Atheist Voters

One of the reasons frequently cited for our ineffectualness as a political force is the fact that atheists aren't "joiners" and hold diverse opinions. "Herding cats" is the common expression.

But what if we started the ball rolling by setting the lowest possible bar for commonality, just to force politicians to take notice of our existence as a large, potentially powerful contituency?

The estimates for the number of atheists in the US vary widely, and I'm not terribly concerned with this issue at the moment. The number is, by all measures, large enough to matter.

What if we had 15% of the electorate willing to say:

"I am an atheist, agnostic, or freethinker, and I vote."

Not the strongest statement, obviously, but I think this simple statement creates the largest possible corral in which to contain the otherwise unherdable cats, and would begin to cause elected officials to take us seriously as a contituency.

What do you think?