Election Woes on FaceBook

Haha. well given my previous post I think Im screwed regarding voting and given my main criteria for policy voting im struggling…..I know voting is important….but not voting is also saying “i dont care who gets in – none of you reflect my views…so Ill live with whoever gets in”….this is now a real possibility…kinda goes against the grain for me….but voting for the least worst almost seems to be equally mad as it would endorse a whole stack of policies I dont agree with…

• Other I’m having similar problems Barry. It’s not good, is it?
• Barry Pearce No. Pretty bad….doesnt feel good as I actually want to vote….but it seems Im a fish out of water with regard to whats being offered.
• Barry Pearce The irony is….I used to have a go at my dad for all the times he hadnt voted…and here I am now….Im sure the irony has not been lost on dad at all…although he hasnt mentioned it…
• Other I will vote of course. But…
• Other Not voting allows the extreem elements to get in, its always been a case of voting for the least bad option
• Rob Harper The problem is that any party will have some elements of its policy that you don’t agree with, so you can come up with reasons to not vote for them. In the end you have to think, “Well these guys appear to have more things that I agree with than not.”…

• Barry Pearce im not overly worried about fringe policies – I accept that there is never a 100% match. I worry about the big stuff really. EU (im very pro), Environment (pro-green no fracking, no solar farms), NHS (keep it public service), immigration (and by this i mean I am pro-human and pro-immigration rather than xenophobe), Human rights. Mostly that kind of stuff. But policies arent everything and you are also voting in a group of people who think and believe in a particular way…I think its important to vote in people who have clear well reasoned thinking and actually consider consequences of their actions as equally important as the intended effects. Confidence in the party I vote for being able to think is pretty important and on that score im seriously worried!! To quote blackadder….
  “Thinking is so important.”
• Other Barry, I guess what I’m inferring from your comment there is that you’re very much inclined to vote Green, but you are concerned that your candidate is an idiot?
  
• Barry Pearce Not so much the candidate as the party core…
• Rob Harper I figure that on that front it’s reassuring that they aren’t as polished as some. And not as out-and-out bonkers as others.
• Other I feel the same. Really struggling with who to vote for. I will make the effort to go to the ballot box though, even if it is just to spoil my paper. At least I will have then earned the right to complain.

• Chris Oliff As a one time Liberal activist I admit to thinking harder this time; I have met Nick and thought him honest and sincere. Then I thought about what happened in 2010. I didn’t like the idea of coalition with Tories but respected that he felt this was the correct decision. The trouble is, so many in that party scare me and I am surprised the LibDems survived at all.
  The trouble with trying to be nice, honest and working with integrtity is that you are easily scornered and trodden upon.
  So, this time I went through the whole list. Yes, I know there are broken promises etc., but what business person actually delivers everything he/she promises?
  This is real life and the question is, surely, who do you believe most puts us before political power?
  I then had to consider the greens ukip et al – it’s easy to promise when you haven’t had to – and are not likely to – have power. You can make any promise because you know you can’t be accused of breaking them.
  We must have good government and we must each make our own decision – hopefully more from the head than the heart.
  For what it’s worth I’ve put some of my thoughts in my blog
  http://oliff.uk/category/opinion/
  I know more people will vote differently to me – as you may – but I am voting for the option that I believe is the right one.
  If you spoil papers, don’t vote or cop out in any way, please don’t blame the outcome on me or anyone else.
  Voting is a responsible act – look at what each party is likely to deliver [not just because they promise it] given the chance and decide which would be best for you and our Country – don’t please, be negative and screw democracy. This is YOUR opportunity to use or trash.
• Will Hall I have to disagree with your comment about spoilt papers Chris. Until there is a box for expressing the opinion that none of the candidates standing can be considered suitable, or acceptable, the “constructively” spoiled vote is the only option – short of revolution. Actually writing clearly “None of these candidates are acceptable” is a statement, not a cop out. If we, the electorate, want to change the way politics is done we need to break the party system. I would consider a high turnout of the electorate, with 100% “spoiled” votes is better than gun battles on the streets; Although making our parasitic politicians accountable with blade and noose does have its own appeal.
  
• Chris Oliff I respect you view but cannot see the point.
  Never will enough people do this to have impact. Change from within; I would respect you position more if you put up your own candidate with a mandate that dealt with such issues.
  And I also disagree that politicians are parasitic – a few, inevitably are corrupt but I have personally known many who work extremely hard for constituents with little personal reward.
  So, perhaps we will remain apart in our positions … but, then, that is also democracy.
  

• Will Hall Sadly the most likely local winner in Wantage and surrounds is career parasite Ed Vaizey, whose “job” before being an MP was as speech writer to Cameron. With almost no chance of him being ousted I do feel that direct action may be the only way to make him accountable. I don’t think change from within is working. The generation who put personal belief and local priorities first and party second have mostly died, or been replaced.

• Chris Oliff You can see that I am a LibDem.
  I live in a blue constituency – rock solid Tory.
  But I am a committed democrat and if I want change there are two things I can do –
  – work to get our twisted election method changes; some people think that LibDems want change to PR for selfish reason – no, we are just seeking fairness
  – work hard with the party you want selected – campaign to get the incumbent out.
  We are not a dictatorship – nor a revolution – we have a civilised democracy that badly needs repair.
• Rob Harper I like to fantasize that if all the people who say “I would vote for X but there’s no point” actually went out and voted for X, the political landscape in this country would be radically different.
• Chris Oliff So make your fantasy reality?
• Chris Oliff It’s what LibDems hoped would happen election after election – but each time the electorate reverted to type.
  Remember 2010 and ‘I agree with Nick’?
  LibDems share shot high and then collapsed at vote time. Why?
  Because there WAS a point but people never had the guts to do it – so blame the people rather than the politicians?
  Where so we go from here – NOT spoiled votes, I hope.
• Will Hall I do blame the people, as well as the politicians not fit to be in charge of a toy pram. How could the Sedgefield electorate have put Blair back in after his failure to call a halt to the millennium dome fiasco, ultimately bailed out with public money, and his blatant sound bite lies? Why haven’t the constituents, and other MPs been quicker to remove the likes of Rifkind, and others with commercial interests who promote policies that serve only to line their pockets? There had been an improvement from the time of purchasing seats, and open intimidation of the electorate, where MPs were mostly regarded as responsible, honest folk. you might have disagreed with their policies, but you could believe they were honestly held. With very few exceptions, it is very hard to believe that of modern MPs. The current mess, which has been building since the 1970s, makes me glad I chose not to have children and inflict the consequences of our society on them.
• Barry Pearce Curiously enough I actually want proper PR – it happens in other countries – oh yeah I remember the main argument….horror of horror you’ll have a permanent coalition!….yep…on the whole that means people have to work together by consensus. Ah well. Turns out the electorate are stupid enough to vote for the status-quo and then complain their vote doesnt count.
  The only problem is full PR wasnt offered as an option and if the public dont vote when offered change there isnt much hope to get the politicians to change the gravy-train system…
• Will Hall Direct and personal action? Start with the obvious contenders and work down. I believe that sort of politics is called “robust”.
• Rob Harper At least the last 5 years has shown that a coalition doesn’t inherently cause the end of the world. That’s something, I guess.