As 'be counted' day approaches each of
us of voting age must decide which 'party' to vote for, yes I know we
do not vote for the party but for an individual who 'represents' (or
more correctly is a member of) said political party. Lets face it the
whole idea that we are voting for an individual is becoming more and
more of a farce each time an election comes around be it federal or
provincial, the 'party' the 'leader' and the back room boys of said
party have all the power and for the most part our individual MPs
have very little influence in what is said and done in their name by
that inner group.
Cynical you say, perhaps so but when we
see 'leaders' (of all stripes) dictating who and who cannot run under
their banner even after the local Electoral District Association has
selected and endorsed a candidate, when even the smallest long past
comment is grounds for 'the party' rejecting a candidates ability to
run under their banner, then perhaps my initial thoughts above are
not so far wrong. Let he who is without fault cast the first stone is
perhaps the appropriate comment here!
This leaves those of us who intend to
vote on Oct 21st in a bit of a dilemma, do we vote for that local
candidate who we like and trust but who has little chance of getting
elected, do we vote for the 'next best' candidate who has a better
chance 'representing us'? Do we vote for an individual we dislike and
distrust but whose party is our preferred choice of government or do
we vote to reduce the chances of a party we don't want to see in
power from having one more MP in the house and possibly gaining
power.
This latter choice is then where the
heading for this piece comes from ABC ….. Anyone But Conservative
….. Long time readers will know that this blog was originally
started to highlight and document the previous conservative
government of Stephen Harper attacks on our democracy. Whilst I have
attempted to highlight issues that jeopardise our democracy by any
and all partys I cannot help but say that I still think that the
conservative mind set as evidenced by the Frord regime here in
Ontario is the greatest danger to it. That Scheer seems to want
nothing to do with his Ontario counterpart kinda says it all in my
mind, there may be a bit of a divide between provincial and federal
politics but I see little difference in the ideological beliefs of
the various leaders or would be leaders.
In May of this year I
wrote “Frankly the thought of Ford in control
of our province scares the living shit out of me, I am firmly
convinced that he will do and say anything to gain power, nothing he
says can be taken at face value.......” That assessment has been
proven to be correct and I can but hope that we don't get to see if
indeed Mr Scneer is cut from the same cloth!
I still don't know if I will be voting
for my local candidate, the party of choice (both Green at this
point) or strategically to stop the Frord want to be. Stay
tuned.......
Support Democracy - Recommend this Post at Progressive Bloggers
6 comments:
Your post reflects the dilemma many people feel, Rural. In the past, I have voted strategically, more often than not while holding my nose. I have decided that for this election, because time is growing short for the world, I will vote according to what is the most serious issue we face, climate change. Therefore, the Green Party, the only one that takes the crisis seriously, is my choice.
Unfortunately First Past The Post make such choices more difficult than they need to be Lorne!
I would like to vote Green, Rural. But, in our neck of the woods a Green parliamentarian looks, at this point, like a long shot. So the question I face is, "In a minority government - -where the Greens have clout -- what is the best option?" Scheer doesn't appear to be it.
I'm thinking much the same way Owen, a minority government may be the best we can hope for IF (and thats a big if) those elected can learnt to compromise and drop the highly partisan BS.
Exactly. If Green has a shot in your neck if the woods, have at 'er, I say. But where I live the Marboro Man is polling higher and the Cons are both the historic default and incumbent.
I would have to be a nihilistic suicide bomber to flush my vote when I do have a chance at turning this riding anything but blue.
Seems to me, it's a riding by riding ethical decision. And yes, it sucks!
I think that sums it up exactly Brian!
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