Thoughts on the election

I returned back to Cardiff yesterday. Today, being the day of the General Election, I have gone and voted. This has been a rather interesting election, seeming to be much more unpredictable than any others I have lived through. A lot of people seem to have been discussing politics in the lead up to this election, which is good due to the public's general feeling of detachment from politics as of late.

I feel that the TV debates, whether they were good or bad I'm not sure, played a big part in bringing the public back in touch with politics a little more. In a world where reality TV and soap operas keep the people stupid, it seems to have got to the point where the only real way of getting in touch with the masses is through the idiot box.

I suppose the debates did provide a good vessel for policies to be presented in a concise way for the masses, and it's always nice to see politicians put on the spot to answer difficult questions, even if 99% of the time they merely bullshit themselves out of answering directly, delivering a cryptic piece of rhetoric which 'sounds nice'.

The flip-side of these debates for me is that they put too much focus on charisma. For example Labour will probably have lost a lot of seats this year due to the blithering idiot, charisma wise, that is Brown.

I'm anticipating a Tory victory although I voted Liberal Democrats. It's interesting to see front pages of newspapers on election day because it's the day where the papers really wear their political affiliations on their sleeves.

The Sun's is particularly unsubtle:

Fuck you Rupert Murdoch. Fuck you.

The thing is, the masses will lap this shit up.

If the tories do win, I hope they prove me wrong in thinking they will be just the same as the tories of old, by the rich and for the rich.

Whoever wins, I want to see exciting new changes. But alas, this is British politics, the realm of empty promises.

I remain apathetic.

Sam.