When we get to vote in the leader of the 4th largest economy of the world. Albeit still smaller than California's . . . . ;)
We get to exercise our democratic right that has been fought for, and died for.
The only problem is that British democracy, and the British politic sucks. Apart from the lack of proportional representation the nation is poised to vote in a tactical manner mainly because of Blair's 'don't let the Tories in through the back door' speech.
This is a blatant abuse of electoral democracy. Surely one should encourage individuals to vote for a candidate whom has the same, or nearly the same opinion as themselves.
The votes then get counted and the govt is formed.
The problem with this is, of course, that we will get a hung-parliament which will ultimately mean that the politicians will then have to drop party politics, drop the 'follow-my-leader' style, and actually work together with other politicians who they may not share a single belief. Each and every politician will have to stand up and be counted, individually. Coincidentally, in exactly the same manner in which they will be elected
The lines delineating the govt and the opposition party are precisely the distance apart of a sword length to stop the parties fighting, and to encourage them to get on with the job of governing the nation.
It's a shame the progression in politics is executed by the media, and not by any govt - especially the two main contenders.
Vote for what not who you believe in. The minority parties are far more effective at lobbying and will still have that vote in parliament. (how many times have you seen it on the news that a vote was won by 10, or 20 votes - those 10 or 20 votes can easily be swayed by minority parties)
I played a game that I described on another forum which involved scoring each policy a score, and then picking what policy I felt I most agreed with each party. At the end you can score each party - and to my surprise it came out in this order: Greens, UKIP, CON, LAB, LIBDEM. Greens! Never even considered them until I undertook this exercise!
The Green's aren't standing in my area, so if I'm honest, I will be voting UKIP. It'll be strange voting for a minority party; but at the end of the day democracy must be about representing your own interests. Without the individual's selfish vote parliament would simply be an idealistic, but a non representative body.
Still, 9 hours to go before I reach the booth. I wonder how the BBC website is going to play it out today. After all, enevitable bias always creeps in . . .
