POORVOTE.CBS 10/13/04 7:57 AM-DLR   1:23
The America that doesn't exist.  This is Dave Ross on the CBS Radio Network.
Here's a remarkable little statistic from the Census Bureau.  In the 2000 presidential election, among families with incomes greater than $75,000 a year, voter turnout was over 70%.
That same year, among families making less than $15,000 a year, only 35% voted.
That's a pretty weird statistic, because if you're trying to get by on less than 15,000 a year, you'll very likely need government services at one time or another.  Housing aid, job retraining, medical care, a public playground at the very least.
But you see it again and again:  poor people don't vote.  Why?  Because they feel politicians don't pay attention to them.  And you know what?  They're right.
I can tell you exactly who politicians pay attention to.  Two kinds of people.  People who donate to campaigns, and people who vote.  They pay attention to people who donate because under campaign finance reform, politicians have to place thousands of calls to donors to put a campaign together, and many of those donors will push their pet issue before they write that check.
Then, when it's time to ring doorbells and meet ordinary voters, and hear what THEY think, politicians can't ring every single door, so they use a list of voters with good voting records.  They're not going to waste their time on non-voters.
And one more thing.  Between elections, when the pollsters are calling every night to find out what issues the nation cares about - guess who they call?  LIKELY VOTERS.
And so the bottom line is, if you don't give money, and you don't vote, in our system, you don't exist.  It's your choice.
Now this.

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