The 2017 General Election campaign

[billy_bob]

Depends how she plays it. If she plays it for party advantage - and she WILL - then the public may not be quick to forgive her.

Yes, the only effective way to gain in stature in the longer term from your response to something like this is to appear very definitely to not be seeking any advantage from it in the short term. And to be fair it'd be very hard for almost any politician to think and act that way in the face of an imminent GE, never mind one as rigid and lacking in spontaneous warmth as May.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Yes, the only effective way to gain in stature in the longer term from your response to something like this is to appear very definitely to not be seeking any advantage from it in the short term. And to be fair it'd be very hard for almost any politician to think and act that way in the face of an imminent GE, never mind one as rigid and lacking in spontaneous warmth as May.

Mmmm, Theresa May and "spontaneous warmth"...

We are talking about "spontaneous human combustion", aren't we?

 

[billy_bob]

Mmmm, Theresa May and "spontaneous warmth"...

We are talking about "spontaneous human combustion", aren't we?

Theresa May could be a life-saver companion for people prone to spontaneous human combustion, a bit like one of those dogs that sense when their owner's about to have an epileptic fit. The icy waves of inhumanity coming off her would stop it in its tracks.

 

[Dogsauce]

Even if nobody tries to take advantage cynically, the mere interruption to the campaign is enough to have an impact. Labour had May on the run, that momentum (small 'm'!) is lost, her deficiencies out of the news. It may be hard to pick this up again, as the public will expect a softer tone from opponents and media for a bit.

 

[Tom A]

Well to me Corbyn is doing all the right things presently, showing genuine compassion and not trying to make political gain out of it:


Also I hope the public will now have gotten wise to politicians' attempts to "bury bad news".

 

[SpookyFrank]

Even if nobody tries to take advantage cynically, the mere interruption to the campaign is enough to have an impact. Labour had May on the run, that momentum (small 'm'!) is lost, her deficiencies out of the news. It may be hard to pick this up again, as the public will expect a softer tone from opponents and media for a bit.

A lot of people, me included, expected the Jo Cox murder to sway the EU referendum in a way it ultimately didn't go. No way to predict the effects of these things really; you could argue that Corbyn's less hawkish approach to foreign policy might start looking more attractive to middle England. Right wingers digging up more tired crap about Corbyn and the IRA or Hamas or whoever could backfire horribly. Or the exact opposite might happen.

Feels very cynical to even think about it but realistically this election is gonna have long term effects on everything, including how many more of these atrocities we're forced to endure.

 

[Raheem]

Well to me Corbyn is doing all the right things presently, showing genuine compassion and not trying to make political gain out of it:

Thing is, that's probably pretty much the extent of what he can do while campaigning is suspended. Meanwhile, for May it's non-stop hospital visits, high-profile meetings with the police and summarising the mood of the nation in her role as quasi head of state, until such time as they decide they can't spin it out any longer.

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

Thing is, that's probably pretty much the extent of what he can do while campaigning is suspended. Meanwhile, for May it's non-stop hospital visits, high-profile meetings with the police and summarising the mood of the nation in her role as quasi head of state, until such time as they decide they can't spin it out any longer.

I'm sure she can manage the standard 'defiant' speech - they won't beat us, our values will continue etc. They're probably dreading her doing a hospital visit though, seeing as she generally looks like she hates people.

 

[Pickman's model]

I'm sure she can manage the standard 'defiant' speech - they won't beat us, our values will continue etc. They're probably dreading her doing a hospital visit though, seeing as she generally looks like she hates people.

in this case looks are not deceptive

 

[Wilf]

A lot of people, me included, expected the Jo Cox murder to sway the EU referendum in a way it ultimately didn't go. No way to predict the effects of these things really; you could argue that Corbyn's less hawkish approach to foreign policy might start looking more attractive to middle England. Right wingers digging up more tired crap about Corbyn and the IRA or Hamas or whoever could backfire horribly. Or the exact opposite might happen.

Feels very cynical to even think about it but realistically this election is gonna have long term effects on everything, including how many more of these atrocities we're forced to endure.

Like you, I feel cynical posting this, but my political instinct is that May gains, particularly with the interruption to the Labour 'surge'. However I think you are definitely right about the unpredictability of politics/public opinion at the moment. The old levers of influence and persuassion don't works as well as they used to do.

 

[Wilf]

More generally on the election though, detest her as I do, I thought May originally looked like a plausible leader for keeping a 'Tory + Brexit' coalition together. However she really is abysmal on the campaign. Brillo went soft on her 2 nights ago and didn't really go for her use of robotic platitudes instead of answers to his questions. But she still came across as shifty, dishonest and unable to have the most simple, open conversation. Probably failing the 'person you could have a pint with' test as much as anyone since Thatcher. When pressed she looks furious and the whole bottom half of her face goes into a shit sniffing grimace. I really don't mean her appearance, it's genuinely a sense of distaste coming through her phiz.

 

[Orang Utan]

Classy Daily Mail cartoon today:

 

[Wilf]

Classy Daily Mail cartoon today:
View attachment 107490

Wow - and they presumably had time to pull that last night?

 

[DotCommunist]

rothemeres rag keeping it classy

 

[Dogsauce]

Wow - and they presumably had time to pull that last night?

The Sun was running a prominent piece on Corbyn gobbling IRA cocks or something equally infantile today, so I suspect it was just a pitch Crosby had got the Tory footsoldiers in the press to run with before the event happened.

 

[Raheem]

They're probably dreading her doing a hospital visit though, seeing as she generally looks like she hates people.

They won't send cameras in. It'll be Jane Hill or someone standing outside MRI breathlessly describing what is probably going on inside.

 

[killer b]

They've been hammering the IRA stuff for days, so the mail cartoon might just be un/fortunate timing. The sun published their hit at 2am though, so they defo had that on ice for this eventuality.

 

[mikey mikey]

Conservative candidate (and defending MP) for North East Somerset, Jacob Rees-Mogg, explains why rich Tories love foodbanks: their existence means they can be as callously brutal as they like to the poor and vulnerable, and other people will pick up the pieces.

Holy shit!

 

[billy_bob]

More generally on the election though, detest her as I do, I thought May originally looked like a plausible leader for keeping a 'Tory + Brexit' coalition together. However she really is abysmal on the campaign. Brillo went soft on her 2 nights ago and didn't really go for her use of robotic platitudes instead of answers to his questions. But she still came across as shifty, dishonest and unable to have the most simple, open conversation. Probably failing the 'person you could have a pint with' test as much as anyone since Thatcher. When pressed she looks furious and the whole bottom half of her face goes into a shit sniffing grimace. I really don't mean her appearance, it's genuinely a sense of distaste coming through her phiz.

People only seem to expect non-Tory politicians to pass the 'could have a pint with' test. Tories instead satisfy their secret half-yearning for someone to come along and steal their pint and refuse to allow them another one, because God knows they're never going to cut down their drinking for themselves, unless some fascist makes them do it.

 

[bluescreen]

Is it just me who thought this whole thing could backfire on May?

Yep, it's just me. Still counting...

 

[ViolentPanda]

Holy shit!

He really is as mad and as out-of-touch as his father was.

 

[ItWillNeverWork]

Holy shit!

Conservative candidate (and defending MP) for North East Somerset, Jacob Rees-Mogg, explains why rich Tories love foodbanks: their existence means they can be as callously brutal as they like to the poor and vulnerable, and other people will pick up the pieces.

Huh? Where did he say that in the video?

 

[Raheem]

Huh? Where did he say that in the video?

Have you played it backwards?

 

[mikey mikey]

Huh? Where did he say that in the video?

That is the "blurb" by the guy who posted the video: Have you actually listened to what that twat does say?

Would you like a transcript?

 

[tommers]

That is the "blurb" by the guy who posted the video: Have you actually listened to what that twat does say?

Would you like a transcript?

I listened to it. It was nothing like the blurb. He said that he liked food banks as they showed that people cared about others who were in crisis and who the state had failed.

Unrealistic, out of touch, wilfully ignoring the role of the government in the whole situation but I don't think you need to lie in order to make him look like a twat.

 

[mikey mikey]

I thought the blurb was that guy's interpretation. The video was right there. Make a fuss about that blurb if you will, it doesn't change the fact that he said he liked foodbanks. And "out-of-touch" and "unrealistic" are euphamisms bordering on apologetics. They're certainly an interpretation that is no closer to the reality of what this Tory said than the blurb. Letting tories off the hook with such descriptions enables them. c.f. Boris Johnson.

 

[Dogsauce]

I hope Labour are being cautious about discussing how they play things in the wake of this terror attack - there'd be no surprises if some 'thinking out loud' takes place via email and then gets leaked by Blairite scumbags to Tory press to be used against them.

 

[existentialist]

Green Party candidates in Pembrokeshire pull out of General Election

Yep. It's Tactical Voting Central around these parts. I don't know how easy it would be to unseat either, but the only way it'll happen is if there's a solid Labour vote.

That said, I got doorstepped by two people (who, it turns out were, separately, people I know ), and with them was a slightly nerdy type who kept his distance and looked slightly uncomfortable. I later recognised him from a poster as the Labour Candidate Himself. I did find myself wondering if they couldn't have done better...

 

[flypanam]

My in work conversations: One lib dem voter is switching to labour. One of the two Tories is wavering because the dementia tax and NHS shambles. The other says she's not voting this time as she's fed up with no pay raise for the public sector and feels her son will never own his own home but she can't bring herself to vote for Corbyn and believes labour have no hope in this constituency. Two others are voting labour.

 

[chilango]

In work, although people are necessarily discreet about their views, one Tory voter (2010, 2015) voting "very differently" this time around. One vocal abstainer, and a quiet but sustained anti-Tory feeling amongst the rest which previously led to some Green votes, sounds like all Labour now.