I thought that part of the advantage of your system wsa that you don't *have* to "vote against", whereas we USans always do.
We don't have the rigid two-party system the US has, that's true. But we still have first-past-the-post, which means that unless you're lucky enough to be voting in a marginal constituency, you're still looking at a two-horse race: the incumbent and whichever party can run the closest second.
As for the LibDems: I would truly love to see them win. And I'm not one of those people who think a vote for them is wasted (although in my constituency it would be, because of the FPTP system). The core team of the LibDems is solid; the problem (if it is one) is if they were to win the election, the majority of their MPs would be first-timers. That's a given, just on the numbers. Which means there are real risks. But the status quo is unacceptable, too.
Can Nick Clegg be our Obama? I don't think he has that much support. Brits can be very conservative (small C). But I have hope.
no subject
We don't have the rigid two-party system the US has, that's true. But we still have first-past-the-post, which means that unless you're lucky enough to be voting in a marginal constituency, you're still looking at a two-horse race: the incumbent and whichever party can run the closest second.
As for the LibDems: I would truly love to see them win. And I'm not one of those people who think a vote for them is wasted (although in my constituency it would be, because of the FPTP system). The core team of the LibDems is solid; the problem (if it is one) is if they were to win the election, the majority of their MPs would be first-timers. That's a given, just on the numbers. Which means there are real risks. But the status quo is unacceptable, too.
Can Nick Clegg be our Obama? I don't think he has that much support. Brits can be very conservative (small C). But I have hope.