Over at norightturn idiot savant has posted his voting intentions. And let’s face it, in a representative democracy how you vote is where the rubber hits the road.
With that in mind Standard authors who feel comfortable with the concept are declaring the who and why of their democratic activities this Saturday. Commenters are free to join in.
IrishBill
Electorate: Not much choice where I am so this time around I’m casting my (protest) vote for a leftie independent.
Party: I’ve voted Green (and Alliance before them) since the 1990s but this time I was wavering between them, Labour, and Mana. Russel Norman’s disgraceful selling out of his activists has put me off them for good. That said I’m still a swing-voter. If I vote Labour it’ll be because I don’t want to see them collapse as, realistically, they’re the core of the next left opposition and they’ll need numbers to come back in 2014 like they should. If I vote Mana it’ll be because nearly everything they say I agree with (even if I don’t think they’ll get the chance to enact it).
Referendum: MMP and FPP as an alternative. I like MMP and if it has to go head to head with an alternative it should be FPP rather than the variety of FPP-via-the-backdoor systems the authoritarian right are trying to push.
Mike Smith
Electorate: Grant Robertson – good electorate MP, got a strategic brain, good communicator. It’s time for a new generation leading Labour in my view.
Party: Rusted-on Labour, but happier about the policy set than at any election since 1999. It will be useful when the chickens come home to roost after the election, whichever way it goes.
Referendum: I’ve been an MMP supporter since 1978. FPP as the alternative as it is the next preferred option in the polls and the least preferred option of the right-to-rule mob.
Anthony Robins (r0b)
Electorate: David Clark, Labour. David is going to be a fantastic MP for Dunedin North (a worthy successor to Pete Hodgson). It’s not often you find a Reverend with a Doctorate and Treasury experience (including policy work on Labour’s ETS). And he’s a (former) Otago representative cyclist to boot. If you don’t know David yet you should check him out, he’s one to watch.
Party: Labour. In the past I’ve voted Alliance, Green and Labour. This time it’s Labour for sure. I want no part of a Nat government, and only Labour will stand solidly in opposition to them.
Referendum: MMP. It’s made politics much more fair, much more inclusive and much more interesting. None of the other systems comes close. Key claims that Supplementary Member has “proportional elements”, but it isn’t a proportional system, it’s FPP in drag. (Alternative FPP same reason as IrishBill.)
Zetetic
Electorate: It’s a reasonably tight electorate race here. FPP rules still apply in electorates, you either vote for the Left candidate that has some show of winning or effectively waste your vote and help the Tories. So, Labour.
Party: It was RAM last time. Mana would be the logical one. But I’ve got to see how the last polls play out. Particularly how Winnie’s doing. If it looks like National will win and if NZF’s got a chance of breaking 5%, I might have to swallow the things I don’t like and back him as the guy with the power to stop asset sales.
Referendum: Retain MMP. STV as the alternative because it is second best and it would lose easily in a head to head.
Eddie
Electorate: my Labour MP isn’t my favourite politician but I’ll be voting for them, and helping to get out the vote regardless.
Party: I’m really impressed by Labour’s policy platform. And the Green’s. Mana’s values are good but they’ve got to get some more practical policies. It’s a bit of a toss-up, actually. And then there’s the argument about helping New Zealand First over the line. My instinct is Labour though because they’ve got their heads screwed on right and have had the guts to roll out big policies across the board (I’m not impressed by the Green’s refusal to back raising the retirement age, even though they really agree with it).
Referendum: Option 1 – MMP. Option 2 – FPP. It’s the old ‘worse the better’ tactic. FPP is the worst of the alternatives to MMP on offer and I reckon it would lose big time in a face off. In fact, I reckon any of the alternatives would lose in a one to one.
James Henderson
Electorate: I’ve just moved into Epsom. It’s quite exciting to have the opportunity to vote tactically to get ACT out. I just hope everyone else on the Left can hold their nose and tick Goldsmith too. Your reward will be the look on his face when the results come in.
Party: I reckon we’ve got to build the economic infrastructure now for a wealthy and sustainable future. There are big paradigm shifts coming – climate change, peak oil, the unraveling of globalisation and decreased international trade, that the major parties are having trouble waking up to. So, it’s Greens for me.
Referendum: MMP is simply the best voting system around. I would like the review afterwards to lower the threshold and remove coattailing, and (dreaming here) introduce PV in the electorate vote. Can’t say I’ve thought too much about which alternative to tick. The logic behind ticking FPP seems pretty solid.
Rocky
Electorate: I’m an Epsom voter so the National candidate gets my vote again this time.
Party: I’ve always voted Green in the past but this time Mana will get my vote. The possibility of Annette Sykes, John Minto & Sue Bradford in parliament is a good enough reason for me. Mana’s policy is just the icing on the cake. I will be helping Labour get the vote out on election day.
Referendum: Option 1 – MMP. Option 2 – STV. For the same reasons as Zetetic.
Sprout
Electorate: A bit irrelevant in my electorate as there’s a strong majority. Labour.
Party: New Zealand First. Most of my life it’s been Labour although before the resurgence of NZF, I was planning to vote Mana. But Mana will get in without my vote. Labour will get in without my vote. Now that NZF is looking to soak up close to 5% of the vote, I think it’s more important that we don’t end up with 4.9% wasted anti-government vote, so voting for NZF is a necessary evil to get them over the line. If NZF gets in, the left-right distribution of Parliament will change and if it’s still a Key led Government, having Winston there will cause Key no end of pain. I don’t like NZF’s policies, I don’t much like the man (although there’s a grudging admiration for his political skill, his freakish tenacity and his aptitude for vengence) – but if NZF takes 4.9 and doesn’t get back in the left will be in a much worse place. So as a Labour/Mana supporter it feels a bit weird but I see it as the best way of changing the Government, or at least hobbling another Key Government.
Referendum: Option 1 – MMP. Option 2 – STV.
lprent
Electorate: My neighbor around the corner, Jacinda Arden.
Party: Like Mike says “Rusted on Labour”. The only other party I voted for was Values in 78. Labour has consistently screwed up less than National over the decades. It has a longevity that a multitude of short lived other parties could do to start thinking about (but avoid having a similar constitution). But it is a party that grows good not-stupid politicians. The greens are the only other party that does think about the long term and at the rate they are going they may even be interesting in a decade after they get some time in office (and survive).
Referendum: Option 1 is MMP and Option 2 is STV
Queen of Thorns
Electorate: Tactical Labour. Mmmm, delicious tactical voting.
Party: Greens. I don’t think they’re perfect, and Russel Norman shall forever be damned in my sight for that whole Clint Rickards thing, but either they keep a Labour-led government honest (and hopefully my vote above means Labour can’t chicken out of real left-wing government by allying with a post-election-recalcitrant Dunne) or they take the sharp edges off a National-led government and provide a big loud progressive voice for the next three years.
Referendum: Keep MMP all the way. Still torn on which out of STV and FPP would be the weaker opponent for MMP to mercilessly crush beneath its beautifully proportional boot.
Ben Clark
Well this is easy and obvious: Two Ticks Ben Clark and Labour! At least I get to vote for myself unlike my main opponent…
Referendum: MMP / STV for the same reasons as Zet.
RedLogix Captured from comment
Electorate: Labour . Same as last time; there’s a decent chance of Chauvel rolling Dunne.
Party: NZ1. Bearing in mind that I’m a paid up member of the Greens and I’ve also donated a decent sum to Labour this year, this is purely tactical on my part.
Like mickeysavage I find Winston a peculiar politician, but the probablity is that in order to stand any chance of upsetting this election the left needs NZ1 over the 5% threshold. A certain amount of nose-holding is involved here, but if it’s good enough for the PM to tacitly endorse tactical voting in Epsom ….
Bill
Electorate : Safe Labour seat. Voting Alliance (just ‘coz I got a soft spot for them)
Party : If the Nats get back, then I’m picking the public conscience will need to be out on the streets at some point in the next three years. Winston Peters is the only person I see who is good at articulating economic matters in ways that resonate with cross sections of ordinary people. So in the belief that he can generate an initial dialogue in tandem with the fact he will do what Labour should have been doing these past years in burying Key…
Powered by WPtouch Mobile Suite for WordPress