Feeling pulses
We were the beneficiaries of a provincial by-election recently, a contest in which the provincial Liberal leader was striving for a seat. This put the NDP and the Saskatchewan Party on their mettle.
First came a telephone survey to see if I was greatly disturbed about anything in particular. The punch line was: “If the election was held today which party would you support?” I declined to commit myself.
Then all three parties, in turn, sent around visitors to supply us with more information than we wanted on candidates and party policies. We learned that candidates A, B and NDP each had the answers to all our problems, economic and social, and that electing either of the other two would be certain disaster.
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At the end of each pitch came the question: “May we count on your support?”
They each probably listed me among the undecided, which I wasn’t.
This business of feeling pulses is conducted in a number of ways. A neighbor of mine permitted a candidate to put a sign on his front lawn. A car driving past screeched to a halt in front of his house. The couple in the vehicle pulled out their voters’ list and checked him off. He was one of “those” and the other two parties couldn’t expect any support from him.
Maybe I’m peculiar but I resent being categorized in this box or that one. If I declare myself for the Rhinoceros Party then people can assume my political utterances come from that source and can therefore be discounted.
However, as a member of the great undecided there is no limit to the attention you can muster.
