Casual commentary about political, cultural and economic issues with a particular interest on the city of Winnipeg by John Dobbin
Friday, September 16, 2011
Greg Selinger and NDP Wins Majority Government
NDP Wins
It seems some have already predicted this. And why not? The Tory campaign has been fairly weak so far in the ridings they will need to win.
It is not that the NDP campaign has been a fireracker. It hasn't. The Conservatives have been trying to push on certain issues but the campaign seems to be about personalities and on the personal.
The scare tactics used by the NDP are what the election is all about. Guess we shouldn't be surprised. The NDP tactic is the same one being used by the Liberals in Ontario and by the Conservatives nationally.
There are too few seats in the province of Manitoba that will never change. They will always be NDP or they will always be Conservative.
All of the change happens in only a few select ridings. It really is hard to see if the dynamic will change dramatically enough to unseat the majority NDP. At most, barring any major revelations, only a few seats might be gains. The voting public does not seem particularly engaged.
Surprisingly, there has not be a poll yet to see how the campaigns have fared. It is not really certain if that might change how people feel but it has been known to happen.
As far as the main issue of the election? It would appear to be Change and Stay the Course. The option of Check Out the Alternative to the Other Two seems not be considered. But then who can tell?
The election seems to be an afterthought on most TV coverage. I haven't listened to the college stations much. CJOB does do stuff in the morning and late at night, sometimes CBC too but they both have national programs that seem to take precedent. The Great Canadian Talk Show has quite a bit and I am listening when I can. Looking forward to more candidates talking about local issues.
There may be some room for local candidates to have an impact but it is so hard to connect to voters at the moment or motivate them.
The Sun has so many national news correspondents that only seems focused on ending the CBC. They don't have the horses to do a provincial campaign. The Free Press has had a number of stories but I am wondering if any information is filtering out. And I can't help think that some of their general interest columnists could get the led out and write some more election stories. I am serious about that. I know the paper is a general interest paper but an election comes every four years and timeliness matters. Where are the stories on health, social services as they pertain to the election now? Some of the columnists have written about them before. Where are the follow-up stories on crime and a focus on today's election. No offence but a tree fort in the yard story might have waited till later on.
So, with no major tectonic shifts, I think the no change in a majority government. Greg Selinger elected and an NDP win.
Fear is a great motivator... especially when the scary facts are true!
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