fajrdrako | The pace of democracy... (Reply)

Elections: we held them and a paltry few showed up. Didn't they send out enough invitations?

I am not entirely unhappy. I'm sorry to see Harper still sitting there, but I woke up this morning to the sound of a CBC radio interview with the winning candidate in my riding, Paul Dewar, whom I voted for. That was satisfying - and made me feel better about the overall results.

Why the lack of interest from the electorate? Why the low voter turn-out? I don't personally blame the potential voters who didn't even try.

I blame the politicians for not getting their message across, and for not having much of a message in the first place - there was far too much saying why the other parties were bad, and not enough focus on issues or national direction. One suspects that too many politicians don't have a message to get across, and that scares me. So it isn't about issues, it's about images.

I blame the media, who treats elections like a horse-race, with polls - which further distort results - and a sense of gamesmanship. Like gambling. It isn't about issues, it's about numbers.

Maybe they'll do better next election. Meanwhile, more of the same.