Don’t forget about the campaign funding issue, Stephen

With all the hubbub swirling about secret coalition agendas in this election campaign, the Conservatives should endeavour not forget the campaign finance issue: you know, the plan to cut public subsidies to political parties, announced in the Nov 27, 2008 fiscal update that precipitated the three-stooges-coalition crisis. Eliminating public payments to political parties is very popular with the voters and it will knee-cap the Liberals who – thanks to campaign finance restrictions - can no longer access their traditional source of funds: fat-cat donors.

The only thing is: as popular as abolishing political subsidies is, it can’t be done without explicitly promising it first in the campaign. As Mike Downtown noted in the last post:

I once read a book in which a king states that he can break laws while ruling his kingdom, but he can't go against what the people have always assumed is the law, the tradition. In this case voters expect the party with the most votes gets to form the government.

Another tradition that the voters are fond of is the tradition that the government doesn’t enact any laws that it didn’t campaign for (unless they are a reaction to some unforeseen event). Though promises are broken all the time, the public hates this and will hate it doubly so if the law is seen to be self-serving.

If the Conservatives win a majority and then cut funding to political parties without mentioning that they plan on doing this in the campaign, the public will see this as an undemocratic move designed to create a one-party state. And they will loathe the Conservatives for it. 

To avoid that fate, say it loud and say it proud now. The Liberals will squeal but the public will be against them and, as a result, the Libs will lose even more votes. And when the new Conservative majority gets around to enacting it, the public will accept it as a legitimate policy change.

 

Comments

[Robert Chambers]

You are 100% correct! I hope someone in the Cons. war room is paying attention. Bob

[Fred from BC]

Agreed. The public is already know to favor this, so why not?

[WiseGuy]

One has to wonder if the Prime Minister isn't reading the Cincinnatus.