LETTER

LETTRE

Voter Apathy: no inspiring candidates?

 

Every candidate running is good at one thing: Making election promises. And what the winners aren’t good at?  Fulfilling those promises.
    Every election we hear much the same election promises:  housing affordability, public transit issues, no waste of taxes, etc.
    Politics has a built-in incentive to tell people what they want to hear. Isn't there another way to get elected besides telling people what they want to hear?  It makes me wonder if these candidates put their names forward just to appear on the ballot which will look good on their resume and LinkedIn profile; it shows they're civic-minded.
    Making a difference in the community doesn't require being elected. Where were all these candidates in their community over the past 5 years? How involved are they in their community, if at all? How much experience and leadership skills do they actually have?
    A candidate, especially if they're challenging an incumbent, should possess political acumen, leadership skills, negotiation skills, networking skills, savvy social media skills, and above-average communication skills. How many  possess these skills? Besides these, candidates also need to be charismatic, project a trustworthy image and be known throughout their community. This may partly explain why so many eligible voters dodn’t bother to vote.
    I haven't even mentioned the key to political success, the same key to most of life's successes: Knowing the right people and having the right supporters. Most candidates think they can "just show up." People who are disengaged from politics often cite political bashing and a lack of civil dialogue as their reasons.
    It wouldn’t be a stretch to surmise that there's a strong correlation between low voter turnout and widespread political apathy because candidates running for office fail to present compelling reasons for voters to support them.  The media predicting majorities is the secret sauce to demotivate voters.
Nick Kossovan
Toronto, Ontario