General Thread for the election (old Electioneering starting early thread from Local News)

[Peter Layman]

40 minutes ago, Albert Tatlock said:

The election is months away yet. Most of those standing will likely only start declaring from June/July earliest IMO. 

 

Which in itself should concern Onchan residents. Declaring in June/July gives approx 4 months to prepare. with that kind of timescale, they are clearly not going to bother knocking on doors

[Roger Mexico]

1 hour ago, Maire said:

tbh its not as easy to stand as some people think, 

Not only do you need to have money behind you (at least a few thousand) but you need to:

a - take a lot of time of work 

b - have a very understanding boss

c - give up work

Not everyone is in a position to do this, 

Not forgetting having a thick enough skin to take the flack from social media that is at times unjustified (sometimes justified).

Also you need to take your family and how they will react into account especially if you have younger children.

(Replying on this topic as more relevant)

Actually it isn't as expensive or  work time-consuming to stand as you think, providing (as I said on the first page) you start early enough.  The most effective campaigning technique in Manx elections is simply to knock on everyone's door[1] and to that you need to start now and you can do it at evenings and weekends.  And it doesn't cost much except in shoe leather.

Deciding to stand in the Summer is simply too late.  It also implies you don't have much in the way of policy worked out except "Down with this sort of thing" and "More money for me".  The other thing about starting early is that it should force you to consider exactly what sort of changes you want to see - if only because some people will ask you propose on the doorstep.

 

[1]  Obviously ringing the bell and running away is a sub-optimal canvassing technique.  If you start this early you also have the advantage of asking people what they want to see and what problems they have rather than just saying "Vote for me!".  Which always goes down well.

[Peter Layman]

27 minutes ago, Roger Mexico said:

(Replying on this topic as more relevant)

Actually it isn't as expensive or  work time-consuming to stand as you think, providing (as I said on the first page) you start early enough.  The most effective campaigning technique in Manx elections is simply to knock on everyone's door[1] and to that you need to start now and you can do it at evenings and weekends.  And it doesn't cost much except in shoe leather.

Deciding to stand in the Summer is simply too late.  It also implies you don't have much in the way of policy worked out except "Down with this sort of thing" and "More money for me".  The other thing about starting early is that it should force you to consider exactly what sort of changes you want to see - if only because some people will ask you propose on the doorstep.

 

[1]  Obviously ringing the bell and running away is a sub-optimal canvassing technique.  If you start this early you also have the advantage of asking people what they want to see and what problems they have rather than just saying "Vote for me!".  Which always goes down well.

Exactly. Holding surgeries and expecting the constituents to make the effort instead of the other way around is never well received. In fact I'd go as far as suggesting it puts a lot of people off voting

[Albert Tatlock]

90% of people make their mind up on the day or the night before when they glance the manifestos.

Also, younger candidates tend to suffer as the average age of voters is 40+

IMHO.

Edited February 25, 2021 by Albert Tatlock

[Apple]

2 hours ago, Albert Tatlock said:

90% of people make their mind up on the day or the night before when they glance the manifestos.

I can't speak for other people but I am happy to distribute leaflets for local candidates if they have the courage to stand as I believe in the voting process. The manifestos are pretty much of a muchness in a very general sort of way anyway.

This time around hopefully the questioning of the potentials may prove to be more illuminating than in the past, especially if Paul Moulton gets into the groove.

As everyone usually says they will try to do the best for the island for me it is not specifically the candidates it is about what changes to the political processes they will advocate and vote to change.

 

[Albert Tatlock]

47 minutes ago, Apple said:

I can't speak for other people but I am happy to distribute leaflets for local candidates if they have the courage to stand as I believe in the voting process. The manifestos are pretty much of a muchness in a very general sort of way anyway.

This time around hopefully the questioning of the potentials may prove to be more illuminating than in the past, especially if Paul Moulton gets into the groove.

As everyone usually says they will try to do the best for the island for me it is not specifically the candidates it is about what changes to the political processes they will advocate and vote to change.

 

80% of them will promise ideals they will never be able to deliver...

...unless 20 of them agree to signing up under some (temp agreement or alliance) to guarantee some things get done...and only then it will happen with 13 (majority) signing up for it.

5 top problems to solve? What would you vote for?

[doc.fixit]

Maintain, enhance and cherish what we've got as my contribution. If what we've got worked properly would be most satisfactory.

[Maire]

4 hours ago, Roger Mexico said:

(Replying on this topic as more relevant)

Actually it isn't as expensive or  work time-consuming to stand as you think, providing (as I said on the first page) you start early enough.  The most effective campaigning technique in Manx elections is simply to knock on everyone's door[1] and to that you need to start now and you can do it at evenings and weekends.  And it doesn't cost much except in shoe leather.

Deciding to stand in the Summer is simply too late.  It also implies you don't have much in the way of policy worked out except "Down with this sort of thing" and "More money for me".  The other thing about starting early is that it should force you to consider exactly what sort of changes you want to see - if only because some people will ask you propose on the doorstep.

 

[1]  Obviously ringing the bell and running away is a sub-optimal canvassing technique.  If you start this early you also have the advantage of asking people what they want to see and what problems they have rather than just saying "Vote for me!".  Which always goes down well.

Actually I was speaking from experience...

I managed to knock on every door but obvs not everyone there...

I had 'missed you' cards that were used.

It takes time and money ...

If you have a young family you need to rely on friends and family for babysitting whilst you pound the pavement.... I had to have someone look after my son every evening for 3 months.

Money is the main obstacle for a lot of ppl. Even if leaflets, cards etc are done at cost they still cost a few grand.

[buncha wankas]

13 hours ago, Maire said:

Actually I was speaking from experience...

I managed to knock on every door but obvs not everyone there...

I had 'missed you' cards that were used.

It takes time and money ...

If you have a young family you need to rely on friends and family for babysitting whilst you pound the pavement.... I had to have someone look after my son every evening for 3 months.

Money is the main obstacle for a lot of ppl. Even if leaflets, cards etc are done at cost they still cost a few grand.

Is there a fund you can access to assist with electioneering costs? 

[John Wright]

14 minutes ago, buncha wankas said:

Is there a fund you can access to assist with electioneering costs? 

You get postage costs reimbursed against a receipt for the posting of one shot to each elector.

[Peter Layman]

13 hours ago, Maire said:

Actually I was speaking from experience...

I managed to knock on every door but obvs not everyone there...

I had 'missed you' cards that were used.

It takes time and money ...

If you have a young family you need to rely on friends and family for babysitting whilst you pound the pavement.... I had to have someone look after my son every evening for 3 months.

Money is the main obstacle for a lot of ppl. Even if leaflets, cards etc are done at cost they still cost a few grand.

Surely you would have factored all of this in prior to going on the election trail?

[Barlow]

18 hours ago, Albert Tatlock said:

Also, younger candidates tend to suffer as the average age of voters is 40+

 

Actually, although it can't be denied that the average voter age is quite old, it went down a fair bit once Buster's residential homes ruse fell apart.

  

42 minutes ago, buncha wankas said:

Is there a fund you can access to assist with electioneering costs? 

There used to be The Samuel Norris (Political) Trust, it was latterly a modest amount, but that was used up and closed over 10 years ago. I believe it helped some candidates. Butch comes to mind?

[buncha wankas]

21 hours ago, Peter Layman said:

Which in itself should concern Onchan residents. Declaring in June/July gives approx 4 months to prepare. with that kind of timescale, they are clearly not going to bother knocking on doors

Interesting that we are not hearing from current mhks as to whether they intend to stand in next election, is this because they don’t want voters to scrutinise if they have performed in last 4 plus years? 
 

if we had proper journalists on the island they would be asking the question.

as far as I am concerned that Cretney bloke should not get a voice as he effectively resigned his post to concentrate on his daughters career. 
 

time that we as the public stop being taken for idiots by idiots. 

[Maire]

3 hours ago, Peter Layman said:

Surely you would have factored all of this in prior to going on the election trail?

of course I had

but not everyone has a spare 3/4K lying around (not including time taken off work if unpaid) 

that is what can put people off 

[Rhumsaa]

6 hours ago, buncha wankas said:

Interesting that we are not hearing from current mhks as to whether they intend to stand in next election, is this because they don’t want voters to scrutinise if they have performed in last 4 plus years? 
 

is it (partly) because as soon as you declare you have to start keeping a record of your spending for electioneering?