kerravonsen | (Reply)

From:

To clarify: when you ask someone (I include myself, here) to make a choice between X and Y just off the cuff, he or she may tend to choose based on first impressions or subconscious biases. Vote for (or against) X because she is a woman; vote for or against Y because one's relative is a teacher and this person sounds teacher-friendly.

Some people's reasons are shallow, yes, but not that shallow. Of course the party leaders try to project the image that they think will appeal to the electorate - for example, Tony Abbot went on the campaign trail with his daughters in tow, to give the impression that he's a caring family man (when he's really a right-wing reactionary who wants women kept barefoot and pregnant). The party does tend to be judged by the behaviour of the party leader, and why not? Where the leader goes, the others will follow.

Some people just staunchly vote for the same party election after election, because they believe in the general principles of that party (whether out of enlightened self-interest or whether they think it is best for the country). Party leaders come and go, but the parties themselves roll on. The Liberal Party attracts supporters because they think a Liberal government is "good for the economy"; the Labor Party attracts supporters because they think a Labor government is "good for society". To wit, the usual methods of the Liberal Party are: cut spending (to "balance the budget"), cut services, privatize everything they can get their hands on (in the name of "efficiency"), ~~kowtow to big business~~ support business, and attack unions. The usual methods of the Labor Party are: increase spending (and make a deficit), increase services, support the unions, and uphold social justice.

And, whatever the case, it isn't going to be "off the cuff"... okay, the statistics say that one in ten people decide their vote at the polling booth, but that means that there are 90% who do actually think about it beforehand.

Sounds like it's working out fairly well for you guys.

Well, yes and no. What tends to happen is when the people are fed up enough, they vote for whichever party isn't in government.
IMHO, this time around, Labor deserved to lose, because they had betrayed their traditional values in a race to the bottom, but the Liberals didn't deserve to win, though, of course, by Labor losing, the Liberals did win.

The flip-flop gives us a kind of balance, I suppose.

My hope is that the next three years will give Labor the time and incentive to pull their act together while Abbott makes a fool of himself. And that the Senate will be able to stop Abbott from destroying too much of our infrastructure and our freedoms in the meantime.