Last night’s Ask the Chancellors on Channel 4 attracted a lot of media coverage, not only commentators slating George Osborne, but also praise for the increasing use of new political campaigning methods – similar to some of the techniques used by US presidential candidates. After the debate I was left feeling pretty excited about the election, and pretty confident about the prospects of my favoured political party.
Vince Cable came across really well throughout the debate, clearly being seen by both Darling and Osborne as the most knowledgeable and authoritative on economic issues. However, in the public poll running throughout the debate there was clear support for Conservative policies. Osborne appeared weak at times, and although he performed well it was not as strong a performance as that given by Darling and, especially, Cable. 52% of respondents to the poll, run by Yougov/Channel 4, agreed with the Conservative policy that we should cut the deficit now, rather than holding on – as Labour and the Lib Dems have suggested – which gained just 26% of the polls support.
There is then a massive image problem with Osborne, only 12% of respondents opted for him when asked which Chancellor they prefered. If it’s not image, then its the parties focus. Online the focus appears to be oppostion to other parties (mainly Labour’s) policies, or generating social media campaigns. Perhaps, just maybe, the focus should be on policy. When I talk to people about the election people simply don’t know what the Conservative party stands for. They’d vote for the party that would commit to cutting the deficit, but they don’t know which party that is.
The online campaigns are great, and pioneering sites in a similar way to the campaign of Barack Obama is a vote-winner, but Obama had clear policy to campaign with. We all know that Obama stood for universal health care, more people in to work, fairer mortgage schemes and legal protection for the average-Joe; just what does the Conservative party stand for?