"Disappointing" election literature - and how to respond
Just had an email from my brother - he's spotted my complaints about Lib Dem tactics in Woking and has forwarded how the Green Party in Liverpool is dealing with these sorts of tactics using their web site. They are to be commended for their approach.
Even better would be if parties communicate with the vote in a positive manner based on facts and policies - not negative misleading and misdirected information.
Update: Just come across an Iain Dale post from last year quoting Kerron Cross on the Lib Dems here - it makes the point again. (Its not just me complaining.)
3 comments:
I doubt whether either the Woking or Guildford Conservative Associations will take note of the Greens' example. Election leaflets containing misleading or plain inaccurate information (other than "trade puff" type claims) should be used to beat the party relying on them. In Guildford, the Labour vote collapsed everywhere - the Lib Dem literature claimed "Labour can't win here!" (using General Election figures) which was wrong - Labour always won certain wards in the borough. The electorate would not tolerate a party that continually told significant lies in its election material.
Sometimes the electorate needs a little help. The few leaflets that get read before they get recycled are often just scanned. The deceit and misdirection gets believed far more often than not. (Some of this material often falls short of outright lies - things may be technically true, but very misleading in the form they are presented - eg many of the Lib Dem bar charts I've seen.)
Once people realise they are being mislead then they will be very unforgiving. We need to make sure they get to that point - and also that the wider public start to see the Lib Dems in terms of how they actually campaign on the ground.
By the way the particular Greens I'm referring to have just defended their inner city council ward with an increased majority. ( Their councillor was a defector from the Lib Dems ).
In the ward I contested this week Labour put out a last minute leaflet making some ridiculous claims about our plans for car parking charges in the town (we oppose them).
They also consistently lied about the rating of the local authority. It was rated as 'excellent' by the audit commission. Yet Labour said we were only rated 'average' in 2005 - a CPA rating that does not exist.
You always get this kind of nonsense when parties are desperate. However people who mistrust any form of government latch onto such claims, even when they are without foundation. The Lib Dems know this and it is the core electoral strategem.
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