The truth is that a very large portion of the electorate does not follow politics on a daily basis. I would haphazard a guess that more than 90% of the population don’t fully engage in an election until the last week or so and that is why this week’s Ontario leaders’ debate was so important. It really would be the first time that many voters would be able to see and hear their choices for the October 6th election.

It’s always fun to hang out with “normal” Ontarians who have full, well rounded lives where politics is only a passing thought depending on the news of the day. So when I get to spend some time with them, they use that opportunity to talk about politics. And during an election, many of them ask, for whom should they vote. My answer is usually something impartial like they should read up on all the parties and choose the one that sounds most like them.

In a recent conversation with such a friend, his comment was that he felt all politicians are the same. They say whatever they need to get elected but once in office, they all do the same thing and it costs taxpayers more money. He suggested that he should start up a different kind of swingers club. This swingers club would consist of voters who always change their vote from one election to the next. For example, if they voted Liberal the last election, they would vote PC this election.

It was a tongue in cheek joke but it illustrated the frustration many voters have with politicians. Many voters have tuned out the numbing noise of politicians blaming one another for the current problems and promising the moon to fix them if elected.

So here is my advice to my friends and my twist on the swingers club idea: DO NOT REWARD sitting governments with re-election if they have not done what they say they said they would do. DO NOT consider them as an option and choose from the remaining two or three alternative parties. CHOOSE from the rest of the lot. In time, elected politicians who currently think that promises don’t matter will learn that voters will throw them out of office don’t deliver.

Okay, now back to your regular lives…