What party would you give your No 1 if there was an election tomorrow?

Rredwell

I'm just trying to sound out public opinion here. It will be interesting to see if the anti-Govt. vote has remained strong since June 11.

I'm asking ye: What party would you give your no. 1 preference to, if there was a General Election in the morning?

If you leave a msg, please say what Dáil constituency you're in (or county).

Thx,
Rred.

Rredwell

Woo-hoo! Only 30 mins in and Labour's winning!

Ooh, I can feel a song coming on..."Come on ye boys in Red..." (or should that be Boys/Girls, given Labour's position on Women's Rights?)

Agent Smith

i'd vote sinn fein, only oparty that seemed to do it's homework for the last election


( yer wan mary lou knew my name as soon as i answered the door, they had the name's of all the electote with them,)

ecksor

agent smith wrote:

( yer wan mary lou knew my name as soon as i answered the door, they had the name's of all the electote with them,)

Any good canvasser from any party should have that with them.

Agent Smith

none of the other's did, that's my point, they were very very very well prepared

Amz

Personally I'd vote for whoever served my interests and the interest of my family best. I'll generally select the person I vote for based on their own manifesto rather than what party they represent.

Having said that though I'll tend to stick with a certain area within the political spectrum to use a clichè, as they're the candidates who would most appeal. If analyst want to declare my vote "protest" or otherwise then so be it.

logonmar

scary to think that even for one minute that Sinn Fein should be in the lead.

We really do need a fascist party whose fund raising is invariably from illegal sources to run the country.
Well at least it will bring the standards displayed by Charlie Haughey, Liam Lawlor, Ray Burke etc onto a new plain. As a bonus we might even have knee capping introduced as a crime prevention method.
Nothing like using the tried and tested Sinn Fein formula!

PH01

agent smith wrote:

none of the other's did, that's my point, they were very very very well prepared

From my experience, most canvasers carry a copy of the register with them while on the beat. It's just for some they're not in your face with it.
While convasing one member of the team would carry the register and not everyone who calls to the door. It's more effective. One person to track the support there is for your candidate, to track issues, to verify that this house has votes and to make sure we get the name right when we need to follow-up upon issues.
Also, it's more polite and courteous to ask the person in the household their name and whether they have a vote or not. Most prople don't like answering the door to a total stranger and them knowing your name and you not knowing theirs.

As for the above poll, I'm not surprised that the SF are coming on top here. They're a protest party and they're attracting a good deal of that vote, and fair play to them. They're giving some kind of voice to those who in some cases don't feel that they are being listened to by main stream parties.
But, SF in my view have a lot of growing up to do before they get my vote.

sliabh

PH01 wrote:

As for the above poll, I'm not surprised that the SF are coming on top here. They're a protest party and they're attracting a good deal of that vote, and fair play to them. They're giving some kind of voice to those who in some cases don't feel that they are being listened to by main stream parties.
But, SF in my view have a lot of growing up to do before they get my vote.

Also as they are repugnant to the other political parties they can promise pretty much whatever they want in the way of policies. They know they will not be getting into goverment anytime soon so they won't be shown up in front of the voters as a party promising what they can't deliver.

I was dissapointed at the last election that none of their canvassers came to my door. I wanted to ask about their party's links to organised crime and the massive amount of funding it receives from outside the state (something that is illegal in most other countries).

ionapaul

Speaking of candidates at the door, a local councillor made it to my family's home in Galway during the last elections. We made small talk after I opened the door, he handed me his flyers, then said 'I know I can count on you for your number one - I know your colour, and your father's colour too!' and walked off with a smile. I was taken aback for a moment or two, wondering what in God's name he was babbling about. He actually got us mixed-up with our neighbours, a strong Fine Gael household, and the colour he was referring to was their blue! (My grandmother, no longer with us, was not allowed out to local dances as a girl in the early 30s without a blue blouse on! We slagged her about being a blue-shirt for many many years!)

I think I'd vote for the PDs - but would need to be impressed by the candidate in question.

BuffyBot

agent smith wrote:

i'd vote sinn fein, only oparty that seemed to do it's homework for the last election


( yer wan mary lou knew my name as soon as i answered the door, they had the name's of all the electote with them,)

My god, we really are doomed if this is the politics of the future...

AngelofFire

Labour-particularily now that pat rabbite is now leader and is working on an alternative to this incompetent government.

sliabh

AngelofFire wrote:

Labour-particularily now that pat rabbite is now leader and is working on an alternative to this incompetent government.

Well Labour's belief that the national pension reserve should be raided to pay for things now instead of being held for the pension crunch that is coming in the future isn't exactly the most competent thing I have heard them come out with.

gom

Well boards always has had a firm Labour leaning. Its nice to see a solid 45% for Labour at present.
I;m in the South Dublin Constituancy which is argueibly the most PD/FF dominated area in Dublin and the only area in Dublin which voted YES to NIce the first time round.
In the next general election it is hoped that we will have a Labour TD again

My 2cents on Labour in the next General election. Under no circumstances(unless they get a hammering) should Labour form a coalition with FG unless the office of Taoiseach is shared with the other party(assuming that FG wins more seats than Labour and forms a Coalition with them).
Labour should get to have a Taoiseach for at least the first half of the 4-5 year term. Leave the remainder to FG so that they can take the end of the term which is usually when you do the nice giveaway work to get reelected.
Labour should not go into a coalition government as a minority partner and expect anything less. Otherwise they will suffer a reduced share of the vote in the following election and FG will gain at Labour's loss

My 2c

logonmar

Lots of people would normally tend towards Labour but the last time they were in office they were just as smug and as arrogant as any of the other parties as they dished out the grace and favours to their own cronies.

In theory they are fine but in practice highly suspect. On the other hand Sinn Fein thugs are neither fine in theory nor in practice .............

AngelofFire

In the next general election it is hoped that we will have a Labour TD again

Dont worry Dublin has become a Labour stronghold since the Local elections,Each local authority has a Labour Mayor, they are the largest party on SDCC and Dublin City Council.

keu

interesting results, doubt its a reliable indicator of the larger public opinion though, but very insightful all the same.

John R

It would also reflect the young average age of boardsters I expect.

Stabshauptmann

Rredwell wrote:

I'm just trying to sound out public opinion here. It will be interesting to see if the anti-Govt. vote has remained strong since June 11.

I'm asking ye: What party would you give your no. 1 preference to, if there was a General Election in the morning?

If you leave a msg, please say what Dáil constituency you're in (or county).

Thx,
Rred.

This reflects the same msg as the political compass thread, a msg which should be clear by now to all posters, boards or at least the politics forum is inhabited mostly by left leaning voters.
The reasons might be that the average poster is young and idealistic or maybe there is some connection between the internet (im thinking free services eg boards!) and socialist ideals.

Im sory to say that the poll really doesnt give any fair view at all to public opinion, that said, I voted labour.

Stabshauptmann

ecksor wrote:

Any good canvasser from any party should have that with them.

You would be surprised how many canvassers both didnt know the names of any voter in our house or the number of votes contained within. Not to mention the fact that I spent ages talking to and questioning/grilling canvassers without them realising I didnt have a vote. Im waiting eagerly for the next election, missed the last one by a month

teaser

Im glad Labour is doing so well in the poll,

I think they could do with being more socialist

Rredwell

You're right, I couldn't agree more, teaser.

The crux is, however, that we have to keep our policies closer to the centre than to the left, otherwise we'll lose voters to the populism of FF and PD (not to mention those Blue-Shirted scoundrels FG), which will be in no-one's interests.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

Sleepy

There isn't a party in the state I could vote for with a clean conscience.

Rredwell

Surely that should be State?

sceptre

Sleepy wrote:

There isn't a party in the state I could vote for with a clean conscience.

Heh, you can read that two ways. Either way is good.

AngelofFire

Surely moving your policies to the centre is populism? And how does voting for the PD's or FF benefit "no-one"?

.

Under Rabbite Labour are now more to the left than they were under Quinn and Spring. The PD/FF policies did little to benefit me going into university. when i was going into my first year of my degree they hiked registration fees by over 300 percent.Because of that cynical move to put extra costs on students, i will never vote for them. My Local Fianna Fail candidate lied to my face on my own doorstep before the 2002 election, he said that registration fees will only increase with inflation, and that there would be no cuts in 3rd level education. Six months later they cut funding for universities and hiked reg fees well beyond inflation.

Sand

Hmm, I was sorely tempted to vote none. By a proccess of elimination the only other option was the PDs and unfortunately theyve tied themselves to FF. so it was a tough call, but at least a PD alliance with FF prevents a "rainbow" alliance or worse still a FF-SF alliance!

Nuttzz

agent smith wrote:

i'd vote sinn fein, only oparty that seemed to do it's homework for the last election


( yer wan mary lou knew my name as soon as i answered the door, they had the name's of all the electote with them,)

Vote Sinn Fein, coz we know where you live.....

. The PD/FF policies did little to benefit me going into university. when i was going into my first year of my degree they hiked registration fees by over 300 percent.Because of that cynical move to put extra costs on students, i will never vote for them.

when i was going to college it was over £2000 (punts) a year each one of the 4 years, build a bridge and get over it, ya pay f*** all compared to what we did in the early 90's

arcadegame2004

The PD's but they had no candidate in my constituency in 2002 or in my town in the local-elections, so I guess I don't know for sure who I'll vote for, except that no leftwing-parties will get as much as a transfer from me, even if I vote FG, a party which is bearable to me.

AngelofFire

when i was going to college it was over £2000 (punts) a year each one of the 4 years, build a bridge and get over it, ya pay f*** all compared to what we did in the early 90's

That point you made does not vindicate the governments decision to hike reg fees.but i do have sympathy for people who went to college pre 1994 and had to pay, but this is the 21st century,the government particulariy under current economic conditions have no right to put arbitary barriers that prevent certain people from fulfilling their human potential just because it saves charlie`s friends in the bloodstock industry from being taxed.