Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Screwed


Yup, pretty much.


Watching Insight on young voters from the Brisbane seat of Moreton. So far:

1 guy is voting Liberal because he's a concreter and got a pay rise, 'because of the IR laws'.

1 guy is voting Liberal because he lives at home with his parents and, 'the economy is real strong.'

The Greens speaker is clueless, basically promising a workers paradise with no mention of how to pay for it. Also it's a very uni-centric paradise, lots of talk about HECS etc. Life doesn't revolve around uni!

Most speakers don't even know what they want, let alone what any party wants to do.

A large number of speakers base their decisions on how their family/parents vote. What a tragedy. That is NEVER a good reason to decide who to vote for.

No one watches the news. Big surprise. Wouldn't do them much good anyway.

Insightful comment: Politicians need to be less formal and more relaxed talking to younger voters. Get to the point and give people a say. Howard's YouTube announcements are presented as a pathetic joke, a sad attempt to be relevant by a politician who doesn't get it. Agreed there. The Libs don't really get the 'net. Labor don't but they seem to be trying a bit harder and succeeding a bit more.

The BBQ factor again. Rudd's stripper incident (thanks Alexander Downer) played well, making Rudd look like a 'regular bloke'. Crusty old Labor polly doesn't get it. It's not about telling people what you stand for. It's about giving people the chance to find out what you REALLY stand for. Of course there's a bit of conflict there.

Also unions have failed to engage young people in the IR campaign. A lot of speakers don't seem to know anything about it at all. Lambs to the slaughter really.

Lots of talk about "strong economy" but only one person has talked about how Australian workers aren't getting their fair share. Also well said whoever mentioned the lack of the focus on the future with the govt.'s economic management. People want to know where are we going from here.

Global warming skeptic, votes Liberal of course. Reckons his vote can be won only by focusing on issues that directly affect him. Basically pay him and you win. Nice. Non Liberal aligned voters seem open to new information and appear willing to consider it. Liberal aligned voters on the panel seem to be pretty much in lockstep.

Show's over.

So, clearly we're doomed. The only young voters who care are in it for themselves. The rest just aren't sure. Damned by indifference. Are we going to look back on this election in 50 years and think back on how we could have made a difference but just couldn't be fucked?

Also, about this blog. We set it up for people to contribute, to talk about things they feel are important or just to express themselves. Why not make the leap from reader to contributor?