What a dull campaign it's been. I was watching the excellent Apres Match Election 1982 special last night and while the tone was satirical it was obvious even through the mockery that election campaigns had a bit more oomph back then. I was only 10 by the time the November 1982 election rolled around. the third election in 18 months, which in my highly political household was like 3 world cups rolled into one. My forefathers wore shirts of the deepest blue and CJ Haughey was Satan. To my wide eyed uncynical mind this was absorbing stuff and stands out even now more than the half dozen or so general elections since.
It's a curious thing that while the world has never been more connected our elected representatives have rarely been at a further remove than they have been during this campaign. This is the age of the leaflet drop and the TV debate the social media spin and the carefully coiffured posters. Obviously posters have long been a feature but never so many. Perhaps it's because there are more candidates than ever before, 16 or so in my constituency. It's telling though, that we've only had one at the door, and even then the "minder" did all the talking (such as it was) I don't expect every single candidate to call but 1 out of 16 is a poor return. The days of the local TD pressing the flesh outside mass is a sepia toned image of a byegone age. After all, who goes to mass anymore?
It's been a tired campaign and while officially it's been quite short, in reality campaigning has been going on for months. Maybe that's why the last debate was such a humdrum affair. The message has been repeated over and over "Stability over chaos" "Time for change" "Keep the recovery going" "The recovery is only for the rich" Just words at this stage. This election is all about who people aren't going to vote for. People have had very little positivity from the parties, "Don't vote for such n' such they'll do -insert really bad thing here-" rather than "Vote for us, we'll do this." This is the first election that I have seriously considered not voting. Inspiration has been short on the ground. The big parties have been predictable The only bright spot was Stephen Donnelly's performance in the 7 way debate but how likely are the newly minted Social Democrats to get enough seats to make a difference, this time around at least.
The result of this election is likely to be the hungest of hung Dails The indications are that the only combination that will break the 80 seat mark will be Fine Gael and Fianna Fail. A right-wing government, The Right To Change group have too many moving parts to be a serious government, admirable as some of their ideas are. It would be seismic either way. Irelands first truly left-wing government or an end to civil war politics. How ironic would it be if the most forgettable campaign of all begat the most memorable outcome.
