There is no better education for politics than handing out brochures at a polling booth on Election Day. By this stage of the political cycle political parties have selected their candidates and independents have made a commitment to throw their hat into the ring.
Planning for Election Day is akin to a sophisticated military operation. Candidate brochures, How to Vote cards and corflute signs reduce complex feedback from polls, surveys and focus groups to a single slogan; friends, relatives and supporters of candidates are allocated to various polling booths; Scrutineers are briefed; and polling booths are decorated with candidate paraphernalia.
At 8.00 AM the first voters arrive to be met by a line of polite candidate supporters all vying to get their How to Vote card into their hands with one last verbal message ‘Vote 1 for Joe Blow – he (or she) will fix NSW’ – before they walk the final few metres into their polling booth.
Voters react differently to the gauntlet they face. ‘Thank you’ is the most common refrain. ‘How many bloody trees did you cut down for this’ is popular. ‘They’re all a mob of bastards’ is not uncommon. Within a few hours all candidate supporters have got to know each other and there is much friendly banter but every now and the then they all brace themselves, ‘Uh, oh . . . here comes one – he looks like one of yours’ is a defensive refrain before everybody cops an earful of abuse about bloody politicians as ‘he’ tears up one card and refuses all others. Point made!
But the real battle for political representation has been fought well before Election Day as candidates ‘work the numbers’ in their respective political parties to win preselection. Competition for winnable seats is fierce and at the end of the day the person who has the most supporters within their Party wins. It is not a career path for shrinking violets.
But shrinking violets, and everybody else can have a say in who represents them. All they have to do is join a political party of their choice, join the debate, and get involved in the process. If they wish to take the next step all they have to do is work hard to convince their fellow Members that they are best suited to represent their interests in Parliament. It’s called grassroots democracy.
Unfortunately most Australians prefer to comment rather than commit. Such political apathy makes it easier for so-called ‘political hacks’ to get elected because the decision has been made well before Election Day. All we have to do improve the quality of candidates is get involved in the political process earlier and commit to a Party, and eventually to a candidate, of your choice. It’s much more effective that whingeing about the system!
