Quote:
Originally Posted by gunnut
But sir, how do you guys run your political campaign? Who pays for the staff? Rents the office? Print election material? TV ads?
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Well in Ireland political campaigns are payed for by public donations to our six political parties, and membership fees to parties - Corporate donations are considered highly immoral, and very few parties would actively seek it.
I've noticed a major difference in the way our two countries engage campaigns though - in the US, there seems to be a lot of importance on flashy and constantly updated TV ads and indeed the TV medium....in Ireland, each party publishes a manifesto (election pledges and promises), has a conference (called an Ard Fheis), maybe 1 or 2 election broadcasts, and the party leaders have a large debate - but where do they get their message out every single day of the campaign?
The country becomes
plastered in party posters - they go everywhere!:
even on bins!:
Irish politics are also much more 'one-to-one' - I met every single candidate who was running in my constituency just walking down the streets - all ready to talk and engage, listen to problems and give advice....not a security guard in sight - that's integrity that's quite rare these days, and a great thing about living in a small country.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gunnut
Personally, I think it's getting too lavish, just like everything else in this country. But then again, it's a large country and it takes a lot of money to get the word out to a narcisistic population.
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I suppose that's true, but I'd consider that a problem - democracy shouldn't be about money
.