(GunReports.com) — Jeff Knox at www.FirearmsCoalition.org wrote recently, “[Less than] 200 days away from what will undoubtedly be one of the most important elections in US history, and most of the country still isn’t even paying attention yet. Of course, those of you reading this have been paying attention for years, even decades, but that’s because you’re all freaks and oddballs like me. At least that’s what the majority thinks of us.”
Knox continues:
We prefer to think of ourselves as exceptional and concerned – responsible citizens, but they see us as demented political junkies lacking in real life. Any way you want to define us – those of us who pay attention to politics more than 60 days out from a major election are definitely a minority – about 20%.…
After the election of 2008 I did some simple research into search trends on Google. What I found was pretty startling. While there were millions of Internet searches for such hot-button issues as “Obama + gun control” and “Obama + abortion,” in the days leading up to Election Day, the day these searches really spiked with the highest number of searches wasn’t the day before the election or two days prior, the most such searches actually occurred on the day after the election. It seems that people were more interested in finding out what they had done than researching the decision they were about to make.…
I found the search data pretty disturbing, but at least it shows some interest. We just need to figure out how to activate that curiosity a bit earlier and make sure that the information folks need is readily available in a format they can easily understand.…
So how can we, the 20% who have been paying attention and getting to know the candidates, steer enough of the uneducated 70% to the information they need? One way is to utilize the “Like,” “Send,” “Tweet,” “g+1,” and “Share” buttons that are available on each article page to spread these articles among your social networks. Post comments and links on your favorite forum sites too. For the really good columns, save the web address in a file so you can easily go back and repost and share them again later when we’re closer to Election Day.…
During that critical last 60 days before the elections you can have a big impact by writing letters to the editor and posting links and comments on forums and news sites pointing people to those articles and resources you have collected. For those interested in firearms issues, I created a forum called GunVoter.org where we invite users to post information about candidates and races in federal, state, and local elections. The idea is to create a clearinghouse of information about candidates and races at all levels so someone looking for information about any candidate in any election in any state – particularly with regards to their positions on gun issues – can find it in that one location.…
You, the 20%, have an obligation to help educate your less politically-inclined friends and neighbors. Start building your curriculum and assembling your reading lists now so you’ll be ready when the masses start emerging from hibernation and sniffing around for information. This year we can make sure the people know what they’re doing on Election Day rather than wondering what they’ve done.
