though is crazy. They are often times run by locals, which is not really all that bad, but can get petty. The amount of personal backstabbing, fights about nothing, and energy put into territorial battles for credit are ridiculous. Add on the fact that you have to run campaigns on far less resources, and with far less data, and it can be tiring. Locals often times think you can run a 24/7 operation on staffs as small as one, and run them like Presidential campaigns. The reality is that you can't. The reality is that all the petty stuff ends up not helping. The reality is that the territory fights end up meaning nothing.

These campaigns get small. You hear everything, everything gets back to you, and it all is nothing more than white noise. All of this distracts from the reality- you have to have enough money to get your message out in the closing three to five weeks. That's when voters listen and engage, and that's when they make decisions. Elections are not sporting events, there is no scoreboard until votes start getting cast. All this other noise, if it's not about money or getting those votes, is nonsense.

And yet, despite my put downs, let me tell you- the money is going to get spent. There are seven statewide court seats in Pennsylvania, so I will conservatively say $7 million or more will get spent on this election here. This is a big business, these election things- they just feel like Smallville.