Rounding Up Day 4 of the Campaign on the Blogs

Tonight, breaking with tradition early in the campaign-only to begin another, we begin with the oddest press release of the day. It seems that the PDs have forgotten who their leader is. They issued a bombast today by Party Leader Michael McDowell at the muesli-eating, sandal-wearing, wealth-hating commie Greens. Only as you’ll see from the link, the mixed up Michael and Mary. Harney’s picture and details accompany the release which is mildly disconcerting to see party unity or that the party loyalty still have only one leader.

Honourable mention to Mary White (Green/Carlow-Kilkenny) who was thrilled that “the initial veterinary findings showing that stunted growth in cattle on a farm in Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny is being caused by a lack of selenium.”

To matters bloggish;

Bernie has got his questions in order for politicians coming to the door. Consider this post a challenge to all bloggers to complete this meme by May 24 and actually carry it out! Bernie’s questions are great. I particularly like “I want to know whether any of the politicians have asked migrant workers like myself about getting involved in community affairs” as well as the even more awkward; “I want to know whether the politicians calling at my front door on a busy national road care that every third car travels above the posted speed limit. If they care, what would they do about blatant disregard for speed limits right there in front of my house. Would they consider parking their campaign car alongside the road and let a Garda Traffic Corps member sit inside with a radar gun?“

Simon has the startling conclusion that it must have been Martin Cullen who unearthed that National Monument at Tara which halted the M3. This insight is nestled in a great post about the way journalists and commentators get the political relationship reversed. It is not politicians but the whims of the electorate which determine the fate of politicians and “if they lose sight of that because they meet a lot of politicians and not much of the electorate, political correspondents have stopped serving the interests of their readers“.

Cllr Eric Byrne has some decent advice for any of you confronted by a canvasser who will promise the world for a vote, no politician can affect a planning application. Planning is a matter for officials and the only thing that is feasible to deliver is something akin to the Drimnagh Integrated Area Plan.

Speaking of canvassing, if you wonder how you measure up, or what it is a canvasser wants from you, then Kevin Cassidy has the answer. Its all about the way you smell it seems.

Shane Hegarty has a cut off the rockthevote.ie leader’s blogs. He is completely correct in estimating the power of the humble blog, “frankly, if all this doesn’t get the kids into the voting stations on May 24, then we should raise the voting age to 32″. We are the force, it seems.

Over at votetube.org, the Fianna Fail cookie-cutters have been at it again, this time with award-winning backbencher (it is on his literature don’t you know) Pat Carey. Carey just manages to impress over and above the fact that his video is produced in the exact same way as the rest of the Fianna Fail videos (continuing the theme of wearing down the people rather than convincing them). It breaks all rules but it gets one thumb up “this video stands head and shoulders above the others from the same stable. This is because Pat Carey doesn’t talk about himself. As a wily old bird, he realised that people didn’t want to hear about him- they wanted to hear about his constituency, Ballymun“.

Two final late additions from party blogging land, the first from the Green Party candidate Roderic O Gorman, who has ventured in the footsteps of Cuffe and Gormley onto youtube. Grab his first video here. Second the Labour party have a fancy widget for bloggers; its their countdown to change clock for your sidebar-snazzy.

Finally a little comic relief as Green takes a pot shot at the photo-op of the day.