Think when you vote

I have always been a Labor supporter, and I really can’t foresee a time I won’t be. I have come close, on occasion, to voting for other parties. There was a time I was particularly unimpressed with the gutless position Labor took on ‘border control’ and environmental issues. At that point I came close to voting Green, but I was keener to get rid of Howard and it would have been a wasted vote. Of course, as it turned out, I should have just done it.

I will definitely be voting Labor at the next election. Rudd, his touch of smarminess aside, really does seem to have what it takes to win it. I think the punters will believe it and, as long as nothing goes wrong, he’ll be our next PM come, say, October this year. Labor won’t win the senate.

Of course, eight months is a long time.

A terrorist attack, a boatload of refugees, a riot in Lakemba where an Anglo gets killed – this will bring fear back into the equation.

Today there was a post on Blogocracy about being fed up with politicians lying. This was primarily a response to Howard’s flim-flamming about whether he criticised the whole Democratic Party, or just Obama. Tim Dunlop gave it a clearly anti-Howard slant, but then it makes for a good antidote to almost every other news.com opinion page.

The responses varied. Many were rabidly anti-Howard, and more attacked the left for their audacity – “Yeah, but, you lied TOO!!” – childish arguments from both sides.

There were also some well thought out comments from both sides.

Anyway, the comments raised some questions for me.

Basically, I am not stupid. I realise that a lot of politicians from all sides of politics lie. They all spin the truth, and try to convince the public they’re not full of shit.

So if they’re basically the same, why do I vote Labor?

It’s a good question. Mangoman, for example, supports any team who plays against Collingwood, and hates any team playing against Carlton. Similarly, I had recently fallen into the trap of supporting any team that played against Australia in the cricket, mainly because the sheer size of the Aussies’ egos meant only a handful of spectators could fit in the MCG with them.

These things are perfectly reasonable, if you’re talking about sport.

I realised, though, that a lot of people vote like that. I certainly did, for a while. I blame my parents for that. Now, though, I can ask myself why I vote that way.

It’s probably because my parents taught me a few things about the world. Ridiculously high HECS debt aside, 12 years (yes, that’s right TWELVE) of uni have taught me things. As have books. And the Discovery Channel.
So I though I’d make list, like a Cosmo quiz, and find out who I should vote for. It’s simple – write down the things you feel matter, then align a party to them. The party with the most hits wins!

1. Everyone is equal, i.e. position is nothing – well, broad small ‘l’ liberal tradition would get the vote there, but the Liberals are a conservative party with an ironic name, so one point to Labor.

2. Collective action makes people more powerful – (thank’s to the mangoes) no contest. Although Labor at times risks its union base, Howard’s IR laws are a joke

3. People in authority are not always right – this goes against both parties from time to time, so, no points. Bob Brown tends to stick it to people all the time. Often he’s a bit loony, but I like that too. Greens 1 point.

4. Economic rationalism is a foolish dream based on an overly simplistic world view – again, this is something both parties got wrong – Greens, one point.

5. Music is important – sounds frivolous, and it is, but I like music. Peter Garrett gets a point for his party. Used to be the Greens, now it’s Labor.

6. Governing with one eye on the Bible is dangerous and inappropriate in a secular country – Difficult, this one. Both the major parties have their fair share of god-botherers. I still have faith in Rudd not to let his religion cloud his decision making, like it does with Abbott, but am still concerned. Labor, ½ a point.

7. The environment actually matters to us, maybe more than our mortgages and mining jobs – Howard’s recent backflip is less than convincing, but Labor still panders to the unions on this point. Greens, 1 point.

8. Nuclear power is dangerous, unnecessary and discussion of it diverts resources from renewable energy – Rudd has recently ruled out nuclear as an option. Labor – 1 point.

9. Internal party structure makes for a coherent and powerful political force – I am going to have to give this to the Libs. The idiotic factional shit that Labor goes on with is more conservative than the Tories. Sort it out.

10. Dubya is a dangerous fool who will go down in history as the worst president the US has ever had – this is the kicker. Most of the US can see this. Most of the world knows this. Most of Australia believes this.

Except Johnny. Labor 1 point.


Score – Labor 5 ½ out of 10
Libs 1 out of 10
Greens 3 out of 10