Tasteless politics (From Your Local Guardian)

Tasteless politics

5:12pm Tuesday 6th May 2008

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You know when you go to a restaurant, and there are so many great options that you find it hard to decide on just one?

Well, this election was nothing like that.

Choosing a candidate this year was like being dragged to a filthy old cafe – regardless of whether you're hungry or not - and being forced to choose a meal from the board based on how offensive and/or possibly dangerous it is compared to the others. When we should have been faced with a clear-cut decision, or even a selection of subjects who equally deserved our votes, many of us were reduced to: "so who would I be prepared to vote for if I absolutely HAVE to?".

Leading up to the election our little flat has been bombarded with propaganda: Leaflets; postcards; emails; and even multi-paged publications designed to bolster one party (and destroy the others) in the guise of a new local newspaper. None of it was at all convincing, and every piece went straight to the recycling box. However, I did read every page of that little book which described all of the candidates. Then – despite having no interest in politics – I researched all of the candidates based on information that I found myself (as opposed to the facts and figures which they were pushing in their campaign leaflets).

This year, even the independent candidates were generally uninspiring. To make things worse, putting a cross next to an independent candidate is widely regarded as a wasted vote, so these options are usually overlooked by the vast majority of mainstream voters anyway.

I know of quite a few people who chose not to vote, and personally I think that's better than the numerous sheep-like voters who dutifully tick their Tory/Labour/Liberal boxes regardless of the policies, values or personality of the candidates involved. Voting just for the sake of it is not the best policy.

... And if someone is forcing you to choose a sub-standard option from the menu, just tell them that you've lost your appetite.