NCBA News & Updates

Ol’ Election Day Ain’t What It Used to Be

By Colin Woodall, NCBA CEO

Remember the days of old, when Election Day would come around and we would all go out to vote – and then wait for the results to come out that night, so we could get back to our lives on Wednesday knowing who won? It has been a while since that has happened, and I am afraid it is the nature of U.S. elections for many years to come. It was almost five days before we knew that the Democrats would maintain control of the Senate; but as I am writing this column in the middle of November, we still do not know the full picture of their control due to the runoff in the Georgia Senate race.

On the House of Representatives side, we were well into the second week after the election before we knew that the Republicans were going to take control. In fact, the Republicans themselves got fed up and started their leadership elections before the 218th seat was decided. With all the claims about voting fraud and irregularities over the past two years, I remain amazed that so many states and local jurisdictions cannot get their votes counted in a week’s time. There were several states that met their duty to the voters by getting all votes counted on election night, and I can only hope that the struggling states will finally wake up and make the needed improvements. Claims of voting fraud have been around long before the 2020 election claims made them such a hot topic. It is going to be hard to convince the American electorate that something fishy is not going on when it takes so long to count ballots. Until that happens, the new normal for us is that Election Day is simply the beginning of “count, recount, and runoff” season.

One of the takeaways from this election is that polling is officially dead. The polls have gotten the results wrong for several elections in a row, but the predictions for a “Red Wave” were so woefully wrong that you must wonder whom they were talking to. Polling was once a huge part of the political game, as it provided significant insight into voter trends and potential election results. Today, however, the same cannot be said; one reason is that many polls still rely on calling Americans on their landline phones. There are many who no longer have a landline; and if they do, caller ID makes it easy to ignore a call from someone they do not know. How many of you actually pick up your phone when the caller is not one whom you recognize? Your voice matters – but if you are not answering these polling calls, who is? Polling needs to evolve if it is going to remain an important tool for campaigns, for elections, and to satisfy our simple curiosity.

The second takeaway is that we know how to operate in a Democrat-controlled Senate. We have friends on both sides of the aisle who are willing to step up and help with our issues. We also have senators on both sides of the aisle who present challenges to us. The U.S. Senate is structured so that it takes only one senator to shut things down. Think about the number of times over the past two years where Sen. Manchin played spoiler to Senate Majority Leader Schumer’s plans. That is true power – and it can be extremely helpful when the senator in question is on your side. With another Farm Bill coming up for consideration in the 118th Congress, we expect that Sen. Debbie Stabenow from Michigan will want to keep her position as Chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. She will be joined by Senator John Boozman from Arkansas as the Ranking Republican Member. This is a team we have worked with in the past, so we know that we can continue our work with them.

The third takeaway is that on the House side, Rep. Kevin McCarthy from California has the votes to be the next Speaker of the House. McCarthy has a long track record of being supportive of NCBA and our issues. His position as speaker will allow us even more opportunities to address our policy priorities while working to keep bad ideas at bay. This also means that Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson from Pennsylvania is poised to take control of the House Agriculture Committee. Like the new speaker, Thompson is a huge supporter of cattle producers and one with whom we have a close relationship.

Finally, NCBA’s Political Action Committee, or PAC, remains a significant player in each election cycle. While the polls may have gotten the results wrong, 90 percent of the candidates supported by NCBA-PAC won their races. As a PAC supporter myself, I am very proud of that accomplishment. Now, it is on to 2024 – and with former President Trump being the first out of the gate, it will undoubtedly be an interesting race for the White House.

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Make your check payable and mail to: Georgia Cattlemen’s Foundation | P.O. Box 27990 | Macon, GA 31221 Make your check payable and mail to: Georgia Cattlemen’s Foundation | P.O. Box 27990 | Macon, GA 31221