Campaign Song Time!

New, better way to relate to political parties: which one shares your taste in music?

We all know by now that Stephen Harper is a John Lennon fan, and not too freaked out by Lady Gaga. However, his campaign song takes a bit of a different tone. (Better Now by Collective Soul--lyrics) Curiously, none of these artists is Canadian.



The Liberals cheat by having two different theme songs, which is actually very characteristic. Both from Canadian artists.

(Wingstock by Ashley MacIsaac)



(Jumpstart by These Kids Wear Crowns--lyrics)



The NDP don't have an official campaign song, but this has been played a lot at their rallies (by a Canadian alt-rock band). (Believe in Me by Sloan--lyrics)



Meanwhile, the Bloc have written their own song, "Parlons Qc". It has a bluesy/swingy feel, maybe a bit Neo-Trad, and was composed by the guitarist from Les Colocs.



Finally, the Green Party doesn't have an actual campaign song, but spoken word artist Winona Linn is awesome.



So, there you have it. Which party's song choice do you prefer?

On another note, I've always been partial to TROOPER's "Raise a Little Hell" for mobilizing voters, but since the theme of this election seems to be surprising everyone with a massive youth voter turnout, perhaps BTO's "You ain't Seen Nothing Yet" is more appropriate. (Lyrics.)

How can my vote make a difference?

Transcript:

So it's election time, and from all around you're getting the message that you should vote, that it's important to go out and vote. Well, why? I know you're probably asking yourself, why is ti important that I go out and vote, what can my one vote do to make a difference in this election? Well, first of all, it's more than your one vote. You're not the only person asking yourself that question. In the last election, less than 40% of voters under the age of 25 actually turned up to the polls to vote. But let's look more concretely about how your one vote can make a difference. First of all, strategic voting. So let's say there's no particular candidate that you like, but there's one candidate or one party that you really dislike. In that case, what you can do is choose the candidate that you think is most likely to beat that candidate, and vote for them instead, and hopefully that will eliminate the candidate that you don't like. But let's say you don't really like that tactic, it seems kind of underhanded. You want to vote for a candidate that you actually like, but you know that your riding is definitely going to go one way or another and your vote isn't really going to make a difference. Well, actually, your vote does make a difference, and in a really concrete way: money. You may not know this, but every political party that gets more than two percent of the popular vote receives almost two dollars annually for each vote they got in the last election. Now, less than two dollars doesn't really seem like a lot when it's just you, but it really does add up. In 2010, the Green Party which is the lowest number on that scale, actually got almost two million dollars from voters in the last election. You might notice that there's only actually five parties that show up on there as having enough of the vote, and maybe none of those parties really aligns with what you believe, what you want out of your country. Well, there's more choice than this. There aren't just five parties in Canada, there are 19 parties registered at the federal level. Not all of these parties run candidates in every riding, but it's worth checking out which ones do run candidates in your riding. Let's say there's absolutely nobody in your riding that you care to vote for, you're just disgusted with this entire process, you're just frustrated with democracy. Well, there are some other options. You might have heard of spoiling your ballot. Spoiling your ballot is when you deface your ballot by voting for more than one candidate, by writing on it. It just shows that there's really… you're disgusted with the process, and you can't see yourself voting for any of these people, and… kind of… undermining the entire political process. Now the problem with this is that it's actually illegal. It's really, really difficult for you to get caught, but if you do, you could face a fine of up to $500 dollars or up to three months in jail. However, it isn't illegal to return a blank ballot, which just shows that there's nobody on the ballot who you could see yourself voting for. If you really can't see yourself voting for any of the candidates in your riding, that's what I suggest doing. It's important to actually show up to the polls, to show that you care about what happens to your country and you care about democracy, not that you're just sitting on your couch at home because you couldn't care less. So this May 2nd, show up to the polls, whether you're voting for a candidate you like, whether you're voting to keep a candidate you don't like out, or whether you return a blank ballot, it's important to show that you care. Vote against apathy.

More on the Tory "Facebook Ejection"

A Postmedia article this morning confirms what I speculated yesterday, that Awish Aslam is a politically engaged young woman trying to learn as much as possible about all parties. As Rick Mercer tweeted, "When I was a kid I went to see Mulroney, Broadbent, Turner, anyone who came to town. Facebook wasn't invented yet."

Here's Aslam's story:

For the 19-year-old University of Western Ontario political-science student, this will be the first election in which she is legally eligible to vote and she said she was looking to inform herself in the best way possible.

"I thought a really cool way would be to go see each of (the leaders) speak," she said.

She got her first chance March 31, at a Liberal party rally in London, Ont., where she watched Michael Ignatieff speak and had her picture taken with the Liberal leader.

Monday night, she went to see Jack Layton at an NDP rally, and can be seen in a photo behind the leader as he shakes hands with the crowd.

Sunday was her chance to see Conservative party leader Stephen Harper make his stump speech.

Here's what she told Postmedia about her reaction to the experience:

"I'm a second-year political science student; this is the first federal election that I'm able to vote in; so I really just wanted to be informed on what was going on before I cast my ballot.

"I think it's really discouraging, especially for young voters, because we're always being told that we need to come out and vote and we need to start participating in political events.

"This is an attempt at me trying to get informed and I end up being kicked out," she said.

I mean, she's a polisci student! Getting to meet political leaders is like every polisci student's wet dream. I have a lot of friends who study polisci and you should see them at election time. They LOVE elections. They even watch the results come in at the bar. It's like a giant party of democracy and electoral politics. (At the American election in 2008 I even heard that they were doing red shots when a state went Republican and blue shots when a state went Democrat, but I'm highly skeptical as I don't think anyone could survive 50 shots no matter how colourful. But that's another story.)

Anyhow, there seem to be some apologies coming from the Conservative camp, although nothing yet from Harper.

Meanwhile, another young woman claims she was barred from entering a Conservative rally even though she was registered:

Joanna MacDonald, an environmental science student at the University of Guelph, said she pre-registered for the event online, as was required, giving her name, address and email address. When she showed up, she said she was not allowed in.

"'Your name has been flagged, so you're not allowed into this event,'" she said she was told by officials running the rally. One of the officials told her it was likely because of her affiliation with some environmental groups.

"I'm still upset and disappointed," MacDonald said in an interview with Postmedia News. "I mean, just because I feel passionately about issues on the environment and climate change, I don't think it's any reason to be denied to see the prime minister speak. To be barred from an event is really upsetting."

She found it unnerving to have had people looking into her background before she came.

"My rights have been just kind of pushed aside," said the 21-year-old.

MacDonald thinks she was targeted because she identifies as an environmental activist, although she has never been involved in disruptive actions.

All this is a bit unnerving. Are Conservative staffers background-checking everyone who signs up for their rallies, or are they focused on suspicious young people (who, everyone knows, don't care about politics but love to make trouble)?

I try to be nonpartisan on this blog, because I'm trying to encourage youth to vote for a candidate/party of their choice. But I find the Tory reaction to young people trying to learn about their party more than a bit disturbing.

For a more humourous take on the Tory Facebook creeping, here's the Liberals:

I think someone needs a lesson on respecting your electorate

This is an example of what not to do if you're trying to reach out to youth voters. Awish Aslam, a 19-year-old Western student, was forcibly ejected from a Conservative rally in London, because of her "ties with the Liberal Party"--i.e., because she had gone to a Liberal rally the previous week and posted a picture of herself with Michael Ignatieff on Facebook.

Clearly this is a politically engaged young woman who's trying to make an informed decision on May 2nd. She's been attending all the party rallies in her area, trying to learn as much as she can about each one. And seriously, would you not make any picture you took with a celebrity your profile picture? Even a minor one like the Leader of the Opposition?

Sadly, Harper isn't even apologizing for the humiliation Ms. Aslam suffered at the rally. According to the Globe,

He begged off explaining the incidents, saying he leaves the operations of rallies and events to Conservative Party workers.

“The staff runs our campaigns and I can’t comment on individual matters like that,” he said.

I like this candidate's style

All political ads should be this fun! I already like this guy so much more than if he'd tried to attack his opponents.

Democracy à la Braveheart?

Well, the University of Guelph is being pretty awesome these days.  First there was the flash mob; and now this:

It looked like a scene from Braveheart, with more than 250 University of Guelph students standing on a hill overlooking Stephen Harper’s campaign stop in the southwestern Ontario city Monday.
Instead of blue face paint like the storied Scots, their faces were striped red and white. Along the line, a lone bagpiper played an uplifting reel.
Soaking from the pouring rain, the students carried a banner reading: “Surprise. We are voting.” They chanted, “We will vote.”
It was a non-partisan rally, organizers explained, designed to fight apathy among young voters in an election where all parties are heavily courting seniors because of their commitment to casting ballots.

Looks like fun.

"We’re calling on students everywhere to celebrate the vote and ask themselves what kind of Canada they want to live in,” co-organizer Gracen Johnson said.

Seriously, this is twenty kinds of awesome. The more visible we are, the less they can ignore us!

Youth vs. Senior

Check out this graphic from Creekside:

According to one poll, 46.2% of seniors intend to vote for the Conservatives, compared to 20.0% of youth.  Meanwhile, 20.6% of youth intend to vote for the Green Party, compared to 7.4% of seniors.  

If you're wondering whether your vote could make a difference?  It can.  So few youth turn out to vote, no wonder our Parliament looks more like the preferences of seniors.  There are something like three million voters under the age of 25, and 20.6% of three million is a BIG DEAL.