General Election Thread

[astfgyl]

It's that time again when lads will be at the doors frothing at the mouth with provable lies.

Personally, I'd like to hold them all over hot coals until they promise to actually stop being greedy self serving cunts, but given the unlikeliness of my getting that chance, I'll probably go independent with my choices.

I fucking Despise them all.

Anyway, are the rest of us here looking forward to any of it?

[The Heretic]

Independent all the way and looking forward to tearing the main parties a new one when or if they come to the door knocking

[astfgyl]

https://x.com/griptmedia/status/1854920007873937620?t=IPtcooXAwy9vzDqDgdvQNA&s=19

Fair play to Mary Lou, for ruling her party out of government over the last year or two. It's an amazing fall from grace from a party that only had to do anything even half right to run away with it this time round but they absolutely fucked it so bad that they are absolutely getting their shit pushed in already.

They completely abandoned their voter base and they are fucking toast. 2020 I was all for them and duly voted for them but then the real test of their mettle came during covid and they picked the wrong populism thread to follow and now they are fucked and I know a few local shinners and gave the nod to the local lad for the locals last time out because he's a decent skin but I told him I'd run him if he came near me for the GE and to mark my gaff as off limits for as much as a leaflet.

The party has destroyed itself and it won't be making any sort of comeback in this election. In fact I would say the big 2, the actually serious parties in this country, called it now while the Shinners are at their lowest ebb, the stupid soft in the head cunts.

Couldn't even do populism right. State of em.

[Trev]

Usual pick of which one do I hate least.

 FF/FG/Greens can all get fucked for pretty much everything they've done since being in power. SF have shot themselves in the foot as  a genuine alternative the last few years.  Not a hope of voting Aontu/National Party and their ilk,  same with People Before Profits and that end of things

The local Labour lad is one of the parents in my kids class and is bang on, tempted to throw him a preference but then Labour tend to give up their ethics once there's any chance of a coalition

Who's left, probably Social Democrats  and an independent or two?

[astfgyl]

Aontù seem to be the most coherent opposition party indeed but they are Christian fundamentalists for the most part and it's not something I'd be looking for at all. I find myself agreeing with a good bit of their shtick more than the rest of the actual parties though.

They will do well enough this time around, I think. Not enough to really do anything but a rise in their popularity should do something to put manners on the main parties. They're more popular than the greens already and will probably do about the same as whatever Labour do in the GE.

As for the far left parties, they may forget about it this time around. People are controlled for the most part by the money in their pockets and the security thereof, and all of the leftist parties feel like they will uphold neither of those things, so they are fucked beyond what few students can be arsed with voting for nonsensical things.

The mainstream version of the left is Sinn Fèin, which I've covered in my last post, so that's them ruled out along with the other one, who was Labour and they're at nothing as well.

Obviously I'm not even counting the likes of the National Party or Ireland First and Irish Freedom Party or People Before Profit because they are not serious people and the only thing i agree with them on is that I hate the current government, which is the case for any party not currently in said government.

The opposition vote will be badly fractured due to the lack of anything resembling a coherent effort or set of policies other than "coloured people are bad" for The Right or "rich people are bad" for The Left.

Thus, having considered the above points, I predict the return of the status quo and a reinforcing of the reasons that it has been the status quo for 100 years and counting.

It will be either FF, FG or the Seth-Brundle-in-the-final-third-of-The-Fly looking creature of a coalition that we've given the last 5 years watching: steal from us, run a legal human trafficking ring (there's no genuine argument to the contrary), try to impose a police state (only the stupid cunts are so inept that they couldn't keep enough police in the state to actually enact said police state lol fucking hell that's even worse written down lol lol), bury the evidence of the mother and baby homes (to protect whom, exactly?) and the best of all tried to censor online dissent (under the guise of giving a fuck about the rights of the few trannies and multi-gendered rainbow warriors in the place but it's actually about censoring the disseminating of unwanted opinions online) so that their policies may never be criticised or indeed highlighted again (because the legislation is so open ended. Again, not arguable).

So all that's left is actually a few independents and as far as my best guess goes, that's where any real gains will be made against sitting government members this time around.

All thoroughly depressing and predictable.

Edit: Actually the Social Democrats haven't even come on my radar,  which could be indicative of a good run for them. I'm sure when I go to the bother of looking into it, I'll find reason aplenty to despise them and all but for the average person who reads a few headlines and votes on it, the fact they haven't been heard of for anything bad (or at least very famously bad, unless I'm forgetting a big one) could do them wonders at the doorsteps because they might get to make a pitch instead of being ran at first sight. Yeah that could be great for them really

[stearl]

This might be useful for some of ye - how your views might align with party policies. (Usual health warnings apply, it will be used for data gathering etc..)

"VoteSmart is a collaboration between:
The Irish Independent - Professor David Farrell, School of Politics and International Relations at University College Dublin - UAntwerpen - Tree company - Bits of Love"

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/elections-2024/votesmart/votesmart-take-our-election-test-to-find-out-which-parties-and-politicians-align-with-your-views/a1537193874.html

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

Your views are most in line with PBP-Solidarity.

Your views are least in line with Fine Gael.

Not a very well made survey though imo, presumes too much detailed prior knowledge, which I guess the Indo presumes its readership will have, but it could have been better worded to get at what people actually care about rather than what they think they think about particular buzz words and acronyms.

[Trev]

Your views are most in line with Social Democrats

Well I guess that's settled then 

[stearl]

Your views are most in line with PBP-Solidarity.

Your views are least in line with Fine Gael.

Not a very well made survey though imo, presumes too much detailed prior knowledge, which I guess the Indo presumes its readership will have, but it could have been better worded to get at what people actually care about rather than what they think they think about particular buzz words and acronyms.

Indeed - and basing views/questions on lots of 'populist' binary only options - little room for nuance other that the 'boost' options.

But in the absence of something better....

[astfgyl]

Right, so that's me none the wiser 

[Caomhaoin]

I'm sure ye can guess what they told me

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

To move to Hungary? 

[Emphyrio]

I did it twice cos there was a couple of questions that are too black and white and need further follow up questions.

SF followed by FF in one.
FF followed by FG in the other.

And yet I'm loathe to vote for any of those 3.

PBP bottom of the pile both times.

[astfgyl]

I'd love to know how pbp got top 3 in mine tbh, but the questions are very one or the other. Like "do you think asylum seekers should be placed in wealthier areas". Well, no. I think that particular industry should be dismantled altogether, but if we are to insist upon it, then yeah throw them all into the poshest parts of the country starting now.

So which is it? Is my yes answer construed as consenting to any of it? Well it isn't, but that wasn't an option.

Gript did similar lately with a survey about immigration with statements like this, designed to achieve a desired result but with nothing for those in the middle and it was equally shit and pointless. And to make it worse, you had to subscribe to the mailing list to see the results so I don't even know what the results were then because like fuck that.

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

Yup, which is why broader and more lateral questions are better for surveys like this.