I don’t understand the motivation behind cheesy campaign slogans like “Rock the Vote” or “Vote or Die.”
“Rock the Vote” sounds like some revolutionary call to bring down the voting system we have and create a more fun and cheerful style of voting. Like a battle of the bands where the candidates who get the most applause become our leaders for the next two to four years. Or is something like that already established?
The absurdity continues when celebrities tell us that we have to vote or we will die. When a person that has been shot nine times is telling me to “Vote or Die,” I tend to feel a little intimidated, but it certainly wouldn’t make me want to go out and vote.
Apparently, the “Vote or Die” campaign wasn’t even successful within its supporters, seeing as Paris Hilton didn’t even cast her vote. I mean, how sad is it when a campaign endorser does not go out and vote? To top it off, Hilton didn’t even die. False advertisement all around.
My suggestion for a pro-voting campaign would be to show pictures of fascist leaders and what they did to their countries when they revoked the right to vote. Or better yet, have a fascist dictator take over a city for the day to demonstrate what it is like to have no power whatsoever. Then maybe people would realize how much power a vote actually has, and how much power they are taking for granted.
Idle threats disguised as wise suggestions posed by celebrities just don’t have the right affect. The masses need to really be scared into voting, because otherwise, they won’t do it in the grand scale that we need.
Here is a thought for a voting slogan: “If you don’t vote, we will take away the right,” with a smiling politician saying it. The true threat isn’t telling us that we will die, but telling us that we will suffer mercilessly until we die, because vote or not, we’re all going to die.