it’s election season here in the great white north and i’m having a really difficult time deciding how i’m going to vote come june 28th. i’ve been half-heartedly listening to the news and reading the paper. i’ve poked around the big three’s websites looking for their positions on the issues i care most about. i’m going to an all-candidate’s meeting in my riding. i will watch the debates on television. i’ve even gone so far as to text message them in hopes of getting a direct answer to what i consider the deal-breaking issues.
i’m probably even more confused now than i was three weeks ago.
like darren, i’ve been trying do decide if i should vote for a party, a leader or my local candidate. you’d think it’d be an easy choice, but it’s really not. i almost wish i could cast one vote for each category.
for example, i really like paul martin and jack layton. i think they are very interesting and charismatic men. i’d probably even forgive paul his tossing of bush’s salad in order to prove to that monkey that he’s not like jean chrétien, his predecessor. jack layton just seems so real. i would love to hang out at the pub with him because you just know he’s probably a closet dart shark. stephen harper, i am convinced, is the anti-christ; and i’m not the only one who says that, either. just look at those beady little, too-close together eyes, that scary hair and the way his face doesn’t move when he talks.
then there’s the party. well, i’m a dyed in the wool socialist from way back. in my perfect world, the ndp would form the next government and every government thereafter. unfortunately for my desires, there’s not a hope in hell of that happening any time soon, so i have to choose between the liberals who have fucked things up financially, but done a lot for social issues, over the last ten years or the conservatives who, while they may fix the fiscal issues, are sure to decimate any progress which as been made in the name of tolerance and equality for all canadians. not to mention just throwing out the kyoto accord which was signed by our previous prime minister (ooh, that chafes my butt).
finally, i could vote solely on what value my local candidate could bring both to my riding and parliment in general. this one is tough. i know my liberal candidate, don bell, the former mayor of my district, the best. i’ve been watching him on televised council meetings for the last few years. he’s a little funny looking, but i like that he knows, intimately, the major issues our area faces. i worry, though, that if he’s elected, he may get overwhelmed by being a first time mp and get forget about who he’s supposed to be representing. ted white, the conservative incumbent, i only know because he has the worst facial hair imaginable. it really is bad. if people were elected purely on the merit of their facial hair (or lack thereof), this guy would not have ever been elected in the first place. john nelson, my ndp candidate, i know nothing about. actually, up until about four days ago, i didn’t even know his name. the only thing i actually know about him is that he has be best, most informative website of all three.
oh, about that text messaging i tried out. i sent the same question to all three parties:
please tell me your leader's
position on same-sex marriage
and women's right to abortion.
thank you.
i was really disappointed at the responses, or lack thereof, i received.
the most timely response came from the liberals the very same day:
PMartin believes in the
Charter of Rights and
Freedoms.
Stephen Harper Does
not!
the best answer came from the ndp, two days later:
Pro Same sex
marriage, and support
women's right to
choose and have
access to safe
abortions.
it’s been over a week and the conservatives have yet to reply, although that doesn’t surprise me very much at all.
i think tonight’s all-candidate meeting and tomorrow’s debates will be what solidifies my vote either way. i want to hear what these men have got to say for themselves without it being filtered through media outlets. they’re the horses in this race and i want to hear it straight from their mouths’.
Be thankful you have some decent options. South of the border it’s a different story. (btw there’s a Presidential race going on in the US right now…)
For social liberal fiscal conservative types like you and me there is absolutely no one, no one with a legitimate shot anyway. It all comes down to the lesser of two evils. You don’t vote for your favorite candidate in the US. It’s more like voting against the one you like the least. It’s been that way ever since I was old enough to vote.
No one really wants either Kerry or G-Dubs to run the show. It’s like, which would you rather have, your eyes gouged out or your dick cut off?
I cringe that your analysis includes physical attributes and the phrase “i would love to hang out at the pub with him”.
Ask American’s how electing a “folksy, affable” person worked out for us. People didn’t vote for Gore because he was “stiff” and a “know it all”.
Forgetting of course that when the sh-t hits the fan you want a real doctor with the scalpel instead of just a guy that plays one on TV.
(groans)
if i’m voting for a person, their physical attributes would come into play on some level. i’m not saying that’s the ONLY criteria, but it’s taking into consideration.
i could have mentioned that paul martin is a dictator who holds his cabinet in a stranglehold, refusing to let them speak their mind. i could have mentioned that stephen harper is a evangelical christian. i could have mentioned that jack layton is has a chinese wife, which would, one hopes, increase his sensitivities to immigrant issues.
i could have mentioned a lot of things, but this is not an essay being sumitted to a poli-sci class or an unbiased article appearing in the media. this is a post on a weblog of a person who admits openly and without reservation that she probably shouldn’t even be talking about such things knowing as little about the details as she does.
btw, to whom are you referring by “folksy and affable”? clinton? i know a lot of americans who think he was the best thing since sliced bread. personally, i think he could have been very good for your country. too bad people think it’s any of their business what he did with his cigars.
“folksy and affable” is probably referring to GWBush… when he came forth on the GOP scene four years ago, he was touted as the alternative to the traditionally-educated (read: ivy-league) traditionally-bred (read: well-heeled Nor’easter) politician. Lots of people who met him on the campaign trail described him as a sort of “everyman” candidate. He’s from TX, which sort of helps that outlook.
Regarding physical attributes, I would have rather had Gore over GWBush any day. *shrug* But for me, a similar attribute that plays heavily for me are their speech habits. Even after four years, GWBush doesn’t sound natural… in fact, sometimes he sounds downright condescending, like he’s talking in front of small children. Anyway…
I like the idea of text-messaging the candidates for responses. You appear to have invested more time than you think into your vote. Good luck deciding…
I totally respect you right to spout off… carry on!
I’m in a similar boat. My local candidates are not helping make a decision. The Liberal incumbant is a man whose ‘claim to fame’ is getting the GO transit to our city. Nevermind its not here. Nevermind we don’t need anymore buses, we need a train. Nevermind that it is NOT HERE. The Conservative guy sits in a mall handing out flyers. He reminds me of a homeless person asking for change, and I cannot get that image out of my mind. Our NDP candidate is non-existent. I haven’t seen nor heard from him. The CHP runs candidates to challenge YOUR notion that Harper is the anti-Christ. I may end up voting GREEN, if nothing more than a half-hearted attempt to show a smaller party support, throw some federal cash their way, and say to the nation at large: This sucks!
I voted for the green party last time as a throw away vote. This year it’s going to be a vote cast against the liberal agenda which I’m thoroughly sick of. Gotta throw one to the conservatives this time around. Sadly they dont have the balls to undo the liberal damage, but a vote against is better than nothing.