March 04: Recipe for an Old-Fashioned Vote

Ingredients
Experience
Beliefs
Values
Concerns
Hopes
Dreams
Issues
Candidates
Intelligence
Expectations
Public Opinion

Tools
Two large bowls
One small bowl
Initiative

Step 1 Measure equal parts of the first four ingredients into the first large bowl. Using your Initiative, mix to create Perception. Season to taste with Hopes and Dreams. Set aside.

Step 2 Using the small bowl, measure and mix one part Issues with two parts Candidates to define Options. Set aside.

Step 3 Weigh your Intelligence, and place in the second large bowl.

Step 4 For every ounce of Intelligence, add one ounce each Perception and Options to Intelligence. Using your own two hands, mix well.

Step 5 Turn the mixture onto a smooth surface that has been lightly dusted with Expectations. Knead your Perception, Options and Intelligence mixture until a strong yet flexible Decision emerges.

Step 6 Expose your Decision to Public Opinion for 60 minutes.

Step 7 Transfer your Decision to an appropriate Polling place. Follow the Polling Process to convert your Decision into a Vote.

Step 8 Compare your Vote to overall voting season results. Your Vote may not match overall results. This does not reduce the importance of your Decision or the value and durability of its ingredients.

Notes:

• Friends, family members, neighbors, newspapers and radio are all excellent sources of Public Opinion. Your Decision may change shape, size and texture as a result of public exposure. If it loses strength or flexibility, expose to Public Opinion for an additional 15 minutes.
• Steps 7 and 8 may be completed only during voting season. Your Decision remains relevant and valuable indefinitely, and may be refreshed any time new ingredients are available. For every additional ounce of intelligence you’ve gained, add another ounce each of Perception and Decisions.
• The Polling Process may take anywhere from 15 to 60 minutes, depending on your location and the weather. This duration does not affect your Vote. Your Vote is completed when you leave the Polling Booth, and lasts forever.

Ready to go gourmet? Find one issue or topic that interests you, and follow it to its conclusion. Your efforts to create a gourmet vote of your own ideally include consistent tracking through one newspaper or magazine (reading is more effective than just watching!), and attendance at a public forum such as a city hall meeting or a candidate debate.

Secrets of the Pros revealed! Professional voters adhere to the basics, such as refreshing Views and finding new sources of Public Opinion. They also mix their topic-tracking across multiple media outlets, and regularly attend public meetings and forums.