Tag Archives: elections

Picking a Leader

Democracies enable control over the organization or group to be driven by the majority of it’s members.  In most cases this occurs by creation of a governing body with representatives selected by a majority vote.

One of the key risks with this system lies with the ability of unqualified leaders to be selected.  The process for the members to select a candidate is often as much a popularity contest as it is a selection of the most capable and skilled representative.

Worshipped or Valued

The current president of the United States is a good example of inadequate leader selection.  Worshipped by many as a reality TV star and  his ability to speak the language of the uneducated Donald Trump has been instrumental in creating a very sick country.

While not to blame for a global pandemic the inadequate response and disastrous results currentl being experienced by Americans can be laid squarely on his doorstep.   For example, the pandemic will not be eliminated if we stop testing as he has publicly suggested.

Bad Example

Instead of promoting public safety through his own behaviour President Trump is in fact doing the opposite, behaving as if the covid 19 outbreak is not serious and acting as if our reactions our overblown.

As the number of cases and the death count mounts he continues to display a strong disregard of the need to stay safe by wearing a mask and limiting in person social contact.

In the face of his constituents mortality Trump encourages dangerous behaviours that only fan the flames of the epidemic and in the long run will crush their economy.

And yet, he is still a contender in the upcoming presidential election. In spite of his massive failures his worshippers continue their support. Wow.

 

 

 

Thoughts about upcoming elections

For me the Canadian Federal election campaign is too long.  I am used to four to six week campaigns and over two months just seems a long time.

That being said the US presidential campaign meanders on for more than 2 years so I guess two months is not that long.

The latest Canadian polls have the Conservative party edging up into the lead.  As we are now a reasonable length of time from the election (less than a month) I believe the polls are starting to be meaningful.  The past polls were showing the three main parities neck in neck and I postulate this is because so many voters were undecided.  That is starting to change.

We could still end up with a minority government in Canada after this election, however, my prediction is a solid Conservative majority and five more years of stable but unremarkable governance.

Not sure if any of the political types read my blog but for future reference if you want to excite the populous and get a good voter turnout try the American practice of adding questions to the ballot. For example what about a question like  “Should the use of marijuana be legal – yes or no?”  I have not missed voting in a federal election since I was 18 so undoubtedly I will participate in this one, that said a question like that on the ballot would get me pumped about the vote – just sayin.

What about the US Presidential Race

I predict Donald Trump (Republican) versus Hilary Clinton (Democrat) in the final race.  I admit, it is possible anything could occur in the primaries, so this is a very early prediction.  Things are shaping up that way.  I shake my head about Donald Trump but then remember the residents of Toronto elected Rob Ford so anything can happen.   I really believe citizens of the United States could get behind Donald Trump.  What an administration that would be.