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Collecting Votes

This piece about American elections is sad and funny at the same time. Satire apart, the ad spend stops yielding results once people simply cannot relate to either party's agenda. Their vote becomes a bit random - they could stay the course, pinch their nose and vote for their party even if they can't stand the platform anymore or they can vote for the other side on whim. Yet others of this ilk will sit it out confused about their lack of choice. 

No matter what ads you show such voters, chances are they will act on their own. If both sides manage to alienate a similar percent of their base, then after all the random acts of voting, the net results will remain about same and it would naturally appear that all the ad spend had no effect. The gains and losses for each side would make it a net wash. So both sides spin their wheels like crazy with no outcomes.

Cynicism about a country's future makes people not show up to vote - something I have seen in India. All options are seen as bad and a drop in the ocean will make no difference to outcomes are the arguments I heard over and over from folks who never voted back home. They did not see the point and each election cycle only served to reinforce their cynicism which was even contagious - more people sat it out. It would be sad but unsurprising if that pattern played out in America as well. There are no good options and it matters little to the average person's life who is in power because no one is looking out for them anyway. 

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