Recently a reader accused Babel-on-the-Bay of using ‘bumper sticker’ arguments. The truth is that the simpler you make your arguments the more people listen to them. In these days of dumb-downed English, dull headlines and drab writing we are all racing to the bottom of a well of simplicity. And the worst example we have seen at the bottom of the well in this election is an advertisement for the two Barrie Conservative candidates wrapped around the Barrie Advance free newspaper last week.
It was a bumper-sticker advertisement. The price for this type of advertisement must be posted somewhere but we imagine it is in the many thousands of dollars. It was delivered to every home in Barrie. It was only the second piece of literature we have seen from the local candidate. This was two vertical half page ads printed back to back. Maybe the blank area was supposed to have been cut off but it was still there.
On one side were colour pictures of the two candidates and on the reverse a list of bumper sticker slogans for Conservative party promises. This seems to be the theme for most of the Conservative candidates. There was no reason given to vote for either. Maybe there is no reason to vote for either!
Candidates such as these would be nonentities in Ottawa. If elected, they would be there only to vote as they are told. They would be the same kind of nobody who represented Barrie for the past nine years. That MP only voted on his own conscience once. He voted for an attempt to re-open abortion and strike down the rights of women.
But it was the bumper sticker quality of the reasons for voting Conservative that struck us. It was a list of slogans; without any explanations. It was just vote for us for any one or more of the following slogans. It included simple things like “Lower Taxes’ and “Protecting Canadians.” It gave no explanation. It appears that Conservatives do not think explanations are necessary. And their party does not allow candidates to think for themselves.
At a recent all-candidates meeting, we watched the Libertarian candidate give a parody of the Conservative approach to politics. If his party handbook did not include an opinion on a question asked, he would refuse to answer it to ensure that he did not get in trouble with his party headquarters and the party leader.
It is a sad conclusion on the state of politics today that candidates are not allowed to have their own opinions. Is this not why we send them to our parliament?
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Copyright 2015 © Peter Lowry
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