P.D. Problems: Personality, Policy and Politics

Come the election, a nice chap called Eamon Scanlon will probably get my first preference vote. Eamon isn’t exactly the most charismatic of men and he certainly doesn’t receive a great deal of coverage in the national press. Yet, he has a very good chance of taking a seat in the Sligo-Leitrim North constituency.

The reason for this is because Scanlon is a Fianna Fail candidate. It’s not as though any old butcher could get elected to the Dail. He is a Fianna Fail branded product and in spite of the tribunal revelations of recent years, Irish people still trust in the Fianna Fail brand.

Progressive Democrat candidates do not have the advantage of a strong brand name. Few people vote for the Progressive Democrats and there are even fewer Progressive Democrat voters.

If the PDs want to become a permenant fixture in the Irish political establishment, then they need to communicate their values and goals to the Irish public. So far, the only thing that a large part of the Irish public know is that the PDs want to push for lower taxes, but that is hardly a unique selling point, given that the two major parties are also in favour of low taxes.

To compensate for this deficiency, the PDs seem to want to recruit “personality” candidates. Why investigate time and effort in community activism when you can just buy a community activist with a handbag of promises. Tom Parlon was an example of this policy and Colm O’Gorman looks to be the latest trophy. The only thing that the PDs have going for them in Wexford is O’Gorman’s name. This can only help in the short term. The fact is that even if O’Gorman takes a seat, it’s unlikely that those who voted for him would continue to vote for the Progressive Democrats when he retired.

Sinn Fein took a different approach. Their candidates tend to have a background as community activities. That activism might be funded by less than ethical enterprises, but most people don’t really care about that fact. The Sinn Fein brand is flourishing as a result. The PDs desperately need to build a stronger base at the local level of Irish politics. The problem they face is that it is difficult to remain faithful to the single tenant of the PD creed while arguing for greater public expenditure on the local level.

McDowell might have encouraged a handful of people to vote for the PDs to prevent a single party government, but that trick is unlikely to serve him well in the coming election. The PDs can complain about Fianna Fail policies on e-voting and taxation all they want. People know that a vote for the PDs is as good as a vote for Fianna Fail. Although a few gullible fools may be tricked into voting for Senor McDowell for fear of allowing Sinn Fein the position of King-maker.

The Progressive Democrats are living on borrowed time. They leech off Fianna Fail and no matter how often they peck the hands that feeds, the fact remains that they cannot survive without their host. Personality will only get you so far.