Letting The Perfect Be The Enemy Of The Good
by Kate Smurthwaite // 2 May 2008, 20:15
Might I start by advising any readers who "couldn't be bothered to vote" that they would do well to avoid me for the next few days... But what makes me the angriest (I think, it's so hard to chose) is that if all the Lib Dem and Green Party voters had put Ken Livingstone second choice - we wouldn't have a sexist, racist, homophobic idiot running our nation's capital. Brian Paddick has apparently said that he put Linsdey German as his second choice candidate.
Now Lindsey German is a great candidate with some great policies. However if voters didn't want THIS to happen then whether they voted Paddick, Berry or German, they had to put Livingstone as second choice. German was never going to make the head-to-head so a second choice vote for her was a total waste. That's really the point of a first and second choice system: you can vote idealistically first and tactically second. Not idealistically, twice. THIS did not have to happen.
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Sarah // Posted 03 May 2008 at 09:42
I voted Sian Berry first, and Ken second, seemed a sensible strategy to me as I thought Boris was unlikely to win on first choice alone. I wonder if a lot of people misunderstood the way the first and second choice system worked, it's not immediately obvious.
I am more annoyed by those who either 'couldnt be bothered' to vote at all, or those who voted for Boris because they thought it would 'be a laugh' - excuse me for not thinking racist, homophobic Tory bigotry is very funny.
Anna // Posted 03 May 2008 at 12:41
Surely as Boris got over 50% of the vote second preferences wouldn'tve been counted anyway?
Anna // Posted 03 May 2008 at 14:08
oh.. ignore that, I was watching sky news when half asleep and didn't realise Johnson didn't get an out-and-out 50%.
RookRiot // Posted 03 May 2008 at 14:37
I think Boris must be London's first, for lack of a better phrase, "lolMayor". I don't know whether the fact that people voted for him because he's a bit of an idiot should be comforting or distressing...
- On the one hand, it's worrying that people would pick a candidate for a laugh and not for their policies.
- On the other hand, it's less worrying than thinking people would WANT a sexist/racist/homophobe for a mayor.