Influencing Results

I know I am a bit late to the party on this one.

It always amazes me the way that we encourage / allow anyone in the world to influence polls and results. Without having done any research, just observationally, the past several years have seen an increase in the use of various channels to gather opinions from a broader “cross section” of interested parties. The problem that I see is that the “cross section” is really a very poor sampling of a narrow population. For instance, American Idol has brought the idea of audience voting and participation to a significant portion of the viewing audience, with no controls on the voting (except how much you want to pay the cell phone company). Rockstar had a similiar approach.

Now, we have an opportunity to influence the Miss America pagent, and it’s selection of finalists. As a result you may have seen a number of bloggers out there campaigning for their candidates. Personally, without the communication from the blogging community I would never have realized that this opportunity was out there. I am actually curious to see what, if any, influence the blogging community can have on this effort. Unfortunately, there is not a good way to measure this scientifically. All we can do is get the word out, do some campaigning if you will, and see where the vote totals come in.

In that context I encourage all of you to get out there and vote here. Who you vote for, if you do, is up to you. However, I would encourage you to vote for….

Miss Utah, Jill Stevens. A member of the National Guard 1st Battalion, 211th Aviation Regiment. The Miss America Pageant takes place on January 26 in Las Vegas, Nevada. She has an opportunity to win a finalist position by popular vote. Her personal request for your vote is below:

“America’s Choice! Battle Buddies,I need your help!
This year, America has the opportunity to select a surprise 16th pageant finalist with “Miss America: America’s Choice”, an online competition that allows viewers to vote for their favorite Miss America contestant. I could really use all the support from my battle buddies in the Army family to help me stay in the fight.”
– Sgt. Jill Stevens
To vote for Jill – click the link, click on Utah and follow the directions.
You can vote once each day now through January 26.

Vote Here

VOTE – ASK YOUR FRIENDS TO VOTE!!!

The Miss America pagent is an american tradition, I can think of no finer way to honor our American Heroes than to help Sgt. Stevens acheive her goal. In addition to helping her, we will be helping America to understand that there is more to the American Warrior than the aggressive use of kenetic weapons.
I have met this year’s Miss Illinois, and several years ago I happened to me staying at a hotel at Disneyworld when the entire Miss America contingent came through. I have to tell you having spoken to many of these contestants, that is really difficult to differentiate them. They all have worthy goals, and have focused on achieving them throughout their lives. My opinion, for what it is worth, is that Jill Stevens has differentiated herself from the crowd by putting her values into action.
Besides an attractive woman, holding an M4… ya have to like that.
Get out there and VOTE, many times. Deadline is 26 Jan 08