Hmm - politics post
Apr. 14th, 2010 04:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
redfiona99If those who dislike politics would be so good as to scroll past, it would probably work out best for all of us :)
I have a problem. There is an election coming up, May the 6th, and, despite the valiant attempts of our landlord to avoid the electoral register (I trust you all detect the sarcasm there), we are registered to vote.
The constituency in which I live (and am registered in) is Leicester South. It is a Lib Dem/Labour marginal.
I am, by nature, belief and politics, a socialist. I believe in trying to make everyone as equal as possible, and view capitalism as being essentially against this aim as it encourages people to struggle against each other in order to become the top dog. However, I am equally willing to accept that my rose tinted view of the world will never work. However, I'd still like to vote for the Socialists.
Unfortunately, they've only put up a candidate in Leicester East.
Which is where my dilema comes in.
In the absense of a socialist candidate, I would like to vote for the Lib Dems. They are a party of good thoughts, good plans and good policies. They're also a party of sensible thoughts, senisble plans and sensible policies (the two are not always the same thing). If I were voting in St. Helens, I wouldn't think twice about it and have done so in the past because the MP for St. Helens North is a Labour apparatchik of long service.
However, I am voting in Leicester South, where the sitting, but unfortunately Labour, MP is actually kind of awesome on a personal level. While disturbingly prone to voting in favour of removing tuition fee caps for someone with two universities in his constituency, Peter Soulsby is also approachable, prompt in writing letters back (or rather getting someone to do it for him, one of his letter writers is a friend of a friend) and gets stuff done.
In particular, one of the things he got done was sorting out the funding for a friend of mine's PhD when the funding body renaged on a deal. So I have great personal reasons for voting for him.
What a choice!
K, a friend of mine in the US, despite being an out and out democrat, and to the left in said party, gives one of her votes to a Republican, because of his personal goodness/usefulness, but at least she has a second vote (for the other house) to balance that out.
Will probably not know exactly which way I'm voting till I get to the booth which strikes me as a terrible way of being.
I have a problem. There is an election coming up, May the 6th, and, despite the valiant attempts of our landlord to avoid the electoral register (I trust you all detect the sarcasm there), we are registered to vote.
The constituency in which I live (and am registered in) is Leicester South. It is a Lib Dem/Labour marginal.
I am, by nature, belief and politics, a socialist. I believe in trying to make everyone as equal as possible, and view capitalism as being essentially against this aim as it encourages people to struggle against each other in order to become the top dog. However, I am equally willing to accept that my rose tinted view of the world will never work. However, I'd still like to vote for the Socialists.
Unfortunately, they've only put up a candidate in Leicester East.
Which is where my dilema comes in.
In the absense of a socialist candidate, I would like to vote for the Lib Dems. They are a party of good thoughts, good plans and good policies. They're also a party of sensible thoughts, senisble plans and sensible policies (the two are not always the same thing). If I were voting in St. Helens, I wouldn't think twice about it and have done so in the past because the MP for St. Helens North is a Labour apparatchik of long service.
However, I am voting in Leicester South, where the sitting, but unfortunately Labour, MP is actually kind of awesome on a personal level. While disturbingly prone to voting in favour of removing tuition fee caps for someone with two universities in his constituency, Peter Soulsby is also approachable, prompt in writing letters back (or rather getting someone to do it for him, one of his letter writers is a friend of a friend) and gets stuff done.
In particular, one of the things he got done was sorting out the funding for a friend of mine's PhD when the funding body renaged on a deal. So I have great personal reasons for voting for him.
What a choice!
K, a friend of mine in the US, despite being an out and out democrat, and to the left in said party, gives one of her votes to a Republican, because of his personal goodness/usefulness, but at least she has a second vote (for the other house) to balance that out.
Will probably not know exactly which way I'm voting till I get to the booth which strikes me as a terrible way of being.
no subject
Date: 2010-04-15 09:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-15 10:55 am (UTC)