While Labor seemed to turn a blind eye to the impending Greenswing, the Liberals were out there courting our second preferences. I’ve never felt more politically powerful than knowing that they wanted my cast offs. It just proved how desperate the election was getting… a bunch of suits wanted to my worn out hippy tie-dye. Considering they don’t believe in climate change, I was very surprised to see the Libs believed in Greens, and even more surprised to see they thought we were a force to be reckoned with.
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| I was leaning Green... |
I had ads down the side of my facebook asking if I was leaning Green. The click through went straight to Lib HQ and a video that asked me to give them second preference. Because “Labor didn’t bother with me.” And it is true – Labor didn’t bother with me – which is why I chose to screw them by voting Green. But I’m not stupid enough to screw myself over by preferencing the Libs.
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| Dear Tony, just because I'm voting Green doesn't mean you're in with a chance. |
There was also the debacle involving fake Green how-to-vote cards. For a young Lib to dress up in a green shirt and go to all the trouble to bother making Green looking HTV seems a little outlandish, unless they thought it could give them the edge. This scam was in Bennelong, where Maxine McKew got canned for Labor. Given how much this election has come down to preferences, it’s possible it did give them the edge they needed, at least in this electorate.
People keep saying that surely Labor lost more votes to Green than Libs, and it’s true, I reckon Labor did lose more votes. But the fact that the Libs were looking for preferences makes me think it wasn’t just a Labor issue. I worked at a booth where the Lib how-to-vote chick confessed she hated Tony Abbott and says she is what is apparently called a “wet Liberal.” I’d never heard of this before. Essentially what it seems to mean is a lefty-Liberal with ethical values and a sense of humanity. I’m not sure how those can fit in the same sentence as the word Liberal, but apparently they can.
When I was looking for more information on these “wet Liberals” I came across this quote on Wikipedias page about the Australian Democrats:
“… the party's progressive politics also remained attractive to a sizeable section of mainly middle class ("wet") Liberal supporters - often female, and often disparagingly described on the right of the Liberal Party as "Soccer Mums" or "Doctor's Wives" - who were turned off by the Liberal party's social conservatism and "Reagonomic/Thatcherite" economic policies.”
To me, that sounds exactly like the kind of people who would hate Tony Abbott. Not only that, but I felt this years Green swing would be a result of them gaining support of people who’d previously been Democrat voters – myself included. Given the number of women who are resolutely anti-Abbott, and the sensational result for the Greens, I can only think that these “wet Liberals” came into play this year. I’m sure the Liberals knew this and campaigned for preferences accordingly.
If red and blue were both conservatively identical this election, it makes sense that they both lost some lefties from their lower edges. And while Labor probably has taken the bigger hit, the Liberals would have lost voters too. They’re just trying to keep it quiet, in the same way they try to keep their gay sons and daughters firmly in the closet.
PS.
Wanna see the Liberals asking for Green preferences?
Wanna see a shifty young Liberal in action?
