Monday 25 April 2005

Election Thoughts T-10

The UK elections are ten days away but I haven't been following it too closely.

Whatever policies Labour comes up with, I won't vote for Tony Blair. I'm disgusted with how he pandered to George Bush and took the UK to war. It was a stupid move for Blair to stand again. If Gordon Brown was leading the party, I might have voted Labour.

An excellent programme recently aired on Channel 4 called "Elections Unspun, Why Politicians Can't Tell The Truth". It described the current post-democracy where the political elite have evolved into a new kind of marketing machine using sophisticated software to identify and target swing voters with bland sound-bite policies. Stagecraft and PR is highly refined, controlled and restricted. Debate is minimal with "me too" messages. There's almost no ideological difference. Big uncomfortable issues with difficult solutions are ignored. Everyone is clustered in the center with personalities and credibility being promoted and attacked rather than anything substantial. How can anyone get excited by it?

It's ironic that only parties guaranteed to lose can afford brave policies and a long term vision.

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