Making Choices
I’ve been realizing something lately about voting and elections. I’ve been reading the real nb election blogs as I certainly don’t consider myself one. And those people, like Spinks, Sara G, Scott, PoliticsNB and the others, they know politics. They know about the issues, about the particular agenda’s, etc. I don’t. I don’t know the issues other than what I see or hear in the media. It’s not that I don’t care about the issues, I do, a great deal actually. But I’ve never really bothered to learn the specifics before. Instead for some ridiculous reason, I thought that listening to the news and reading the newspaper would be enough. But I’m realizing that the realities of someone who only has those perceptions is very different from someone who actually knows or follows politics. I know I’m not alone as I’ve been asking many of my friends lately and they, like myself, are limited to the same scope, good for general Tim Horton’s discussions, but not the nitty gritty. We’re all educated, we all have thoughtful items to contribute to many subjects, but politics seems to be something on the peripheral and this appears to be common with woman as well as men (although more so with women). I read in the paper today that many NB university students weren’t interested in voting and I remember not voting either when I was younger. When I grew up, my parents didn’t tell each other who they voted for and it wasn’t something typically discussed. Maybe I lost my political bug when I ran for class president in grade 5 and lost to Kenny H. because he offered free pizza and longer recesses to the students, while I naively thought that interesting reading material and subject matter would be of interest, lol.
So when it comes to making that choice on election day, my decision is based on media soundbites and general impressions. Is that wise? I doubt it. By just saying “I’m left winged” therefore I’m voting NDP or Liberal, without looking at the actual issues, is that wise? I doubt it. I read the other elections blogs and I find myself agreeing with some conservative issues and on other items I agree with liberal issues. It’s actually been interesting reading blogs about the election, I certainly read the US blogs about their election last year, but this is new to me with regards to the NB election. It has created a whole new outlet for me to obtain input for the election. And I certainly feel I have more knowledge this time around than the last election. Maybe blogging will become a rich source to reach out to the everday voter like myself. I know I’d be more likely to read a blog throughout the year than watch CPAC. Not to mention, I wouldn’t have to observe the temper tantrums that seem to erupt in the legislature;)
So from the start of this process, I’ve said I’m the everyday voter, not a political pundit, not one to follow politics typically. I’ll be glad when the parties release their platforms as I’m hoping that will make it easier to isolate issues. Although as one person I spoke with today said, in many ways,
It’s a crap shoot. They all promise the moon, yet no matter who is in, they all partially fail to deliver and they all screw up over something. I may as well go eeny, meeny, miney mo.
I hope it doesn’t come down to that. Voter apathy at its best.
Posted by By: lisa | 
2006/09/01 | Life - nb election | Trackback | Comments [RSS 2.0]
