Propaganda

i read this critique of a fib-filled tory election leaflet issued by candidate emma moore in the ogmore constituency. i was more jealous than outraged. my constituency of nottingham east is, like ogmore, a safe labour seat. our conservative candidate, ewan lamont, has, like emma moore, no chance of being elected... but did i get a leaflet full of clumsy tabloid scaremongering and factual inaccuracies? did i heckeslike. i got a cheap little postcard of ewan shaking hands with david 'dave' cameron (who, incedentally, has the look of someone who has been forced to shake hands with an aids victim and isn't entirely sure it's safe to do so).

is ewan lamont trying to tell me that i should vote for him because he's met david cameron and, er, that's about it?

admittedly, on the other side of the postcard i learn that as well as meeting david cameron (there is another picture of the two of them together, just to reinforce the message) ewan lamont wants to reopen carrington post office, ewan lamont has a wife and child, and ewan lamont once stood next to some people i don't recognise who appear to be carrying a wreath of some sort. i also discover that the nottingham conservatives need my help to save the country from labour, but there's no additional detail on that.

the fact that ewan lamont, and the conservative party in general, have no interest in my vote hurts. am i not a man, a life, a citizen of this nation? in fairness, aside from labour, nobody else has even bothered to put a cheap postcard through my door yet.

this is what is wrong with the electoral system. i do not count. i do not have a say. i do not live in a democracy. nobody has to speak to me as a resident of nottingham east.