Suppressing the vote, Canadian-style

by Charlie Smith on April 26th, 2011 at 7:25 AM

You know you're running a good political campaign when your opponents decide to gang up on you. Check out how the Liberals are trying to take down both Layton and Harper in the same ad:

It's not as brutal as the Conservatives' recent ad, declaring: "They say ambition can be blind. Just ask Jack Layton."

These messages are intended to discourage young people from going to the polls on May 2. It's called suppressing the vote, and it has been a hallmark of Republican campaigns for more than two decades.

Contrast the ad above with this one from the NDP, which actually encourages you to vote:

For more on civility in politics, go here.

Comments

2 Comments

HellSlayerAndy

Apr 26, 2011 at 9:40am

I would have thought that another form of vote suppression was to simply take a huge demographic like 'Youth' and then simply collude to discuss the tuition problems of the handful that attend post-secondary institutions?

Of course discussing REAL Youth issues would necessitate discussing concepts like 'another lost generation', 'no jobs, no future', why entry level jobs pay so little or at what age do the Youthful taxpayer pass from Youth to simply 'the working poor'...another large demographic ignored by the multi-millionaires.

Jack Layton for Prime Minister

Apr 27, 2011 at 7:17am

When the federal governoment decided that someone was a Youth until they are 30 years old I knew our culture had taken a wrong turn. What ever happened to raising our kids to be grown-ups? Why is the lesson on taking personal responsibility a forgotten concept? I have been NDP for my adult life. I have also been an entrepreneur. The low BC Govt imposed "training wage" was an illegal act of discrimination. How can young people hope to go it alone on $6.00/hr? This was designed to keep them helpless in their parents basement living off their parents savings and pensions. I support Jack Layton to get these priorities straightened out and help build a strong country for all of us! I am so grateful that it is the young people today who are leading the surge and the charge! Jack for Prime Minister of Canada. Won't this be a fun time to be a citizen?