A CAMPAIGN IS A PERFORMANCE....SOME DO IT BETTER

In the election of 2010 , students at St. Maximillian Kolbe High School conducted an exercise.

Students were assigned a candidate to manage. I received calls from a studen. She became increasingly perplexed. 

The request was reasonable. She needed to know my platform. What did I intend to do for people 

to gain their support? 

I explained a Council member couldn't accomplish anything without the support of a majority. 

The job was mostly about oversight and making sure the best services were provided at the least expense. People don't object to paying taxes as long as they know the money is being spent wisely.

I talked about my priorities if I was elected. 

The student really wanted to win. As anybody does. It's exciting but it does become more stressful 

as the moment approaches. 

A statement of priorities didn't do it for her. Long experience and  a good reputation did not stir her enthusiasm. She wanted  to be able to offer more and different and better than other candidates. 

I hoped  it was O.K. But she knew her audience better. I didn't hear I was a winner with the students. 

They needed to hear about good stuff I intended to deliver. 

The moral of the story is campaigns that promise Nirvana are what most people demand. 

 An election is not fought in a vacuum. Candidates have to listen as well as talk. 

Party Politics are not the same as municipal. 

The Party with most seats forms the government. They do have the power to apply a philosophy.

Whatever that might be. Sometimes hard to discern at other times, clear as a bell.

Politicians are a favourite target for comedians, cartoonists, pundits, preachers, prophets and the man in the street  for making promises, poor decisions, Ill-advised comments and on some days just breathing.

Quick wits and facile tongues find them easy pickings for their own livelihood.

Every four years, voters are expected to make their way through the tangle of everything they've heard and make a choice. 

The dilemma for a politicians  is how to survive.  

From my perspective, at the municipal level, the challenge was always worthwhile. 

But It's harder than just telling people what you know they expect to hear.