Voter Apathy?
Posted on 24 September 2008 by stageleft
I caught an interesting spot on CPAC dealing with Bill Casey and his riding tonight. I wish I’d got home from the gym in time to record it all, it should be required watching for every voter in he country.
But this isn’t about Bill and his expulsion from the Conservative Party for doing what he thought was the right thing for the people who elected him. It’s about how a resident of Cumberland-Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley was portrayed by Tracy Parsons, the Liberal candidate for the riding, when she knocked on his door and he dared to be honest with her.
The camera’s followed her to a house where she was met at the door by a man who politely told her he had never voted Liberal, he voted NDP, but that in his opinion it didn’t really matter who he voted for, nothing had ever changed in the past, and nothing was likely to change in the future.
When asked about his comments Parson’s reply was that ‘voter apathy is a terrible thing‘
Voter apathy?
How many times have any of us heard people say exactly the same thing?
Apathy is defined as the complete lack of emotion or motivation about a person, an activity, or an object, and I just don’t see this man’s comments as apathetic.
This man, who does go out and vote, made the mistake if being honest about what he see’s, and instead of discussing this with him the candidate writes him off and brands him as apathetic on national TV.
– and that steams me.
Is it really any wonder that more and more people are losing faith in the system?
Popularity: 29% [?]
September 24th, 2008 at 8:21 am
Good post. You’re right. That wasn’t ‘voter apathy’ that the fellow was displaying. It was voter cynicism, and all politicians need to think long and hard about that.
The kindergarten antics in Parliament, the name-calling, it all takes a toll.
September 24th, 2008 at 9:41 am
And more and more of us are understanding it from a personal perspective. Personally, I am a political junkie and here we are into the election I’ve so dearly desired for a long time and what do I find? I’m bored. Bored of it all. I am tuning out the whole process… the ‘gaffes’, the mudslinging, the insults, lies and faux outrage over every small thing. How I yearn for a politican of any stripe to say ‘my opponent said xyz on a blog/video/article/meeting… it’s nothing that any of us haven’t said in a private moment between family/friends/coworkers.. let’s get on with the campaign’, instead of taking the moment to scream outrage about sexist/racist/homohobic proof. Gawd! He said, she said.. slurs, insults… Shut the hell up! When are we going to actually talk about issues, opinions and most importantly platform and policy.
It’s boring. No wonder the regular folk are tuned out. I’m a junkie and I’M tuning out!
September 24th, 2008 at 10:05 am
A Coyne has an interesting article in this week’s Macleans, called How Journalists Get In The Way, and it looks at journos and how they heighten voter cynicism. I think it’s one of the best articles about the Canadian msm I have read in a long time.
It starts:
“Every election is different. Each has its own rhythm, its peculiar melody, its unpredictable barks and squeaks. But in one respect every election is the same: the press coverage. It’s always an embarrassment, and always in exactly the same way. Politicians learn from their mistakes, sometimes. We just go on repeating ours.
We can’t help ourselves, it seems. After every election we retire, defeated, to our newsroom post-mortems, and each time we vow: never again. Never again will we sit up and beg for our “Gainsburgers,” the little meaningless morsels of news the parties dole out each day to keep us complicit in their charades. Never again will we chase after every fleeting poll, salivate over every minor “gaffe.” Never again the gotcha question, the silly photo op, the constant search for “defining moments” and “turning points,” the investing of trivial campaign mishaps with symbolic import — as if the great river of events were just naturally teeming with metaphors for us to fish. Why, next time we might not even go on those ridiculous leaders’ tours.
And then we go out and do it all over again.”
September 24th, 2008 at 10:18 am
I linked the column, JWL. You’re right — it’s a dandy.
September 24th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Thanks Jack. I don’t know what the html code is to link like you did and I didn’t want to paste the url because it is long.
Coyne is one of my fav Canadian opinion writers. I don’t always agree with him but he always has an interesting argument, at least.
September 24th, 2008 at 10:38 am
Bill Casey has my vote for the next provincial leader of the Conservative Party.
September 24th, 2008 at 11:08 am
Retain a healthy dose of “skepticism” while abiding by the “marquis of Queensbury rules.” The balancing act can be challenging, even fun.
I’m very optimistic/hopeful that this time round citizens will get an ethical version of the “common sense revolution” minus the insider greed factor. It’s doable.
September 24th, 2008 at 11:36 am
Are you talking about Nova Scotia’s Bill Casey and his problems with the Atlantic Accord revision? This election should be above all about the economy (national unchartered waters ahead). Tax evasion re corporations/well-placed individuals (CEOs)finally coming to front and centre stage. The former “shadow sectors” are finally undergoing the scrutiny that’s necessary. On both sides of the 49th parallel. It’s about the elite’s propensity for ensuring the average taxpayer foots the bill each and every time. But you’re entitled to your dream vagaries, UV. Link below really corny, eh?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCL4cA7hhPo&feature=related
September 24th, 2008 at 11:49 am
Average Canadians just realized for the first time in decades major tax relief (two successive budgets), so the formerly “unreacheable star” has been acquired. More of the same is being announced. I was basically raised on that song, won’t stop singing it now, despite the ’shams and the scams.’ Heck, culture’s available to almost anyone at all!
Now why aren’t the Harper Gov’t Accomplishments in every citizen’s mailbox? Flyer leaflets. If that happens before October 14th, the Liberal Party of Canada gets relegated to the dustbin of history — where they belong since ADSCAM if not before.
Vote for your own pocketbook. Vote Conservative bypassing the tripe details on the campaign trail. Next budget we’ll have all the answers we need and then some.