Introduction to The Compass Podcast and Its Mission for Informed Citizenship
Debbie Wuthnow Welcome to the Compass, navigating the public
>> square together with faith, truth, and conviction.
Welcome and Introduction to the Podcast Featuring President of iVoterGuide, Debbie Wuthnow
Rick Beggs Well, it's another week with us at the Compass. I'm with Debbie Wuthnow, who's president of iVoterGuide. This is the official radio show of iVoterGuide and you can Visit it at iVoterguide.com Debbie, say hey.
Debbie Wuthnow Well, hey, everybody. You can even listen to the Compass at iVoterGuide.com but it's great to be with you one more week.
Discussion about the AFR App and Recap of Previous Show with George Barna
Rick Beggs Yeah. And if you don't, have the app, hopefully that you're listening to us now.
Debbie Wuthnow What app are you talking about, Rick?
Rick Beggs The AFR app, Debbie.
Debbie Wuthnow Okay.
Rick Beggs You can also go listen to us and get, a lot of good [email protected] net so last week we talked with George Barna, and we, we, we have so much information, we could do literally, I think 12 shows. and then we'd have to rename it the Compass with George Barna.
Debbie Wuthnow Give him a byline.
Rick Beggs Yeah, that's right. Yeah. Thankfully, we didn't. Didn't have to pay him to be on the show with us.
Election Updates and Early Voting Information for Upcoming November Elections
And what a wonderful man. let's do it. Let's kind of have a summation of what we did last week before we kind of jump into what we're doing.
Debbie Wuthnow Okay.
Rick Beggs This week.
Debbie Wuthnow Well, and there is something happening about five weeks. Rick, do we want to kind of give an update for the elections?
Rick Beggs Oh, yeah. This is where it takes up about 30 minutes of our show.
Debbie Wuthnow I know there's so much going on.
Rick Beggs There's elections going on. Is that right, Debbie? Are we having one coming up there?
Debbie Wuthnow It's. We're now, I think, less than five, a little over five weeks until the November election. So I just want to make sure you guys know what's going on in your state. So in Maine and Nebraska, early voting will begin on October 5th. In Montana, early in person absentee voting begins on the fifth. In Indiana, it begins on the sixth. New Mexico, Ohio, Wyoming, early voting begins on the sixth. Arizona begins on the seventh. They're already early voting in Minnesota, South Dakota, Virginia, Vermont, Illinois, Missouri, and Mississippi. Oh, my gosh. Election month. No, election season.
Voter Guide Release Schedule and Encouragement to Use iVoterGuide for Informed Voting Decisions
And this week, my team, if you would say a prayer for them, they are coming out with voter guides in the next, you know, week in West Virginia, Nevada, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, California, Florida, Texas, and Washington. So go to ivoterguide.com if. And, you know, enter your address to see on your ballot. If you see a rating there, that means your voter guide is out. Go ahead and Keep doing the dive and doing your research. If all you see are candidate names, sign up for the email list. Maybe download the Barna report, get you on our email list. We'll let you know when we release your voter guides. We are in the feverish final month moments of researching and evaluating, thousands, almost 15,000 candidates for this November 5th election or not November 3rd. Sorry, don't let me say the wrong date. So, but make sure you've got the information. Use iVoterGuide before you vote and, and let's just win this
Rick Beggs November and pass it on. Pass it on to others, family members, friends, neighborhoods, churches, churches especially. It's free.
The Importance of Down Ballot Voting and George Barna's Research on Voter Behavior
It's a great tool. And like Debbie said, the, the information is all there. And of course this is why we had a discussion with George. And last week we, we really started with how and why we asked George to come alongside of us with some good research. And, and what did he do for us, Debbie, because you kind of surprised him with what you asked him to do.
Debbie Wuthnow Well, we asked him to look at down ballot voting behavior because he'd never done that before. He'd never looked at, you know, he'd always looked at presidential races or specific candidate races or congressional races, very top of the ticket type of things because they were paid for by candidates or by political parties. And you know, there wasn't a lot of money to look down ballot. But when iVoterGuide started covering school boards and local elections, just you know, as, as a former soccer, soccer mom, I, I knew I didn't have that information. And so I'm like George, George both wanted to do something new and I wanted to look down ballot and he'd never done it.
Analysis of Voter Ballot Completion Rates and Reasons for Skipping Races
So he was excited to do the research. And I think we found some fabulous information that honestly confirmed what I kind of thought was true and what had been guiding the direction, that we'd been sending iVoterGuide which was that in the poll of 2,000 likely voters, 85% of them voted at the top of the ticket, but only 55% of them completed their ballot, meaning 30. There was a 30 point drop in people who were skipping races on their ballot as they went further down the ballot, showing that, you know, there's, there's some gaps there. So then the next thing we asked George to ask was of course, why, why are they not filling in these races? Now intuitively, I always thought, you know, they didn't know who to vote for. But it was great for, for George to get it confirmed that the number one response by a full 10 percentage points over the next response was lack of information about the candidates. So it just, it just. We're sent in the right direction.
Rick Beggs Yeah. And I would have thought it was apathy.
Bridging the Information Gap: How iVoterGuide Empowers Voters with Candidate Information
But what we found out is I think people become fall, into a trap of apathy because they don't have the information. And that's what we really want to do at iVoterGuide is supply that information. And as Debbie encouraged you, go to ivoterguide.com and put in your address and you will see your ballot when your ballot comes out.
Debbie Wuthnow Yep, yep. Well, and everybody wants to have a guy, have, have somebody to help you vote, right when it comes time to vote.
Rick Beggs That's right. We, I thought it was funny because I thought George would be my guy if I, I'm gonna call George from now on.
Debbie Wuthnow But George don't live in your state, so he's not going to care about your down ballot. But it's great to have somebody. I know when I joined iVoterGuide we had a guy on staff who he was my guy is, you know, I say, James, who do I vote for? And he would research the city council members and the school board members and the community college board. I mean, everything. And he would say, you know, he'd kind of the wheat from the chaff and let you know which way to vote. So we, asked George that same question, right?
Rick Beggs Yeah.
George Barna Explains the Difficulty of Finding Candidate Worldviews and Experience
Yeah. So let's play clip four.
George Barna I spend literally days beating the bushes trying to find information, not background information about, gee, you know, how old are they, what part of town do they live in? But what do they believe? What have they done that's prepared them for this? What kind of experience do they have that would tell me how they're likely to behave in office? Those are the kinds of things that I want to know, especially if I can figure out, you know, what's their worldview, because then that tells me how they're going to be making decisions on issues we can't even foresee. I can, I can begin to predict it if I know their worldview. That information is like, you know, finding hen's teeth very, very difficult to come by.
Debbie Wuthnow Hen's teeth.
Understanding the Challenge of Obtaining Information on Down Ballot Candidates
Rick Beggs Yeah, I love that phrase. I, I remember that being said, I probably when I would go visit relatives in Minnesota, I didn't even know hens had teeth actually do that. But I think what he's trying to say, is a needle in the haystack.
Debbie Wuthnow That's, I mean, that's what makes sense to me. I wonder if chickens Even have teeth. So, I don't know. But it's something that's super hard to find.
Rick Beggs Right.
Debbie Wuthnow That's the, that's the illustration is the needle in the haystack. I know even in talking to our team, it's just so hard to find information on down ballot candidates because most of them have never run before. Right. They've been a businessman, they've been, you know, know, just a mom do it. And so it's hard to find out anything about them especially, you know, what they might do with power, which is what we're looking for. So.
Rick Beggs Well, and power at lower levels.
The Significant Impact of Local and Down Ballot Offices on Daily Life and Families
not to minimize, down ballot offices because they're not. But power down there we don't really think about. Although it's probably more important than voting up ticket. Especially with us locally, with our, our in our state, our city.
Debbie Wuthnow I think it impacts us more directly. I mean it's school boards set the curriculum and what our kids are taught. even local judges determine custody hearings and you know, local ordinances and things like that. City councils, you know, where's your tax money getting spent, raising bond issues and all that kind of thing. So those local offices, I think impact our family and our churches, our pocketbooks even more so than those top of the ticket races. And yet they're so much harder to find information on those candidates.
The 'Farm Team' Concept: Why Local Offices Are Crucial for Future Leaders
And you know, we've talked about before that they're the farm team. It's really important we get good people there because they'll probably move up later.
Rick Beggs Yeah, they get that bug to do that. Once they get a school board seat or a supervisory role or a city council, they tend to make their move up to, larger offices. why don't we, listen to what George had to say.
Convincing Voters of the Significance of Local Offices and Their Impact on Life
So Brent, if you'll play clip to A two.
George Barna Well, somehow we've got to convince them that these offices are significant in your life. You don't even realize how the people fill in those offices today are putting limitations and boundaries on how you can live, how you can believe what you can say, how you can spend your money and how much of their money, your money they're going to take.
Debbie Wuthnow Your taxes, programs, you know, all of
George Barna this kind of stuff.
Direct Impact of Local Races on Families and the Importance of Participation
Debbie Wuthnow that may have ended early, but yeah, the thought was that the, that we need to know that those races, there's. The races are important. They're not just throwaway races. They do impact us.
Rick Beggs and I have no idea why a lot of people would think that those are throwaways because truly, if you want Something to directly affect your family.
There Are No Throwaway Offices, Only Offices We May Not Fully Understand
Go to a school board meeting. You'll hear that you know exactly what they're about, ready to do. And if you're not voicing course, then that's when you run into problems with curriculum and, and worldviews and things like that. throwaway offices. We. We don't have throwaway offices. We may have offices we don't understand.
Debbie Wuthnow Yeah.
Rick Beggs Or understand what they do, but we don't have throw away.
Debbie Wuthnow But even if you don't understand the job, it's still important to vote for it.
George Barna Addresses Avoiding Down Ballot Voting and Valuing All Offices
But I think George spoke to that as well.
George Barna You want to play clip 5, avoiding down ballot voting. One of the things that they need is to actually value the offices that are listed down. That's one of the reasons why they're not voting. They're not paying attention. They're not concerned about it. They think, those are throwaway offices. Well, nothing could be further from the truth. These are vitally important offices that will affect their lives and in many ways that they don't even realize. And so voting for the people who are going to fill those offices is a great privilege as well as a great responsibility.
Discussion on the Concept of Buying Down Ballot Offices and Candidate Viability
Debbie Wuthnow He says it so well.
Rick Beggs Yeah, I couldn't have said it better, even though I tried to before he even spoke about it. yeah. but there's this interesting concept about whether you can buy an office down ballot. You know what I mean, Debbie?
The Influence of Money in Politics and the Left's Strategy in Down Ballot Races
Debbie Wuthnow Well, I do know that, you know, when they talk about the viability of a candidate, I mean, it's in the news all the time, how much money they're raising, how much money they're doing for this, you know, because it does take, we know it takes money to get elected. It takes money to hire staff, to buy ads, to print flyers, to mail them out. but down ballot takes so little money honestly to get elected that there has. It can be bought honestly. and there has been a move, on the left to do just that, to purchase.
The Impact of Soros-Funded Initiatives on Local Elections and Combating Them with Information
I mean, we've heard about Soros, das, if you've heard about that in the news, we've talked about, you know, money that gets thrown at a particular. And that's a down ballot office. But we've seen, as some of these cities that have these days that, you know, what do they call? They release. There's no bond, no cash bail. No cash bail. So that the, you know, whoever gets arrested just goes right back on the street and does another crime. and. But it was, it was a plan, and it was money that enabled that to happen, but information can combat that. But George spoke to kind of the.
George Barna on the Left's Investment in Down Ballot Offices and Building Candidate Awareness
What's been going on on the left. I'd like to hear you to hear it from his lips. Can you play clip 18, please?
George Barna Decade, at least, has shifted a lot of its resources to investing in, in down ballot offices, you know, school board in particular, but city council, all of those things. And, and, you know, some people hate to hear it, but you can buy elections because there are certain things that have to happen for somebody to get elected. the electorate has to be aware of who you are, those kinds of things. Well, how do you build awareness? Well, you pay for advertising, you pay for presence at events and whatnot.
The Challenge of Voter Turnout and Disengagement with End-of-Ballot Races
So money does have a big say in who gets elected. The left realized that, and they've shifted some of their resources there, you know. But the other thing that's interesting is that it's so hard to get people to vote at all. And then it's so discouraging to see that many of those who bother to vote don't bother to vote by the time you get to the end of the ballot. So you've got kind of these, you know, people who mean well, but they don't finish well.
Christians' Responsibility to Influence and Transform Culture Through Political Engagement
And I think that's one of the things that we want to encourage God's people, at least to be doing, is to recognize that part of our responsibility we're called to influence the culture, we're called to transform the culture. We're not called to be completely invested in politics. We're supposed to be completely invested in Christ. But he calls us society for his purposes and politics and government is part of what determines how people live, how much opportunity they're going to have to know him, to serve him, all of those kinds of things. So these offices are very critical.
Reflecting on George Barna's Articulate Insights into the Left's Local Office Strategies
Rick Beggs There is so much there, Debbie, that
Debbie Wuthnow he just said, why don't you start with the beginning? Because I think part of that we'd heard before. But, he's articulate, he knows what's going on. He's been paying attention to, the direction that the left has been moving in in local offices.
The Christian's Role in Politics and the Importance of Electing Biblical Worldview Candidates
So what was your big takeaway from that clip?
Rick Beggs Well, my big takeaway always is Christians, you know. And what, how serious do we take this? Sometimes you hear people say, well, I don't want to mess with politics as a Christian. And, and I understand if you look at it from a political standpoint, it is messy and it's ugly and it's not fun.
The Church's Potential to Influence School Board Races Through Serious Engagement and Voting
All you have to do is turn on a television program and see how many ads you get, the closer we get to an election. But what is important is that we get right candidates, biblical, worldview candidates, if possible, especially at these lower levels where we're going to have somebody take a seat at a meeting where they get to vote about what we're going to teach our children. And so, I, I personally, this is my bandwagon. I just, I know if the church took it serious, they could sway every school board race in this country. And George is speaking to that.
Countering the Left's Agenda with Information, Activism, and Church Engagement
Debbie Wuthnow Yep. Well, and, and, and the, what he was saying is, you know, the left has had an agenda and used money to take control, but information and activism of churches and engagement of churches can counter that there are more of us than there are of them. And with good information, it is within our grasp. And certainly God would want us to take care of the children and to have them protected from the, indoctrination and some of the transgender surgeries and the craziness that's going on. But I found it interesting.
Identifying School Boards as the Most Confusing Race and an Opportunity for I Voter Guide
The other thing that, George found in this study was once we asked them, you know, the, why they didn't vote. we, we also asked, or he asked about are there specific races where you're more confused? Are there, you know, and he asked, you know, where do you need more information? Was it mayor, city, state legislator, judges, school boards? Because I know we hear most judges and school boards about equally, but the number one response was by, by 10 percentage points was school boards was the race where most people were confused. I think a part of that is lack of information and it's local. Another part is they're frequently nonpartisan, so you don't have that cue of a D or an R behind the name of the candidate. So, but yet it's almost more important as, because it's, that's the curriculum for our children. So the future really the training, indoctrinate, slash indoctrination of children is controlled by school boards, but yet people don't have information to vote for them, so they're leaving it blank. And it showed to me a real gap and an opportunity for iVoterGuide voter guide to step into that space.
The Church's Role in Sourcing School Board Candidates and Promoting Biblical Principles
But where should those people be coming from, those school board candidates?
Rick Beggs The church?
Debbie Wuthnow Yeah, I think George spoke to that as well. Can we play clip six?
Developing a Biblical Worldview from Childhood and Its Lifelong Impact
George Barna we're all called to be disciples. To be a disciple, you have to act like Jesus. But because we do what we believe, you have to think, think like Jesus before you can act like Jesus. And in order to think like Jesus, what that basically means is you have to have a biblical worldview. Well, when does a person's worldview get developed before the age of 13, and then we carry it with us the rest of our lives.
Critique of Church Budget Allocation and Underinvestment in Children's Ministries
And very few people ever significantly altered their worldview after the age of 13. So children really matter. But where I'm going to step on toes is saying, yeah, in the church we talk a lot about children, but I'm a big believer in that expression, put your money where your mouth is. If you look at the typical budget of a church, about 80% of the money goes to adults and 20% goes to other stuff, of which children is one of several entities. And so we don't really invest heavily in children.
The Imperative for Churches to Invest in Children and Place God's Principles in School Boards
So to me, it's not that surprising that the church hasn't paid that much attention to things like school board. Do we need to? Absolutely. In fact, school board members ought to be coming out of our congregations and bringing God's principals into those school board meetings. So that, that's an important thing for us to consider.
Appreciation for George Barna's Directness and the Need for More 'Toe-Stepping' in the Church
Debbie Wuthnow Amen, George.
Rick Beggs Yeah, amen. I, I, I just love the whole idea of him really, that he said, you know, he's going to step on toes here. I, I think we need a little more toe stepping. Yes, we do, in the church.
Pastors Stepping Up: Embracing Good Citizenship and Leading in the Public Square
And, and I'm not sure.
Debbie Wuthnow Less people pleasing, more toto stepping.
Rick Beggs Yeah, I, I'm not sure, this is where I would step on toes. I'm not sure a lot of pastors are ready to do that. And yet George talks about, being a good citizen and that as Christians, these are the areas we ought to step into.
Acting Like Jesus in All Areas of Life and Leadership
Act like Jesus. He said,
Embracing Leadership Roles in Government and the Public Square as Christians
Debbie Wuthnow yeah, we should be, doing, speaking out in all the areas. Right. and not just being good parents and good, good workers and good citizens, but, you know, being good leaders. And that includes in the government public square. So I love the story of Rick Scarborough, who was a pastor down in the Houston area.
The Rick Scarborough Story: A Pastor's Action Against Sex Ed Curriculum in Schools
And, his daughter let him know that there was going to be an assembly about an upcoming the sex ed class that was going to go on in school. And when he went to that assembly and saw what they were teaching the kids, and this was decades ago, it's much worse now. But what he saw, which was a planned parent curriculum, Planned Parenthood, appalled him. And he's, ah, this is no, and he spoke, he attended the school board meetings, he spoke up against what he saw was happening. And then as a pastor, he informed his church in what was going on and said this cannot continue.
The Church Mobilizes: Members Run for School Board and Reverse Harmful Curricula
And so the church Got on fire to start attending school board meetings. And they had multiple church members who then ran for school board and got on the school board and reversed that curriculum. And it, you know, it. And it changed the whole direction. One of them went on to be, you know, a state rep and maybe even a congressman.
One Man's Informed Action Ignites Church-Wide Engagement and Political Change
So it took. It was with one man who saw what was going on, became informed, and took action. He shared it with his sphere of influence, which just happened to be a church. As a pastor. He let them know what was going on.
The Importance of Being Informed, Playing Our Part, and Seeking God's Guidance in Voting
They, their church members started attending school board meetings, running for school board. and it's an example to all of us that, those races are important. We need to know what's going on, and we need to, you know, be asking God what does he want us to do? maybe it's run for school board, maybe it's doing something else, but it's certainly becoming informed and playing our part.
Rick Beggs And you can, you can reach out to us.
Resources and Training for Running for Office and Contacting The Compass
Debbie, tell more to reach out to us because they could reach out to us if they have some questions about how and who can help them. And, you know, there's great training out there to run for offices.
Debbie Wuthnow There's fabulous training in multiple organizations. Rick even founded an organization that, that equips pastors and empowers them. So if you email us, email, the compass, which is at I, info voterguide.com or compassivoterguide, uh.com.
Guidance and Support for Those Feeling Called to Public Service
ask any question. You know, God. M. I think God's asking me to do this. What do I do next? We can give you some guidance pointing you in the right direction.
The Compass as a Resource for Education, Empowerment, and Civic Participation
We have a great team who will, you know, call you, answer your emails. We're really trying to be a resource to educate you, to empower you to, to do your part, whatever that is, whether it's just voting or running for office. So contact us@, ah, compassivoterguide.com well, I'm
Rick Beggs glad you brought this, this part up with Rick Scarborough, because I want to go back to what George Barna said, and then I want to finish with scripture. He said when he was asked about, should we be paying attention to the school board?
George Barna's Affirmation of School Board Importance and Bringing God's Principles
And you may remember earlier in the show, he said, absolutely, in fact, school board members ought to be coming out of our congregations and bringing God's principles into those school board meetings. So that's an important thing for us to consider. And this From Scripture, Deuteronomy 6, and I may get weepy here, Debbie, because, you know, this is, this is a big thing. It's important yeah, Deuteronomy 6, starting at verse 4. Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one.
Deuteronomy 6: A Call to Love God and Diligently Teach His Words to Children
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words which I am commanding you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your kids and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up, you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and you shall be as, ah, frontals on your forehead. You shall write them, on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
The Church's Impact on Voting and the Urgency of Voter Registration
So saith God's word.
Debbie Wuthnow Amen.
Rick Beggs I, I seriously, I know, I know the church could make a huge difference if they would just go vote. And a lot of people aren't even registered, Debbie. To vote, right?
God's Call to Participate in Civic Life and Responsibilities as Citizens
Debbie Wuthnow No, they're not. And, and you need to solve that right now. we're, if you live in a state that's got 30 days registration, you still have time, but you need to do that now. And every church member should be registered to vote.
Rick Beggs Yeah, it's, it's a part of our responsibility, not just to our city, our fellow citizens, but really it's what God asks us to do, to participate in this.
iVoterGuide: A Free Resource for Election Information and Research
So that's our encouragement to you. We have the resource, it's free. It's called iBoaterGuide.com and we would ask that you would go there and put, your address in there, find out, who's on your ballot and then look at all the research we did. We did it for you. We are George Barna for you.
Gratitude for George Barna's Support and the Vision for Expanding I Voter Guide's Reach
And I know George appreciates what we're doing and we're so grateful. we're going to spend a little more time with him over the next couple weeks.
Debbie Wuthnow So, yeah, George wants us to do more of this. He sees the value. I mean he's, it's like looking for hen's teeth and he can't do, he can only do it in his one little area of California.
Multiplying Efforts in Research and Education for Informed Citizenship
But if we multiply the Georgia's, the guys, we can, the possibility is exciting to do this in more areas. And we would ask you to join us in prayer for God to guide us in this, to provide the resources and the plan and the people to do this research. Because our goal is just to educate every American to be a good steward of their citizenship. Ivyerguide.com is your election resource. the compass is, we hope, an auditory, audio method of engaging and equipping you.
The Compass Podcast: Engaging and Equipping Listeners for Informed Citizenship
And we're just so glad to be with you each week here, at the Compass.
Rick Beggs thank you so much for tuning in with us. We are here for you. We are grounded in God and rooted in research. We are I voter guides.
Grounded in God, Rooted in Research: iVoterGuide's Commitment to True North
And you can see us at iVoterguide.com Our producer is Brent Austin. We're always so grateful for him. go pick up the app. We at the Compass will always be, looking true north, because that's Jesus. As Christians, that is where our compass lands.
Following Jesus: The Ultimate Compass and a Call to Consider Him
True north. Jesus is his name. Would you consider following him? we love that you have followed us, so thank you for being with us. Debbie, thanks for being with me on this show.
Conclusion of the Show and Farewell Until Next Week
Debbie Wuthnow Oh, my pleasure. See you next week.
Introduction to The Compass Podcast and Its Mission for Informed Citizenship
Debbie Wuthnow Welcome to the Compass, navigating the public
>> square together with faith, truth, and conviction.
Welcome and Introduction to the Podcast Featuring President of iVoterGuide, Debbie Wuthnow
Rick Beggs Well, it's another week with us at the Compass. I'm with Debbie Wuthnow, who's president of iVoterGuide. This is the official radio show of iVoterGuide and you can Visit it at iVoterguide.com Debbie, say hey.
Debbie Wuthnow Well, hey, everybody. You can even listen to the Compass at iVoterGuide.com but it's great to be with you one more week.
Discussion about the AFR App and Recap of Previous Show with George Barna
Rick Beggs Yeah. And if you don't, have the app, hopefully that you're listening to us now.
Debbie Wuthnow What app are you talking about, Rick?
Rick Beggs The AFR app, Debbie.
Debbie Wuthnow Okay.
Rick Beggs You can also go listen to us and get, a lot of good [email protected] net so last week we talked with George Barna, and we, we, we have so much information, we could do literally, I think 12 shows. and then we'd have to rename it the Compass with George Barna.
Debbie Wuthnow Give him a byline.
Rick Beggs Yeah, that's right. Yeah. Thankfully, we didn't. Didn't have to pay him to be on the show with us.
Election Updates and Early Voting Information for Upcoming November Elections
And what a wonderful man. let's do it. Let's kind of have a summation of what we did last week before we kind of jump into what we're doing.
Debbie Wuthnow Okay.
Rick Beggs This week.
Debbie Wuthnow Well, and there is something happening about five weeks. Rick, do we want to kind of give an update for the elections?
Rick Beggs Oh, yeah. This is where it takes up about 30 minutes of our show.
Debbie Wuthnow I know there's so much going on.
Rick Beggs There's elections going on. Is that right, Debbie? Are we having one coming up there?
Debbie Wuthnow It's. We're now, I think, less than five, a little over five weeks until the November election. So I just want to make sure you guys know what's going on in your state. So in Maine and Nebraska, early voting will begin on October 5th. In Montana, early in person absentee voting begins on the fifth. In Indiana, it begins on the sixth. New Mexico, Ohio, Wyoming, early voting begins on the sixth. Arizona begins on the seventh. They're already early voting in Minnesota, South Dakota, Virginia, Vermont, Illinois, Missouri, and Mississippi. Oh, my gosh. Election month. No, election season.
Voter Guide Release Schedule and Encouragement to Use iVoterGuide for Informed Voting Decisions
And this week, my team, if you would say a prayer for them, they are coming out with voter guides in the next, you know, week in West Virginia, Nevada, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, California, Florida, Texas, and Washington. So go to ivoterguide.com if. And, you know, enter your address to see on your ballot. If you see a rating there, that means your voter guide is out. Go ahead and Keep doing the dive and doing your research. If all you see are candidate names, sign up for the email list. Maybe download the Barna report, get you on our email list. We'll let you know when we release your voter guides. We are in the feverish final month moments of researching and evaluating, thousands, almost 15,000 candidates for this November 5th election or not November 3rd. Sorry, don't let me say the wrong date. So, but make sure you've got the information. Use iVoterGuide before you vote and, and let's just win this
Rick Beggs November and pass it on. Pass it on to others, family members, friends, neighborhoods, churches, churches especially. It's free.
The Importance of Down Ballot Voting and George Barna's Research on Voter Behavior
It's a great tool. And like Debbie said, the, the information is all there. And of course this is why we had a discussion with George. And last week we, we really started with how and why we asked George to come alongside of us with some good research. And, and what did he do for us, Debbie, because you kind of surprised him with what you asked him to do.
Debbie Wuthnow Well, we asked him to look at down ballot voting behavior because he'd never done that before. He'd never looked at, you know, he'd always looked at presidential races or specific candidate races or congressional races, very top of the ticket type of things because they were paid for by candidates or by political parties. And you know, there wasn't a lot of money to look down ballot. But when iVoterGuide started covering school boards and local elections, just you know, as, as a former soccer, soccer mom, I, I knew I didn't have that information. And so I'm like George, George both wanted to do something new and I wanted to look down ballot and he'd never done it.
Analysis of Voter Ballot Completion Rates and Reasons for Skipping Races
So he was excited to do the research. And I think we found some fabulous information that honestly confirmed what I kind of thought was true and what had been guiding the direction, that we'd been sending iVoterGuide which was that in the poll of 2,000 likely voters, 85% of them voted at the top of the ticket, but only 55% of them completed their ballot, meaning 30. There was a 30 point drop in people who were skipping races on their ballot as they went further down the ballot, showing that, you know, there's, there's some gaps there. So then the next thing we asked George to ask was of course, why, why are they not filling in these races? Now intuitively, I always thought, you know, they didn't know who to vote for. But it was great for, for George to get it confirmed that the number one response by a full 10 percentage points over the next response was lack of information about the candidates. So it just, it just. We're sent in the right direction.
Rick Beggs Yeah. And I would have thought it was apathy.
Bridging the Information Gap: How iVoterGuide Empowers Voters with Candidate Information
But what we found out is I think people become fall, into a trap of apathy because they don't have the information. And that's what we really want to do at iVoterGuide is supply that information. And as Debbie encouraged you, go to ivoterguide.com and put in your address and you will see your ballot when your ballot comes out.
Debbie Wuthnow Yep, yep. Well, and everybody wants to have a guy, have, have somebody to help you vote, right when it comes time to vote.
Rick Beggs That's right. We, I thought it was funny because I thought George would be my guy if I, I'm gonna call George from now on.
Debbie Wuthnow But George don't live in your state, so he's not going to care about your down ballot. But it's great to have somebody. I know when I joined iVoterGuide we had a guy on staff who he was my guy is, you know, I say, James, who do I vote for? And he would research the city council members and the school board members and the community college board. I mean, everything. And he would say, you know, he'd kind of the wheat from the chaff and let you know which way to vote. So we, asked George that same question, right?
Rick Beggs Yeah.
George Barna Explains the Difficulty of Finding Candidate Worldviews and Experience
Yeah. So let's play clip four.
George Barna I spend literally days beating the bushes trying to find information, not background information about, gee, you know, how old are they, what part of town do they live in? But what do they believe? What have they done that's prepared them for this? What kind of experience do they have that would tell me how they're likely to behave in office? Those are the kinds of things that I want to know, especially if I can figure out, you know, what's their worldview, because then that tells me how they're going to be making decisions on issues we can't even foresee. I can, I can begin to predict it if I know their worldview. That information is like, you know, finding hen's teeth very, very difficult to come by.
Debbie Wuthnow Hen's teeth.
Understanding the Challenge of Obtaining Information on Down Ballot Candidates
Rick Beggs Yeah, I love that phrase. I, I remember that being said, I probably when I would go visit relatives in Minnesota, I didn't even know hens had teeth actually do that. But I think what he's trying to say, is a needle in the haystack.
Debbie Wuthnow That's, I mean, that's what makes sense to me. I wonder if chickens Even have teeth. So, I don't know. But it's something that's super hard to find.
Rick Beggs Right.
Debbie Wuthnow That's the, that's the illustration is the needle in the haystack. I know even in talking to our team, it's just so hard to find information on down ballot candidates because most of them have never run before. Right. They've been a businessman, they've been, you know, know, just a mom do it. And so it's hard to find out anything about them especially, you know, what they might do with power, which is what we're looking for. So.
Rick Beggs Well, and power at lower levels.
The Significant Impact of Local and Down Ballot Offices on Daily Life and Families
not to minimize, down ballot offices because they're not. But power down there we don't really think about. Although it's probably more important than voting up ticket. Especially with us locally, with our, our in our state, our city.
Debbie Wuthnow I think it impacts us more directly. I mean it's school boards set the curriculum and what our kids are taught. even local judges determine custody hearings and you know, local ordinances and things like that. City councils, you know, where's your tax money getting spent, raising bond issues and all that kind of thing. So those local offices, I think impact our family and our churches, our pocketbooks even more so than those top of the ticket races. And yet they're so much harder to find information on those candidates.
The 'Farm Team' Concept: Why Local Offices Are Crucial for Future Leaders
And you know, we've talked about before that they're the farm team. It's really important we get good people there because they'll probably move up later.
Rick Beggs Yeah, they get that bug to do that. Once they get a school board seat or a supervisory role or a city council, they tend to make their move up to, larger offices. why don't we, listen to what George had to say.
Convincing Voters of the Significance of Local Offices and Their Impact on Life
So Brent, if you'll play clip to A two.
George Barna Well, somehow we've got to convince them that these offices are significant in your life. You don't even realize how the people fill in those offices today are putting limitations and boundaries on how you can live, how you can believe what you can say, how you can spend your money and how much of their money, your money they're going to take.
Debbie Wuthnow Your taxes, programs, you know, all of
George Barna this kind of stuff.
Direct Impact of Local Races on Families and the Importance of Participation
Debbie Wuthnow that may have ended early, but yeah, the thought was that the, that we need to know that those races, there's. The races are important. They're not just throwaway races. They do impact us.
Rick Beggs and I have no idea why a lot of people would think that those are throwaways because truly, if you want Something to directly affect your family.
There Are No Throwaway Offices, Only Offices We May Not Fully Understand
Go to a school board meeting. You'll hear that you know exactly what they're about, ready to do. And if you're not voicing course, then that's when you run into problems with curriculum and, and worldviews and things like that. throwaway offices. We. We don't have throwaway offices. We may have offices we don't understand.
Debbie Wuthnow Yeah.
Rick Beggs Or understand what they do, but we don't have throw away.
Debbie Wuthnow But even if you don't understand the job, it's still important to vote for it.
George Barna Addresses Avoiding Down Ballot Voting and Valuing All Offices
But I think George spoke to that as well.
George Barna You want to play clip 5, avoiding down ballot voting. One of the things that they need is to actually value the offices that are listed down. That's one of the reasons why they're not voting. They're not paying attention. They're not concerned about it. They think, those are throwaway offices. Well, nothing could be further from the truth. These are vitally important offices that will affect their lives and in many ways that they don't even realize. And so voting for the people who are going to fill those offices is a great privilege as well as a great responsibility.
Discussion on the Concept of Buying Down Ballot Offices and Candidate Viability
Debbie Wuthnow He says it so well.
Rick Beggs Yeah, I couldn't have said it better, even though I tried to before he even spoke about it. yeah. but there's this interesting concept about whether you can buy an office down ballot. You know what I mean, Debbie?
The Influence of Money in Politics and the Left's Strategy in Down Ballot Races
Debbie Wuthnow Well, I do know that, you know, when they talk about the viability of a candidate, I mean, it's in the news all the time, how much money they're raising, how much money they're doing for this, you know, because it does take, we know it takes money to get elected. It takes money to hire staff, to buy ads, to print flyers, to mail them out. but down ballot takes so little money honestly to get elected that there has. It can be bought honestly. and there has been a move, on the left to do just that, to purchase.
The Impact of Soros-Funded Initiatives on Local Elections and Combating Them with Information
I mean, we've heard about Soros, das, if you've heard about that in the news, we've talked about, you know, money that gets thrown at a particular. And that's a down ballot office. But we've seen, as some of these cities that have these days that, you know, what do they call? They release. There's no bond, no cash bail. No cash bail. So that the, you know, whoever gets arrested just goes right back on the street and does another crime. and. But it was, it was a plan, and it was money that enabled that to happen, but information can combat that. But George spoke to kind of the.
George Barna on the Left's Investment in Down Ballot Offices and Building Candidate Awareness
What's been going on on the left. I'd like to hear you to hear it from his lips. Can you play clip 18, please?
George Barna Decade, at least, has shifted a lot of its resources to investing in, in down ballot offices, you know, school board in particular, but city council, all of those things. And, and, you know, some people hate to hear it, but you can buy elections because there are certain things that have to happen for somebody to get elected. the electorate has to be aware of who you are, those kinds of things. Well, how do you build awareness? Well, you pay for advertising, you pay for presence at events and whatnot.
The Challenge of Voter Turnout and Disengagement with End-of-Ballot Races
So money does have a big say in who gets elected. The left realized that, and they've shifted some of their resources there, you know. But the other thing that's interesting is that it's so hard to get people to vote at all. And then it's so discouraging to see that many of those who bother to vote don't bother to vote by the time you get to the end of the ballot. So you've got kind of these, you know, people who mean well, but they don't finish well.
Christians' Responsibility to Influence and Transform Culture Through Political Engagement
And I think that's one of the things that we want to encourage God's people, at least to be doing, is to recognize that part of our responsibility we're called to influence the culture, we're called to transform the culture. We're not called to be completely invested in politics. We're supposed to be completely invested in Christ. But he calls us society for his purposes and politics and government is part of what determines how people live, how much opportunity they're going to have to know him, to serve him, all of those kinds of things. So these offices are very critical.
Reflecting on George Barna's Articulate Insights into the Left's Local Office Strategies
Rick Beggs There is so much there, Debbie, that
Debbie Wuthnow he just said, why don't you start with the beginning? Because I think part of that we'd heard before. But, he's articulate, he knows what's going on. He's been paying attention to, the direction that the left has been moving in in local offices.
The Christian's Role in Politics and the Importance of Electing Biblical Worldview Candidates
So what was your big takeaway from that clip?
Rick Beggs Well, my big takeaway always is Christians, you know. And what, how serious do we take this? Sometimes you hear people say, well, I don't want to mess with politics as a Christian. And, and I understand if you look at it from a political standpoint, it is messy and it's ugly and it's not fun.
The Church's Potential to Influence School Board Races Through Serious Engagement and Voting
All you have to do is turn on a television program and see how many ads you get, the closer we get to an election. But what is important is that we get right candidates, biblical, worldview candidates, if possible, especially at these lower levels where we're going to have somebody take a seat at a meeting where they get to vote about what we're going to teach our children. And so, I, I personally, this is my bandwagon. I just, I know if the church took it serious, they could sway every school board race in this country. And George is speaking to that.
Countering the Left's Agenda with Information, Activism, and Church Engagement
Debbie Wuthnow Yep. Well, and, and, and the, what he was saying is, you know, the left has had an agenda and used money to take control, but information and activism of churches and engagement of churches can counter that there are more of us than there are of them. And with good information, it is within our grasp. And certainly God would want us to take care of the children and to have them protected from the, indoctrination and some of the transgender surgeries and the craziness that's going on. But I found it interesting.
Identifying School Boards as the Most Confusing Race and an Opportunity for I Voter Guide
The other thing that, George found in this study was once we asked them, you know, the, why they didn't vote. we, we also asked, or he asked about are there specific races where you're more confused? Are there, you know, and he asked, you know, where do you need more information? Was it mayor, city, state legislator, judges, school boards? Because I know we hear most judges and school boards about equally, but the number one response was by, by 10 percentage points was school boards was the race where most people were confused. I think a part of that is lack of information and it's local. Another part is they're frequently nonpartisan, so you don't have that cue of a D or an R behind the name of the candidate. So, but yet it's almost more important as, because it's, that's the curriculum for our children. So the future really the training, indoctrinate, slash indoctrination of children is controlled by school boards, but yet people don't have information to vote for them, so they're leaving it blank. And it showed to me a real gap and an opportunity for iVoterGuide voter guide to step into that space.
The Church's Role in Sourcing School Board Candidates and Promoting Biblical Principles
But where should those people be coming from, those school board candidates?
Rick Beggs The church?
Debbie Wuthnow Yeah, I think George spoke to that as well. Can we play clip six?
Developing a Biblical Worldview from Childhood and Its Lifelong Impact
George Barna we're all called to be disciples. To be a disciple, you have to act like Jesus. But because we do what we believe, you have to think, think like Jesus before you can act like Jesus. And in order to think like Jesus, what that basically means is you have to have a biblical worldview. Well, when does a person's worldview get developed before the age of 13, and then we carry it with us the rest of our lives.
Critique of Church Budget Allocation and Underinvestment in Children's Ministries
And very few people ever significantly altered their worldview after the age of 13. So children really matter. But where I'm going to step on toes is saying, yeah, in the church we talk a lot about children, but I'm a big believer in that expression, put your money where your mouth is. If you look at the typical budget of a church, about 80% of the money goes to adults and 20% goes to other stuff, of which children is one of several entities. And so we don't really invest heavily in children.
The Imperative for Churches to Invest in Children and Place God's Principles in School Boards
So to me, it's not that surprising that the church hasn't paid that much attention to things like school board. Do we need to? Absolutely. In fact, school board members ought to be coming out of our congregations and bringing God's principals into those school board meetings. So that, that's an important thing for us to consider.
Appreciation for George Barna's Directness and the Need for More 'Toe-Stepping' in the Church
Debbie Wuthnow Amen, George.
Rick Beggs Yeah, amen. I, I, I just love the whole idea of him really, that he said, you know, he's going to step on toes here. I, I think we need a little more toe stepping. Yes, we do, in the church.
Pastors Stepping Up: Embracing Good Citizenship and Leading in the Public Square
And, and I'm not sure.
Debbie Wuthnow Less people pleasing, more toto stepping.
Rick Beggs Yeah, I, I'm not sure, this is where I would step on toes. I'm not sure a lot of pastors are ready to do that. And yet George talks about, being a good citizen and that as Christians, these are the areas we ought to step into.
Acting Like Jesus in All Areas of Life and Leadership
Act like Jesus. He said,
Embracing Leadership Roles in Government and the Public Square as Christians
Debbie Wuthnow yeah, we should be, doing, speaking out in all the areas. Right. and not just being good parents and good, good workers and good citizens, but, you know, being good leaders. And that includes in the government public square. So I love the story of Rick Scarborough, who was a pastor down in the Houston area.
The Rick Scarborough Story: A Pastor's Action Against Sex Ed Curriculum in Schools
And, his daughter let him know that there was going to be an assembly about an upcoming the sex ed class that was going to go on in school. And when he went to that assembly and saw what they were teaching the kids, and this was decades ago, it's much worse now. But what he saw, which was a planned parent curriculum, Planned Parenthood, appalled him. And he's, ah, this is no, and he spoke, he attended the school board meetings, he spoke up against what he saw was happening. And then as a pastor, he informed his church in what was going on and said this cannot continue.
The Church Mobilizes: Members Run for School Board and Reverse Harmful Curricula
And so the church Got on fire to start attending school board meetings. And they had multiple church members who then ran for school board and got on the school board and reversed that curriculum. And it, you know, it. And it changed the whole direction. One of them went on to be, you know, a state rep and maybe even a congressman.
One Man's Informed Action Ignites Church-Wide Engagement and Political Change
So it took. It was with one man who saw what was going on, became informed, and took action. He shared it with his sphere of influence, which just happened to be a church. As a pastor. He let them know what was going on.
The Importance of Being Informed, Playing Our Part, and Seeking God's Guidance in Voting
They, their church members started attending school board meetings, running for school board. and it's an example to all of us that, those races are important. We need to know what's going on, and we need to, you know, be asking God what does he want us to do? maybe it's run for school board, maybe it's doing something else, but it's certainly becoming informed and playing our part.
Rick Beggs And you can, you can reach out to us.
Resources and Training for Running for Office and Contacting The Compass
Debbie, tell more to reach out to us because they could reach out to us if they have some questions about how and who can help them. And, you know, there's great training out there to run for offices.
Debbie Wuthnow There's fabulous training in multiple organizations. Rick even founded an organization that, that equips pastors and empowers them. So if you email us, email, the compass, which is at I, info voterguide.com or compassivoterguide, uh.com.
Guidance and Support for Those Feeling Called to Public Service
ask any question. You know, God. M. I think God's asking me to do this. What do I do next? We can give you some guidance pointing you in the right direction.
The Compass as a Resource for Education, Empowerment, and Civic Participation
We have a great team who will, you know, call you, answer your emails. We're really trying to be a resource to educate you, to empower you to, to do your part, whatever that is, whether it's just voting or running for office. So contact us@, ah, compassivoterguide.com well, I'm
Rick Beggs glad you brought this, this part up with Rick Scarborough, because I want to go back to what George Barna said, and then I want to finish with scripture. He said when he was asked about, should we be paying attention to the school board?
George Barna's Affirmation of School Board Importance and Bringing God's Principles
And you may remember earlier in the show, he said, absolutely, in fact, school board members ought to be coming out of our congregations and bringing God's principles into those school board meetings. So that's an important thing for us to consider. And this From Scripture, Deuteronomy 6, and I may get weepy here, Debbie, because, you know, this is, this is a big thing. It's important yeah, Deuteronomy 6, starting at verse 4. Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one.
Deuteronomy 6: A Call to Love God and Diligently Teach His Words to Children
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words which I am commanding you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your kids and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up, you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and you shall be as, ah, frontals on your forehead. You shall write them, on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
The Church's Impact on Voting and the Urgency of Voter Registration
So saith God's word.
Debbie Wuthnow Amen.
Rick Beggs I, I seriously, I know, I know the church could make a huge difference if they would just go vote. And a lot of people aren't even registered, Debbie. To vote, right?
God's Call to Participate in Civic Life and Responsibilities as Citizens
Debbie Wuthnow No, they're not. And, and you need to solve that right now. we're, if you live in a state that's got 30 days registration, you still have time, but you need to do that now. And every church member should be registered to vote.
Rick Beggs Yeah, it's, it's a part of our responsibility, not just to our city, our fellow citizens, but really it's what God asks us to do, to participate in this.
iVoterGuide: A Free Resource for Election Information and Research
So that's our encouragement to you. We have the resource, it's free. It's called iBoaterGuide.com and we would ask that you would go there and put, your address in there, find out, who's on your ballot and then look at all the research we did. We did it for you. We are George Barna for you.
Gratitude for George Barna's Support and the Vision for Expanding I Voter Guide's Reach
And I know George appreciates what we're doing and we're so grateful. we're going to spend a little more time with him over the next couple weeks.
Debbie Wuthnow So, yeah, George wants us to do more of this. He sees the value. I mean he's, it's like looking for hen's teeth and he can't do, he can only do it in his one little area of California.
Multiplying Efforts in Research and Education for Informed Citizenship
But if we multiply the Georgia's, the guys, we can, the possibility is exciting to do this in more areas. And we would ask you to join us in prayer for God to guide us in this, to provide the resources and the plan and the people to do this research. Because our goal is just to educate every American to be a good steward of their citizenship. Ivyerguide.com is your election resource. the compass is, we hope, an auditory, audio method of engaging and equipping you.
The Compass Podcast: Engaging and Equipping Listeners for Informed Citizenship
And we're just so glad to be with you each week here, at the Compass.
Rick Beggs thank you so much for tuning in with us. We are here for you. We are grounded in God and rooted in research. We are I voter guides.
Grounded in God, Rooted in Research: iVoterGuide's Commitment to True North
And you can see us at iVoterguide.com Our producer is Brent Austin. We're always so grateful for him. go pick up the app. We at the Compass will always be, looking true north, because that's Jesus. As Christians, that is where our compass lands.
Following Jesus: The Ultimate Compass and a Call to Consider Him
True north. Jesus is his name. Would you consider following him? we love that you have followed us, so thank you for being with us. Debbie, thanks for being with me on this show.
Conclusion of the Show and Farewell Until Next Week
Debbie Wuthnow Oh, my pleasure. See you next week.
In the latest episode of the Compass, we delve into the critical topic of down ballot voting and its significance in the upcoming November elections. With just weeks to go, the conversation centers around the importance of being informed about local candidates and the offices they seek to fill.
Live
Did you know American Family Radio is listener-supported? Your monthly financial support will allow us to continue upholding Godly values through our numerous channels, like American Family Radio, One Million Moms, The Stand magazine, and many more.
Become a Great Commission Partner TODAY to help AFR transform culture by rebuilding the family. When you donate today, you’ll get access to:
