A new Manitoba? I’m already over it

OK, so that was an interesting election night. While I won’t comment on the results of the vote I will give you a bit of insight into what I was thinking heading into April 19.

First off: My phone numbers are unlisted. Somehow the local candidates got my numbers and were blasting me with robo-calls and they had volunteers who weren’t ready to hear about my displeasure in being called repeatedly.

One Sunday morning I had had enough and when asked for whom I was voting I said, “Probably not your candidate because of the constant calls. By the way, is he available to speak to?” And I was hung up on. That set me off so I put the candidate on blast on social media and he immediately asked me to call him on his cellphone.

Secondly: The campaign annoyed me so much that I blocked out any sort of election news in the final weeks, meaning I had no idea there was a televised debate a week before the vote. Granted, I don’t watch the suppertime newscasts so I hadn’t seen any promotion of it. But I talked with a former Free Press colleague who was largely unimpressed by the debate, anyway.

Thirdly: Several weeks ago I wrote about being an undecided voter. It had nothing to do with a party vote but rather if I would vote at all. I felt uninformed about the campaign platforms and wasn’t sure if voting was the right thing to do. I received a bunch of emails from people telling me I should have cast a vote to a party with no chance of winning so that at least I could say I voted. But is that really the right thing to do?

I’ve gone on the record and said to people that you can’t complain about the outcome if you didn’t get off your butt and vote. Don’t worry, I voted. But the only complaining I am doing now is about the leadup to the vote and not the actual results.

I’m all for giving new folks a chance at running things so it is only when they give me reason to not trust them that I will start my bitching and complaining – though I don’t take into consideration the accusations and mudslinging during the campaign.

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