Vote Stupid?

A foundation once told me they would not fund Vote Smart because there was no way to measure our success. It is true, we cannot prove our claim that we help voters make wiser choices. In fact, our nation’s leadership could not have laid out a more convincing argument for our success, if only we had named our effort Vote Stupid.

 Vote Smart’s reality is this: It is true the country’s largest foundations do not fund us. We exist because so many young people have been willing to work for nothing or so little. And the extraordinary skills they offer, and how they use them, has thousands of thinking Americans willing to have their backs with contributions. American’s who understand that if a free people lose their access to facts, they will not be free at all.

 With 9 out of 10 Americans having no idea they exist, it is really remarkable that Vote Smart exists at all. When we started, it was a simple idea for dealing with the mud candidates toss at each other and confuse voters with. Today, that mud has turned noxious and deadly, leaving no citizen untouched, unaffected and filled with dread for our nation’s future.

VoteSmart.org provides a simple, intelligent response. One that has taken thousands of people and years of research. An effort that is struggling to build a system which enables any citizen to instantly access the facts on any politician on any issue of unique concern to them.   

We have made great strides up this mountainous climb; the problem has been that these modern-day politicians keep finding ways to make that mountain higher—a lot higher.

Please have our backs join us at VoteSmart.org.