— Musings —06.23.2011 06:35 AM
— Musings —06.23.2011 06:35 AM
There’s a very good column in today’s London Free Press entitled “Tories, Grits leave door open for NDP” – by Brian MacLeod (that doesn’t seem to be up at the LFP website).
MacLeod’s take mirrors my own in that with the two fighting male leaders Horwath might just start to look very refreshing to voters.
IF the NDP fly that plank about nixing Catholic schools…..they may just have a winner issue because the Liberals and PCs who have favoured one-system would back it, AND, those people like me who understand the thirst for more choice both in and outside the school system would be happy also because it would restart and open up discussion on the whole issue of school choice for all in Ontario.
If also the NDP can mobilize the youth vote both the PCs and Libs. are in trouble because schools back in session and campuses ripe for the picking by the Mercer vote mobs.
All of this of course is dependent not on what either McGuinty or Hudak offer Ontarians, it’s dependent on how deep the thirst for change is in this province.
“If also the NDP can mobilize the youth vote both the PCs and Libs. are in trouble because schools back in session and campuses ripe for the picking by the Mercer vote mobs.”
Excpet that is has historically been the case the older voters turn out in much larger per centages than young voters. The last federal election is a case in point. Even with all the media attention, social media and Rick Mercer, young voters did not vote in great numbers.
Rick Mercer and social media alone can not oversome the apathpy of young voters. Overall voter turnout is always higher for federal elections than for provincial ones. There would be no reason to believe that the youth vote can somehow suddenly be mobilzed for this fall’s Ontario provincial election.
Yep, historically that’s been the case but if the last election results taught us anything it’s that history’s not driving the results bus. Maybe older voters aren’t happy with either the Liberals or PCs either and are willing to forgive and forget Bob Rae – I’m thinking Horwath can help that the forgive and forget crowd if she plays this right.
I’m a PC supporter but I like Horwath, not her party. She’s got something that the two fellows do NOT in the way she communicates and tone.
Locally the PCs and NDP are awol – giving the Lib. candidate pretty much all the air time and sound bites on issues – with no rebuttals, retorts or counters. It’s early going yet I realize but as we head into summer the LAST thing on people’s minds is the election.
Normally I’m really not a grammar cop, but there is no such word as “unquote”. The word you seek is ‘end quote’, as in ‘That’s what he said, quote end quote’.
‘Unquote’ makes no sense at all….. for all intensive purposes….. 😉
Since when do we expect voters to be completely informed and rational? I don’t mean to sound cynical, but the Liberals will have to pound this for months to get it through, and its implications. A point in case: a visit to my RMT for an appointment last night. He feels the HST has hurt his business. When I explained the $14 Billion dollar hole in the Con platform, he said he doesn’t care and others won’t either. He says we’ve all been screwed by the HST/taxes and people just want change. Its a good thing to change things every so often, he added.
Its been said that reason is a slave to emotion. Like the title of Paul Waldman’s excellent book on Conservative tactics says : “Being Right is not Enough”
The dirty socks effect. Governments are like socks, if you don’t change them every once in a while, they start to smell. Once the electorate starts thinking that way, it is extremely hard to reverse it.