It's been a little chaotic on Planet Bureaucrat over the past few days, what with arranging and rearranging flights to Cyprus for a wedding - don't ask, just don't... However, I do find myself fretting slightly about the opinion polls.
The problem with them is that they have tremendous allure, allure sufficient to distract us from our gameplan, i.e. the existing targeting strategy. Yes, if things stay where they are, we might win some unexpected victories, but they are most likely to be based on places where we have established campaigns, and where a national swing can overcome a weak or lazy defence.
However, if we retreat, we risk a rerun of 1983, where we come second in lots of seats, and don't win anywhere near as many as we might have done because the target seats are abandoned as being 'in the bag'.
So, please, find time for your nearest target seat if you can. And if you've got more time to help, then go somewhere where you can really make a difference...
I think we are letting the spectre of 1983 scare us more than it warrants. The incumbent isn't popular with ANYONE at the minute, unlike 1983. There isn't the Falklands factor, in fact there's the reverse of it. And the official opposition aren't popular either.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying we should abandon seat targetting, but it would be utter madness to tell new recruits that they can't campaign in their own neighbourhood, but have to go elsewhere. That would be the fastest and surest way to lose them again - hell, it's nearly lost the party ME on more than one occasion.
Let people choose how they want to help us. By all means advise, but if people just want to do a bit, let them do a bit, and let them do it where they want to. A committed volunteer is worth more than any number of delivered leaflets.