Thursday, April 01, 2004

Why is a bloc vote so powerful?

Why is a bloc vote so powerful? Here is an illustration.

Two candidates run against each other in a hypothetical political district that has two constituent groups only. One group has 1 million voters and the other has 10 million voters. Candidate A, a novice, eagerly focuses on the large group, not being aware that the small constituent group has the internal political cohesion to deliver a bloc vote while the large group does not.

Candidate A wins the endorsement of most community leaders in the large group. When the ballots are open, he indeed wins in the large community. He wins 52% of that community's votes, while his opponent gets 48%. The difference between 52% and 48% is 4%. The large group has 10 millions votes. 4% of 10 million votes provides a "profit" of 400,000 votes to candidate A.

His opponent, candidate B, is a seasoned politician. She courts the small group and wins that little community by a ratio of 80 to 20, the namesake of The 80-20 Initiative. The difference between 80% and 20% is 60%. 60% of 1 million votes provides a "PROFIT" of 600,000 votes.

As a result, candidate B wins the election by 200,000 votes. That is the POWER OF A BLOC VOTE.

In California, the APA population is 1/9 that of the rest of the population, similar to the example given above.