Left Wing Government? No Thanks! | Hit or Miss?

PH01

We all saw the news reports yesterday where McDowell was up to his old tricks.
So do you think that this will be an election turner like the 2002 "Single Party Government? No Thanks!" poster

I reckon that it will have some impact (it might just save one or two PD seats) but I think the electorate are beyond that tipping point.
What do you think?

gandalf

It sums up their whole message. Negative, negative, negative not surprising because what they have delivered is incompetence and bluster.

PH01

gandalf wrote:

It sums up their whole message. Negative, negative, negative not surprising because what they have delivered is incompetence and bluster.

True, but that negative message worked the last time.

gandalf

Yes but will it work again, you can con the people once but god help you if you try it again.

At least FF have tried to debate the issues, Cockroche is on the telly now trying to debate the Health Service, bless him.

Senator

Are the PDs saying Bertie is NOT a socialist ?

thelepo

For me, a definite miss, as I would like a real left wing government. FG/Lab/Green would not be left wing.

From a PR point of view, not engaging at all.

yomchi

Socialist party and Sinn Fein in power. If it ever happened would be a choice left wing coalition. I think as citizens we would certainly get value for money then.

Joe Higgans as Tainiste and Gerry A as Taoiseach - one can dream...

AidoCQS

MISS

See the problem is that in this election the LEFT'S message seems to be a more considered argument...

The left has ditched daft stuff like higher broad-brush corporation tax, indeed McDowell looks foolish last night when he tried to defend the banks corporation tax

The left is looking at PEAK oil
and a symbiotic transport strategy.

The left is hammering the privatizing of our health system. The right looks as if they learned nothing from that experiment in the US

I am trying to avoid general arguments here that belong in other fora but my central point is that in previous elections to call somebody a LEFTist was to associate them with longhaired adolescent teenagers. Now it’s to associate them with more advanced thinking (possibly that of a long haired professor for example)


People can differentiate between left like communism mismanagement (Its dead and gone) and more all inclusive left leaning European governments who look after all their people.


The PD's keep rolling out the 'economy we created' argument when even the dogs in the street know that this boom was kicked off by the taking away of central monetary management away from Irish politicians.

It appears then that the boom 'happened to us' and in this respect it was mismanagement not to invest it properly or spread it around.

The rights seems to have abandoned all thinking in lieu of being victims to just Market forces and spending more of their time putting out fires. Sergeant has done a great job of putting out a message that if we don’t prepare for the fires coming down the line, now while we can, nobody will be able to put them out.

Look even if you cannot figure all that out, if you had two parties, one aping the Americans, the other aping our neighbours in Europe, who do you think is going to come off the most intelligent looking?

AidoCQS

delete repeated post

Nuttzz

as a PD supporter I think it is the wrong message, focus on the positive, the party seem to be doing a lot of negative campaigning

CiaranC

Does someone want to tell me what is left-wing about FG?

mikemac

Not everyone will know what a left-wing government is.
Yes, everyone in a Politics forum is likely to know but I doubt everyone does. A lot of people can't name their local TD so how can they be expected to know political theory.

For that reason, it isn't an effective ad.

28064212

micmclo wrote:

Not everyone will know what a left-wing government is.
Yes, everyone in a Politics forum is likely to know but I doubt everyone does. A lot of people can't name their local TD so how can they be expected to know political theory.

For that reason, it isn't an effective ad.

That's a pretty accurate statement, apart from the last sentence. That should read "it is an effective ad". They mightn't know what exactly a left-wing government is, but they know what connotations it has. Hell look at the presentation of the posters running the ad, big red background. Think that's an accident? They might as well have written "Don't vote for the Commies" over a picture of Stalin.

galactus

PH01 wrote:

We all saw the news reports yesterday where McDowell was up to his old tricks.
So do you think that this will be an election turner like the 2002 "Single Party Government? No Thanks!" poster

I reckon that it will have some impact (it might just save one or two PD seats) but I think the electorate are beyond that tipping point.
What do you think?

In a word: juvenile.

RalphCifaretto

It's effective inasmuch as we are talking about it here.

brianthebard

28064212 wrote:

That's a pretty accurate statement, apart from the last sentence. That should read "it is an effective ad". They mightn't know what exactly a left-wing government is, but they know what connotations it has. Hell look at the presentation of the posters running the ad, big red background. Think that's an accident? They might as well have written "Don't vote for the Commies" over a picture of Stalin.

At least you could admire them for their balls if they had done that.

Zaph

It's an utterly pointless slogan, Ireland will never have a proper left-wing government. The PDs are currently trying to scare the country into thinking that society will break down if we have Pat Rabbitte as finance minister and Trevor Sergeant as environment minister. Apart from the fact that even if that did happen, both would have to make concessions if they were to be a part of the coalition, and consequently their more "extreme" (in the eyes of the PDs) policies would be toned down somewhat, I actually think that both would bring something new and interesting to those positions. The down side is that if they were both to become ministers it would mean Enda Kenny would be Taoiseach, and the thought of that fills me with no joy whatsoever.

road_high

You can only pull off stunts like this the once. Milking it for all it's worth like McDowell the second time just won't work in my opinion.
Total miss then I have to say.

Colonel Sanders

surely the only people it'll scare are those who would never consider voting for the likes of Labour/Greens/SF in the first place.

Voipjunkie

Colonel Sanders wrote:

surely the only people it'll scare are those who would never consider voting for the likes of Labour/Greens/SF in the first place.

Like Fine Gael Voters ?

blorg

Sure Labour want to build a halting site - in YOUR garden.

The Greens want to expel all multinationals and institute a nationwide blackout after 8pm - tuck up in bed now.

And as for Fine Gael, well, although the largest party in any such possible coalition they will not actually have ANY influence over this pair of loonies above.

Oh yeah, and BTW, I forgot- a vote for any of the above is a vote for Sinn Fein.

Time Magazine

blorg wrote:

Sure Labour want to build a halting site - in YOUR garden.

O RLY?

The Greens want to expel all multinationals and institute a nationwide blackout after 8pm - tuck up in bed now.

O RLY?

And as for Fine Gael, well, although the largest party in any such possible coalition they will not actually have ANY influence over this pair of loonies above.

O RLY? Not even in their own ministries?

Oh yeah, and BTW, I forgot- a vote for any of the above is a vote for Sinn Fein.

O RLY? You think a vote for FG is a vote for Sinn Féin? Are you mad? Really? People like ateam and The_Minister are biased and so put out half-truths and what-ifs, which I can appreciate, but are you really trying to suggest a vote for the most conservative party in the country is a vote for SF? Seriously?

CiaranC

CiaranC wrote:

Does someone want to tell me what is left-wing about FG?

Not a lot.

Like Labour.

Miss.

gandalf

Ibid I think you will find he was being sarcastic.

What interests me is the usual PD cheerleader brigade seem to be steering clear of this thread. If one does venture in I'd like to ask them a question, "Are you not embarrassed at the complete failure of the PD's to discuss the issues and just rely on smears and negative capaigning to gain votes?".

Time Magazine

gandalf wrote:

Ibid I think you will find he was being sarcastic.

Nothing to see here .

I thought it was quite funny:o
I'm still voting labour though.

The Rooster

gandalf wrote:

Ibid I think you will find he was being sarcastic.

What interests me is the usual PD cheerleader brigade seem to be steering clear of this thread. If one does venture in I'd like to ask them a question, "Are you not embarrassed at the complete failure of the PD's to discuss the issues and just rely on smears and negative capaigning to gain votes?".

I'm a floating voter, my ideology is closest to Fine Gael I think (tho I'm not overly keen on Inda), but PDs would be a close second.

To say "the complete failure of the PD's to discuss the issues" is an absolute nonsense. Every day there's someone on discussing something.

It is true to say they have done more negative campaigning than anyone else. But they have the right to point out that a FG/Lab/Green government will be the most left wing one we've had in a long time (ever?). And we'll have a Finance Minister who would have been regarded as a commie in his early days of politics.

brianthebard

Why is it so important to point out that government would be left wing? What does this imply?

AlanOB

And we'll have a Finance Minister who would have been regarded as a commie in his early days of politics.

That should be the main concern and it's only your good self that I've seen raising it, here or elsewhere.

I don't think anyone needs telling that Rabbitte was first and foremost a Workers Party TD for Dublin South West, representing a party well known for their Marxist ideology, an ideology that is completely at odds with the free, enterprising and successful country we live in at present.

Putting all other animosity towards left-wing politics to one side, I do not under any circumstance want a reconstructed Marxist in control of the purse strings of my country and neither should any other right-minded individual.

brianthebard

Surely Rabbitte would be Tanaiste in any case?

Grudaire

A left wing government????????? Where

I'm not sure but the only really truelly left wing party is Sinn Féin, and noone wants to touch them, I see very little difference between Labour, Fianna Fáil, and Fine Gael....

It's not as if a military communist coup d'étet is on the doorstep...