Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Who am I voting for? (part 1)
So, a lot of people have inquired as to who I am voting for. This is a tough question. Let us assume I do not agree with the secondary parties' views, so I only have to pick between Liberals and Conservatives.
So let's take the analytical approach to start with:
Ethnic and cultural diversity
Lose-lose. Both candidates are immigrants: Telegdi is from Hungary and Mandur is from India.
Daycare program
The Liberals want a national daycare program (a la Quebec). The Tories want to give a $1,200/child/year bonus to parents.
I'm not a parent now, nor am I planning on becoming one in the short- to mid-term. But I don't think I want a national daycare. Thus, Tories.
Polish of the candidates
Yeah, this is shallow, but true. Ajmer Mandur's published propaganda and his website are full of gramamtical and spelling errors. Telegdi's is not. They're both immigrants, so I view them as both being on a level playing field when it comes to communications polish: clearly Telegdi has chosen to surround himself with people who can ensure his communications are up to snuff. This is, after all, what the job is all about. Thus, Liberals.
Polish of electronic systems
Ajmer Mandur
Andrew Telegdi
Mandur's website is much nicer looking and much more functional. You can even post comments to his blog. Telegdi doesn't seem to understand what a blog is. And he uses red font on white background -- I get it, you're patriotic! But what about making it easy for me to read?
Also, they both use PHP -- shame, I would have given bonus marks to a Rails user! Anyway, this one clearly goes to the Tories.
Gay marriage
Conservatives want a free vote on the matter, Liberals want gay marriage. I don't care what gays do, but I do care if people attempt to restrict their rights. Arguments such as "this way, the will of the people is recognized" and "the Tories can't pass a constitutionally valid law anyway" don't fly with me: the Liberals are being much more upfront about their position and the likely outcome if they are elected. Therefore, Liberals.
Education
Well, I'll be done by the time they implement their strategies. Basically, the Tories want to create some tax credits for textbooks (yay!) as well as tax credits for scholarships (yay!). Unfortunately, I try not to buy textbooks and I don't have any scholarships. Boo!
The Liberals want to fund a year of education -- half your first, and half your last. Thus, Liberals.
Gun registry
Tories want to dismantle the gun registry. Enough said. Tories.
GST cut
Tories want to cut GST to 6%, then 5%. I'm not sure what the Liberal position on tax cuts is -- I should really figure that out! Until I become more educated, Tories.
Sleazy marketing
Telegdi included a quote by Joe Clark in some of his marketing materials. The quote was from the last election, shortly after Joe Clark lost his bid to control the Tories. In the quote, Clark is vicious towards Harper's politics, maligning his policies on abortion, Natives, and Canada-USA relations. Understandable, given the context.
Unfortunately, Telegdi's ad doesn't give you this context. The quote is undated and does not say the location or venue of the comment. Oops! How misleading! What an accident! Thus, Tories.
Summary
So, on a quick, off the cuff poll, it looks like Tories get the nod in a 5 to 3 win of random things I care about.
Andrew Telegdi is welcome to phone me at 489-1020 to attempt to sway my vote.
So let's take the analytical approach to start with:
Ethnic and cultural diversity
Lose-lose. Both candidates are immigrants: Telegdi is from Hungary and Mandur is from India.
Daycare program
The Liberals want a national daycare program (a la Quebec). The Tories want to give a $1,200/child/year bonus to parents.
I'm not a parent now, nor am I planning on becoming one in the short- to mid-term. But I don't think I want a national daycare. Thus, Tories.
Polish of the candidates
Yeah, this is shallow, but true. Ajmer Mandur's published propaganda and his website are full of gramamtical and spelling errors. Telegdi's is not. They're both immigrants, so I view them as both being on a level playing field when it comes to communications polish: clearly Telegdi has chosen to surround himself with people who can ensure his communications are up to snuff. This is, after all, what the job is all about. Thus, Liberals.
Polish of electronic systems
Ajmer Mandur
Andrew Telegdi
Mandur's website is much nicer looking and much more functional. You can even post comments to his blog. Telegdi doesn't seem to understand what a blog is. And he uses red font on white background -- I get it, you're patriotic! But what about making it easy for me to read?
Also, they both use PHP -- shame, I would have given bonus marks to a Rails user! Anyway, this one clearly goes to the Tories.
Gay marriage
Conservatives want a free vote on the matter, Liberals want gay marriage. I don't care what gays do, but I do care if people attempt to restrict their rights. Arguments such as "this way, the will of the people is recognized" and "the Tories can't pass a constitutionally valid law anyway" don't fly with me: the Liberals are being much more upfront about their position and the likely outcome if they are elected. Therefore, Liberals.
Education
Well, I'll be done by the time they implement their strategies. Basically, the Tories want to create some tax credits for textbooks (yay!) as well as tax credits for scholarships (yay!). Unfortunately, I try not to buy textbooks and I don't have any scholarships. Boo!
The Liberals want to fund a year of education -- half your first, and half your last. Thus, Liberals.
Gun registry
Tories want to dismantle the gun registry. Enough said. Tories.
GST cut
Tories want to cut GST to 6%, then 5%. I'm not sure what the Liberal position on tax cuts is -- I should really figure that out! Until I become more educated, Tories.
Sleazy marketing
Telegdi included a quote by Joe Clark in some of his marketing materials. The quote was from the last election, shortly after Joe Clark lost his bid to control the Tories. In the quote, Clark is vicious towards Harper's politics, maligning his policies on abortion, Natives, and Canada-USA relations. Understandable, given the context.
Unfortunately, Telegdi's ad doesn't give you this context. The quote is undated and does not say the location or venue of the comment. Oops! How misleading! What an accident! Thus, Tories.
Summary
So, on a quick, off the cuff poll, it looks like Tories get the nod in a 5 to 3 win of random things I care about.
Andrew Telegdi is welcome to phone me at 489-1020 to attempt to sway my vote.
