If you don't vote, you're a moronFollow

Would you take them both over Campbell Brown?

She made John McCain's campaign spokesperson cry.

Me?

Over-educated, arrogant, ridiculously well-paid, fluent in many languages, socially & politically connected, immaculately coutured and manicured, well-travelled and, to add insult to injury, getting plenty.

Sickening isn't it?

Or were you making small talk?

I'm sure it is.

Alas, apart from omitting to mention that I are a ugly cnut, the above is factual.

Like I say, annoying, I know.

Very, very old.

Impudent upstart!

I'm old enough to be your Fazha!

No, I think it would take 25 to 50 years of voting for the party that was closest to your views in each election, despite the chance or not they have of winning, and at least a couple of changes of ruling party, before they were really noticeably closer to your views.

Too long to wait, you say? I don't know about you, but I plan to be alive in 50 years time. And I'd rather win in the end, than not win at all.

Two things to consider when struggling with a feeling that you can make no difference. Firstly, in Australia, there is an official political statistic used. For every one letter received by a politician on an issue, the politician or party presumes that 59 other people have the same opinion as the letter writer, but have not bothered to write a letter in about it themselves.

Secondly, political "overnight miracles" not only are possible, but have happened. In the State of Victoria, there has never been a more popular and successful government than the Liberal-National coalition party government under Jeff Kennet. There has never been a more popular Premier. His party, after three election cycles, had won an overwhelming majority in the houses of parliament, something like 80% of the seats to 20% of the seats held by Labour, and it would take something like an average 20% swing against the Liberals and Nationals and towards the Labour party to unseat his government. Such a swing has never ever come close to hapening before. The next election was unlosable for the Liberal-Nats on all past political history.

Then, in the name of economic efficiency, that concept that everyone loved and adored him for, he shut down most of the country/regional rail-lines. Just before the next election, a new, young, unknown politician was made the Labour Party leader.

And the next election Labour won. No one expected it. No poll predicted it. Probably because they didn't ask the right questions. The next election, all the country/regional electorates voted a majority for Labour for the first time ever. The swing against the Nationals and towards Labour was massive, unprecedented, and previously unthinkable. And the Jeff Kennet Liberal-National government was toppled completely out of the blue. Every person in those electorates who voted Labour didn't expect that they would get a Labour representative to parliament out of their vote. They all expected that they would get a National pollie like usual. They cast their vote against them anyway, and the total of all their hopeless wishes added up to a win. Labour got in, and Labour restored half the railway lines that had been axed, upgrading the ones that they did restore. It was doubtless short of what the regional people wanted. They doubtless wanted all their railways back. But half of what they wanted was also doubtless better than none of it. In subsequent elections some went back to the Nationals. And some stuck with Labour again.

Edited, Sep 15th 2008 6:38am by Aripyanfar