Opinion: Hope power of vote will rule day

Some final notes as we pass this election through our systems.

Two things I don’t quite get: Why are money and yard signs so important in an election?

This year, the money has been rolling in. Biden has been out-raising Trump in amounts so great that I’ve heard the talking heads wonder how they can even spend it all.

Meanwhile, having signed up for or landed on just about every candidate’s listserv, I think I’m safe in saying that no one puts out more email appeals for money than Donald Trump’s campaign. Our nation’s first billionaire president, and yet he’s selling his candidacy like it’s a commodity, or at least as insurance against perceived evils on the left.

At some level, candidates must be fund-raising for the psychological advantage it gives them. If you contribute, you’re invested in that candidate, far more likely to vote for him or her, and get your friends and family to do the same.

I wonder if that’s also why yard signs are a big deal, for the psychological “investment” it instills in the homeowner.

Of course, that doesn’t explain those properties that have every candidate sign on display, sometimes with opponents’ signs standing side-by-side. Maybe that’s for name-recognition. Or, perhaps, the campaigns are thinking subliminally, trying to leave their brand imprinted in your subconscious.

Or maybe they’ve just got so much money to spend that they say what the hell, might as well plaster the town in signs just to make your support seem bigger than it really is.

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A big boost to our 2020 economy is about to come to an end. Billions of dollars have been spent this election year — $10.8 billion by one estimation, making it the most expensive election in American history. All that’s going to dry up shortly for the media, printers, designers and more.

In the media industry, we all made some money on advertising. Television barely had time to run their regularly scheduled programs between all the campaign commercials for or against Trump and Biden, Ben Ray and Mark, Xochitl and Yvette, and anybody else whose campaign coffers could afford to spend on those top-dollar ad buys.

Then there are the radio and digital buys, and those slick, professionally designed mailers; that’s money in the bank for broadcasters, producers, designers, webmasters, printers and the post office.

Even the newspaper industry scored big. Here in New Mexico, we all made some money publishing the proposed constitutional amendments and bond issues, as well as other legal and display advertising from the Secretary of State and county clerk offices.

Frustratingly, the big candidates long ago quit spending in newspapers — they prefer more shallow mediums — but candidates in local and area races are wise to see the value in newspaper advertising. If you want to win, you need to get your message in front of the voters, and newspaper readers vote en masse — at a much higher rate than those who watch TV.

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The voting this time around is going to be tremendous. By the time you read this, a half million New Mexicans will have already voted, while nationally, it’s already topped 50 million ballots cast.

With such great participation, you’d think our democracy was as healthy as it’s ever been. If the majority of all votes wins, and no shots are fired in the process, the power of our vote will still rule the day.

Tom McDonald is editor of the New Mexico Community News Exchange. Contact him at:

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