Blue Dot

It appears there is a nascent Blue Dot campaign in Culver. Don’t worry if you don’t know what that it is. I had to research it as well. Nebraska and Maine are the only two states that don’t award all of their electoral college votes to one candidate. In those states, two electoral college votes go with the state majority and the others are awarded by district. As with many states, the rural areas go red and the larger cities tend blue. With Nebraska being a deep red state, the blue dot campaign in Omaha is attempting to get at least one Nebraska electoral college vote for Kamala Harris.

This has me curious what statement is being made with the blue dot in Culver… If it’s a “made you look” thing, then I guess it was successful at least once. It caused me to hit the internet for an explanation. I guess it could be a statement of solidarity, since much like Nebraska, Indiana (and Culver and Marshall County) is pretty red. Culver often struggles to find Democrats to fill positions on boards that require political balance. Maybe they’re a Nebraska transplant and don’t understand the different differences in state election laws. Or they’re just a Cornhusker and this is another way to show college loyalty.

I’m not a fan of single ticket voting. Since there are no names or information with this campaign, I assume that’s what’s being suggested. The local (county) Republican party is also pushing a straight ticket campaign in some of their ads, and I feel the same way about that… particularly on lower ballet candidates. I am likewise not a fan of general get-out-the-vote drives when they are political party driven. There needs to be more done to promote voting as a privilege and that becoming an educated voter is important.

I am curious about the implications of Nebraska’s (since 1992) and Maine’s (since 1972) take on the winner-take-all electoral college system used by other states. I am definitely not in the camp that wants to eliminate the electoral college. Much like the Senate having two Senators per state, regardless of size and population, it is a means of protecting states’ rights and assuring that there is representation across the board for minority states. It is why we were formed as a Republic and not a true Democracy. (Though we are a Democratic Republic.) I would be interested in what an analysis of expanding the Nebraska scenario to other states would look like, but I couldn’t find it.

I’ll be watching for other blue dots in Culver. It’s an interesting development and if nothing else, another curiosity of small town Culver life.