Thursday, October 18, 2007

Election Fatigue? "There'd better not be a f*ckin' election."

Whooee! Us wonks who live an' breathe politics probbly wouldn't mind if there was an election every six months. I don't reckon the non-wonks is so keen on the non-stop campaign bullcrap that dominates the news during the election.

It ain't the 5 minute ballot markin' job that has some fatigued. It's the constant jabs, sound bytes, namecallin' an' brinksmanship of the election cycle. An election don't just happen on election day. Officially, federal elections take about 6 weeks. Unofficially, Harper's been campaignin' fer a majority since the last election.

Canajuns want Parliament to work. We pay our MP's to represent us and to manage the country on our behalf. If we are in non-stop campaign mode, our MP's are busy tryin' to win an election an' not busy doin' the job we're payin' 'em fer.

Yesterday, in some boog comments here an' there, I come out fer Dion to stand up fer principle an' show he's a man an' fight an election. I figger it was a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" choice. Dion's troublem is with his image as a meek an' mild perfesser. His actions vis-a-vis the throne speech only serve to reinforce that negative image.

My wifemate (I call 'er Ma) was watchin' the TV news with me yeserday afternoon. They started talkin' about the possibility of an election. Ma ain't no fan of King Steve an' she don't usually cuss too much except when she's really really irritated or tired (fatigued). When she seen 'em talkin' election, Ma sed, "There'd better not be a f*ckin' election."

JimBobby

(Most o' this post was originally written as a comment at Red Tory.)

2 comments:

Karen said...

Well, we can certainly relate to that here in the Hew Ess of Hay. Our damn campaigns seem to start as soon as the election is over. With representatives having 2 year terms, they are literally campaigning non-stop. It's insane.

JimBobby said...

Whooee! Yeah, I watch a fair bit of Merkan TV on the satellite dish. Mostly outta Boston. They're always campaignin' an' their ads is nastier than what we get here.

We don't have fixed election dates an' that probbly cuts down on the length of the campaign. The problem with unfixed dates is that they're always jockeyin' fer forcin' an election when it best suits 'em.

WE got some campaign spendin' rules that help keep our campaigns from srirallin' into a contest of who can raise the most money. How much each side raises is a lot less an issue here. Still an issue - just less significant.

JB