Neutral Political Discussion

chiff said:

Perhaps more people are swayed by articulate people able to present a cogent intelligent plausible case.But then again perhaps not.
As is said-I used to be indecisive but now I am not quite sure.

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I do believe the majority of voters who have the intelligence to define the difference will vote on the policies of a party and how they have performed in the past.

There is also a minority who will vote for a candidate just on their personl appearance of a photo. If they look good, they will attract some votes and that is a fact.

chiff said:

Perhaps more people are swayed by articulate people able to present a cogent intelligent plausible case.But then again perhaps not.
As is said-I used to be indecisive but now I am not quite sure.

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The level of cynicism out there against politicians is so high I do wonder if anyone listens much these days.

Even when a politician starts to say something of import, half the time we're wondering if it's a core or non core promise.

Maybe we need our Dear Leader(s) to provide a list of things they will achieve in their term in office. Should they feel to achieve all of them, they will step down. Should help to sharpen their thinking and resolve.

I'd also like to hear nothing about what they plan to do if it wont start within the term of office they are elected for. Not much point telling me about some grand plan you will do, but ONLY if you can vote for me twice.

Between thinking if the ALP can do half of what they say, and the Libs / Nats who sports bet wont give odds on for finding a bigger budget deficit over the forward estimates, really what does any of us really think will happen over the next 3 years? What's the point of policies when most of us don't have much faith it will be implemented? We've already seen Tony and Joe step back from their claims of a surplus in their first term (which is probably a good thing for the economy) but will the economic outcome be much different to Labor?

Yes about policies.We were once told that you vote for a party on policies.But policies can be changed or disregarded overnight.Instead (thanks to Wayne's articulation) perhaps we should vote on ideology or long-term commitment.These commitments can be demonstrated by past actions or performance.Commitments to equality,education,health etc. This equality should apply,for example, to health and education,and with, if needs be a bias toward those that are disadvantaged or deprived.

Those who enjoy neutral political discussions might like to take this quiz.

http://australia.isidewith.com/political-quiz

I come out as a completely dyed-in-the-wool conservative.

Good poll.
I come out pretty much equal on all parties. it needs more questions though.

Parties you side with...



70% Liberals on foreign policy, social, and immigration issues


66% Labor on economic, foreign policy, and immigration issues


60% Greens on environmental and economic issues

Calliope said:

Those who enjoy neutral political discussions might like to take this quiz.

http://australia.isidewith.com/political-quiz

I come out as a completely dyed-in-the-wool conservative.

Click to expand...

I side with Liberals on most political issues.


Parties you side with...



63%
Liberals
Liberals

on environmental and immigration issues


60%
Greens
Greens

on domestic policy and social issues


21%
Labour
Labour

on social issues


I'm not sure what any of that achieves as I don't usually do these things.

83% Liberal (and proud of it lol)

Lib - 93% economic, environmental, foreign policy, immigration & social issues
Lab - 21% immigration
Green - 7% nothing

This article called a Guide to Australian politics is definitely political neutral.

Cheers
Country Lad

a reasonably balanced atricle on Labors policies for the SME constituency

http://tinyurl.com/ndz3cgj

Lets hope whoever wins the election does actually follow through on their claims to cut down on the administrative burdens for this sector. I remember the hassles of it all when I was part owner of a Thai takeaway store around 10 years ago.