Thursday, October 11, 2007

Resounding Victory For No Side

The 'no' side won a resounding victory last night. The super majority that the 'yes' side said would be difficult for them to achieve was actually achieved for the first-past-the-post option. Approximately 63% of voters opted for the current system. A majority of voters in nearly every riding voted for the current system, only four or five may end up failing to achieve that majority. That is a victory for the current system, but it is also a victory for the no side.

They ran the less sophisticated campaign, but they clearly had the right message. From the outset their message was, "No to party lists. No to party deals." And throughout the campaign the most talked about issue was their first message and their second message probably ranked second or third, competing with the issue of perpetual minority governments.

Just as importantly, they stuck to their message. It was a simple campaign but they kept repeating the same message over and over. In the end, probably the single biggest reason, though there likely were many, for the defeat of mixed member proportional (MMP) was the voters' reluctance to embrace the idea of party lists.

I must admit that I was disappointed by the no side campaign - I thought they could have done much better. However, the results speak for themselves. They had a resounding victory.

(Tomorrow I will do a review of the 'yes' side.)

7 comments:

Gary Shaul said...

Yes, and Dalton McGuinty also had a resounding success - with 42% of the popular vote.

Lord Kitchener's Own said...

I'm almost too depressed for words today. 52% voter turnout? That alone should tell everyone how broke "democracy" is in Ontario, and while I agree that MMP lost overwhelmingly, I console myself with the knowledge that only 31% of eligible voters cast a vote for FPTP.

Then I'm immediately depressed again when I realize that 22% of eligible voters just gave the Liberals a "majority government". Over 8,380,000 voters in Ontario and well less than 2 million of them had to vote Liberal to give the Liberals a comfortable "majority". How 2,683,247 people can vote for that status quo boggles my mind!

Anonymous said...

It's tough to say what those numbers mean. I don't think it means democracy in Ontario is broken, just that voters are apathetic. (whether one thing means the other is a matter for debate) And if the problem is apathy, then we need to figure out the reason why. Is it because politicians are just cardboard cut-outs and there's very little to choose between them? If so, then reform won't fix that. Is it because they feel disenfranchised with the process? If so, they were just given a chance to fix that but were equally apathetic. Is there another reason? Where do we go from here?

Unknown said...

Hello,

Its good to be here, very nice post, the content is amazing, keep posting friend it will be very helpful for everyone, Thanks for sharing. I really liked it.

Thanks And Regards

medical loans for bad credit
best online loans for people with bad credit


Simply awesome Really interesting ,brilliant post..thanks for sharing...!!!

Unknown said...

Hi Friend,
The blog was absolutely fantastic! Lots of great information and inspiration, both of which we all need!b Keep 'em coming... you all do such a great job at such Concepts... can't tell you how much I, for one appreciate all you do!
Thanks
bad credit installment loans no credit check payday loans in installments

Unknown said...


Hi,

Thanks for sharing wonderful news with us. I'm sure many people come to like your blog and gain benefit from this information you have provided. I would love to apply these terms on refinancing. Hope to see more amazing blog on your site.

Have a great day...!!!

Loan No Credit Checks

Payday Loan No Checks

Unknown said...

Hi Friend,
The blog was absolutely fantastic! Lots of great information and inspiration, both of which we all need!b Keep 'em coming... you all do such a great job at such Concepts... can't tell you how much I, for one appreciate all you do!
Thanks
online loans for bad credit bad credit cash loans online