We vote. A
lot.
When there is an election, whether local, state, or federal, we make our way to our local polling places. And we vote. We cannot imagine doing otherwise. We vote far, far more than the general public. You need to pay attention to us.
Sure, we, as Museum Advocates, are only about a fifth of the general population, but on November 4, you can count on us to be there. And to choose one of you to lead our country.
So here is what you need to know about us.
We are citizens who love museums, and enjoy visiting them in our precious leisure time. We think they are important parts of our communities, and that they are important for our souls. We go to museums for respite and retreat, and to be intellectually and emotionally engaged. We want our children to experience the wonder and awe of our nation’s history, ecology, art, and science (note: a federal funding program to help our cash-strapped schools fund field trips to museums would be much appreciated).
We are inspired by museums. We believe they are critical for the future of our country. They are incubators of innovation, serving as launch pads for creativity and entrepreneurial thinking among their visitors. They are also places of remembrance and resolve. And they are places where all of us can mentally learn and grow, adding to our nation’s collective intelligence and economic destiny.
And we vote. Did we mention that? We vote a lot.
Let’s look at Connecticut as an example. This winter, just under 19% of eligible voters showed up to vote in the state’s presidential primary. But a recent survey found that over 70% of us voted there. That’s right. Museum Advocates showed up to vote at 3.5 times the rate of the general public.
One of you will become our next President. You will have a lot of demands for time and money. You will make many decisions that will change the futures of our country’s citizens. You should know that museums are here to help, whether it is assisting health care agencies with Alzheimer’s patients, teaching citizenship classes to immigrants, or helping teens make career choices. One of us recently said that museums are important because “boosting culture/science is healthy for democracy.” He’s right.
Museums are important for the education and health of our country’s citizens. We hope they are important to you. And if you need your own quiet moments of respite, retreat, and inspiration, museums are here for you too. All 17,500 or so of them.
We love museums. And we thought we would share this with you, and remind you, as well as our state and local elected officials, that we vote. A lot.
Sincerely,
Museums Advocates Across America
Data from Connecticut comes from the Reach Advisors study of Connecticut Cultural Consumers,
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