The Thanet Blogger Vote. See Grown Men Beg! Make Sandy Ezikiel & Co Fight For Your Vote.
Written by Matt B · first published 03/02/2008
You may not have realised it yet but blogs (such as this one) have the power to set the agenda and it's not just the writers that have the power. Readers have an equal power and part to play in bringing councilors to heal. This might sound amazing but it is really just common sense.
There is only one kind of voter that a candidate for Thanet Council is going to worry about and it is not the ones that are already exposing a party line. Those guys are already well entrenched in their chosen ideology and are a simply "safe votes" that are of little or no concern to a potential council leaders campaign. The ones that the fight is over are known as "swing votes".
A swing vote is a vote that might be cast in any direction and it is these that make the final decision. Election campaigns are all about the swing vote. There is a second vote that scares the potential councilor even more and that is the revived vote.
Many hundreds of thousands of people do not vote. Not ever. When a demographic that normally does not vote gets politically "enlivened" anything could happen, all bets are off and even "safe seats" are no longer safe.
To turn these facts to your advantage one need only provide sufficient clues for the potential councilor to use. Once they have locked onto this they will keep it in mind but get both parties attention and they will be forced to compete to get the vote of this new unstable swing vote group. To the winner goes the council.
So how do you get the attention of the councilors and get them begging you for you vote?
Actually it is really easy. You are already doing it.
The clue that we Thanet bloggers can provide is formed of two parts. Blogs and readers.
Thanet Bloggers are already on the radar of the intelligent council candidate and blogging is something that at least a few members of each party fully understand and watch. The strength of voice that is felt in Thanet as a result of both blog posts and blog comments is only going to grow. The question is - are you willing to play part of the tune for the councilors to dance to?
There is only one kind of voter that a candidate for Thanet Council is going to worry about and it is not the ones that are already exposing a party line. Those guys are already well entrenched in their chosen ideology and are a simply "safe votes" that are of little or no concern to a potential council leaders campaign. The ones that the fight is over are known as "swing votes".
A swing vote is a vote that might be cast in any direction and it is these that make the final decision. Election campaigns are all about the swing vote. There is a second vote that scares the potential councilor even more and that is the revived vote.
Many hundreds of thousands of people do not vote. Not ever. When a demographic that normally does not vote gets politically "enlivened" anything could happen, all bets are off and even "safe seats" are no longer safe.
To turn these facts to your advantage one need only provide sufficient clues for the potential councilor to use. Once they have locked onto this they will keep it in mind but get both parties attention and they will be forced to compete to get the vote of this new unstable swing vote group. To the winner goes the council.
So how do you get the attention of the councilors and get them begging you for you vote?
Actually it is really easy. You are already doing it.
The clue that we Thanet bloggers can provide is formed of two parts. Blogs and readers.
Blogs: by articulating a sound (or gently distorted) understanding of the issues and a commitment to seeing solutions you show yourself to be a person with political awareness. A politically aware swing voter is a huge influencing factor on less aware peers and could represent the potential of two to twenty votes, sometimes more.
Furthermore is is assumed that for every person that speaks up somewhere between nine and ninety others felt the same but said nothing. So by speaking up in an articulate manor you might represent the opinion or swing of as many as one or two thousand voters. Easily enough to win a seat on the council.
Readers: by clustering around well articulated issues and adding your voice either in support or to share a differing opinion or view we accentuate and underscore the importance of the topic. In doing so we make the council members dance to our tune. If Mr Green or Mr Moores commented on other blogs more often they would confirm this even while trying to deny it.
By picking up on the posts of other Thanet Bloggers (and linking to the posts correctly) we can continue the conversation and expand on the topics raised. The more this is done the higher the profile of the average Thanet Blogger becomes on the agenda your local candidates.
Furthermore is is assumed that for every person that speaks up somewhere between nine and ninety others felt the same but said nothing. So by speaking up in an articulate manor you might represent the opinion or swing of as many as one or two thousand voters. Easily enough to win a seat on the council.
Readers: by clustering around well articulated issues and adding your voice either in support or to share a differing opinion or view we accentuate and underscore the importance of the topic. In doing so we make the council members dance to our tune. If Mr Green or Mr Moores commented on other blogs more often they would confirm this even while trying to deny it.
By picking up on the posts of other Thanet Bloggers (and linking to the posts correctly) we can continue the conversation and expand on the topics raised. The more this is done the higher the profile of the average Thanet Blogger becomes on the agenda your local candidates.
Thanet Bloggers are already on the radar of the intelligent council candidate and blogging is something that at least a few members of each party fully understand and watch. The strength of voice that is felt in Thanet as a result of both blog posts and blog comments is only going to grow. The question is - are you willing to play part of the tune for the councilors to dance to?
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