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Harnessing the silent majority
Opinion: A lot of us don't vote!
An election is coming, one way or another: great.
Here is the rub though; most of the 166 Dáil TD’s will be running for re-election; along with a battery of councillors, senators, and otherwise marginalised politicians and a sprinkling of well-intentioned independents. Hey-ho we got ourselves an election.
What do we do with it though? This is arguably the most important election since the foundation of the state.
For those of us living in a cave, Ireland is in the grip of a un-precedented economic meltdown. Right or wrong, our government has decided to guarantee and bail out the banks, pledging close to 50 billion across the main banks to ensure their survival so far. Anglo is now a world record holder, the single biggest banking failure in global history.
The EU and the IMF are here now, with their 80 billion ready for drawdown in one hand, and our constitution in their other hand. We are about to tie ourselves into four years of the harshest, most controversial budgets ever, which will most certainly erode most, if not all, of the gains of the last ten years. Our sovereignty is now compromised to one degree or another, depending on which commentator you follow.
The outgoing government, in some form or another, have been ‘at the wheel’ for the highest peak, and the lowest troughs in our country’s history. They are accused of corruption, backhanders, looking after their friends, golden circles, manipulating the expenses system and grave incompetence. Working on the assumption that Fianna Fáil will not be part of the next government, what are the alternatives?
1) Fine Gael /Labour Coalition, with Enda Kenny as Taoiseach
2) Labour/Fine Gael Coalition, with Eamon Gilmore as Taoiseach
3) Rainbow coalition without Fine Gael – Labour, Greens and Independents
4) Rainbow coalition without Labour – Fine Gael, Greens and Independents
5) National Government
6) Majority government with Labour – if polls are to be believed
Are any of these options attractive, or is it more of the same?
The cry will go forth “Ah sure they’re all the same, what’s the point?” and there are those who will use this as a validation not to vote. Our voter turnout during elections is appalling. We can complain and moan with the best of them, and tut tut at the O’ Donaghue’s and Callelly's of this world, but the simple fact is that a lot of us do not vote, which delivers power to those who do.
In the last general election in 2007, voter turnout was 62%, and that was a high turnout. It is imperative that all who are entitled to, do vote. Every vote counts: ask any TD who lost their seat by margins in the single digits. Invariably we get the government we deserve. If you do not vote, you deserve what we have now. They are only partly to blame - YOU put them there, either through your vote, or through your inaction.
62 % last time.....that means there were almost 1 million registered voters who did not vote. Fianna Fail formed a government with 858,000 first preference votes. To put it simply, if those million people turned out, ANY other party (with enough candidates) could have been the party in power with an overall majority. Stop!! Read that paragraph again!! Were you one of the million???
Barack Obama won the US Democratic nomination against the odds, and subsequently the Presidency by harnessing the “silent majority”. He was the first candidate ever to do so. His supporters were absent in opinion polls and absent from rallies, but on the day, they all came out in huge numbers, and history was made. His campaign raised more money that any candidate in US history, often stripping his opponents by 2:1. It did not come from fat cat donations, or vested interests; it came from Joe and Jane public, sending in ten dollars here, fifty dollars there. It is a new political model.
We can create a similar revolution here, we can vote for change. The road ahead is a tough one. We need strength and unity. We need to be involved. We need to exercise our rights. We need to make our opinion heard. WE NEED TO VOTE.
At the very least, no matter what government we end up with, we are at least then ALL complicit, all in the same boat. THEY work for YOU. And if you vote, YOU PICK THEM. Even if the choice is a poor one, they are still accountable.
Imagine a country where the Fianna Fáil vote is decimated, and there are huge numbers of retirements. Imagine a government filled with youth, vitality and new ideas, rather than the same old faces. Imagine a Dáil full of new TD’s and new parties; people who accurately and fairly represent you. It is possible, it can be done; the time is now, whoever you vote for. For all our sakes, USE YOUR VOTE.
Decisions are made by those who show up!!
By: Colin Kennedy
