The polls aren't good for the YES campaign, but we just have to get on with it. Because there are only two options, every vote in the referendum will count, that is one thing we do know. Even if we lose, the closer the vote, the better the remote possibility that we might get another chance soon.
It'll sound like sour grapes, but I get quite annoyed by polling just before a vote as it can be a self fulfilling prophecy disheartening one side or another and depressing turnout (especially when it is so erratic and shows the Tories winning by miles).
If the No campaign have won this, then this really highlights the power (and money) of our establishment backed by a press owned by four billionaires (in no way could you call this a free press) coupled by a very very frightened BBC which has bent over backwards for the NO campaign. Still, the YES campaign could have won this easily if they had properly tried to explain AV from the start and not been so incompetent.
It is very depressing, but I don't want to get into a post-mortem just yet. I am still convinced that the YES vote is more enthusiastic than the NOs, therefore is more likely to turn out. Keep your enthusiasm and make sure you vote, and if you are still undecided, remember you never chose the current system, politicians chose it for themselves and want to keep it that way. Isn't it about time we did choose one. Who do you trust most, politicians or mathematicians?
Refusing the default has a fantastic summary of the arguments for and against, go and check it out, it is funny, shrewd and uncannily accurate.
Sure, we can agree that the No to AV campaign was well-funded by the powers that be and a pack of simple, easy to grasp lies.
ReplyDeleteWhere we differ is that I also believe that whatever support exists for the EU or the Global Warming nonsense is based on the powers that be spending a lot of money on propagating a few, simple lies.
There again, if you've ever tried speaking up for replacing as many taxes as possible with Land Value Tax; legalising drugs; turning off traffic lights; replacing the welfare state with a Citizen's Income; or allowing smoking in pubs, you are up against the same old enemies.
I believe that we should be pushing more for the diversification of our electoral systems rather than in favor of one electoral rule (AV) over another (FPTP).
ReplyDeleteOne can argue then that one election rule doesn't fit all elections. That's my line over at "A New Kind of Third Party"...
dlw