Column:

Boone County voters have impact on national scale

Voters in Boone County usually decide how Missouri will vote in national elections.

By Trevor Turner

Published Sept. 18, 2008

My fellow Tigers, you are currently residing in a major battleground in this historic election. Missouri, specifically Boone County, is the place that has Democrats and Republicans fighting for the rich gold mine of swing voters.

Whether you will survive the barrage of political attacks, legions of campaigners, assault of bumper stickers and sharp-pointed political buttons is unknown, but I can assure you that your vote matters here more than anywhere else in the country.

Missouri is a swing state, meaning we vote Republican or Democratic depending on the political atmosphere at the time. In fact, Missouri has always voted for the winner of the presidential election except once in the last century: 1956, for Adlai Stevenson instead of Dwight Eisenhower. This swing-state status makes Missouri very valuable because unlike Texas or California, campaigning in our state actually has an effect.

So Missouri is great, but what is so special about Boone County? Our county, like Missouri, is a swing county. Counties like Jackson, which encompasses Kansas City or St. Louis and St. Louis city will always go blue, while rural counties in southern Missouri will always go red. Boone County usually decides how Missouri will vote because Columbia is very liberal, while the rest of the county is conservative.

In 2004, George Bush only won Boone County by less than 200 votes. More recently, in the 2008 Democratic primary, Hillary Clinton carried most of the state, except the cities. It looked like Clinton was going to win by a relatively large margin. But, thanks to grass-roots efforts from the local Barack Obama organizations, including Mizzou for Obama, Obama was able to narrow the margin and beat Clinton by 1.5 percent.

If you really want to make an impact in this election, get involved. If you knock on doors, make phone calls or register people to vote, your one vote can turn into many, many more. Campaigns on both sides of the political spectrum are always welcoming able bodies into their cause. Who knows, you might become the reason Missouri goes red or blue. There is still a lot to do and plenty of time to leave your mark in this one-of-kind election season.

The point I'm trying to make is your vote matters so much more in Boone County, no matter whom you are voting for. If you plan to vote absentee in Texas or California, your vote for the president won't matter whether you vote Democrat or Republican an either state. However, in Missouri, your vote will have a bigger impact in turning Missouri blue or red. You will have more people fighting for your precious vote here in Missouri than your absentee vote in New York, which has the same impact as a raindrop in an ocean.

The last day to register to vote or change your voting address to Missouri is Oct. 8. If you really want your vote to make a crack in that proverbial glass ceiling, vote here in Boone County. Doing so gives you control over this very competitive election and a louder, more impacting voice.

Trevor Turner is a member of the MU College Democrats.