Candidatitis: Pathway to Change
Candidatitis
I first published this article in 2007 and then, slightly amended in2016, 2022 and last year’s local government elections in the North. There arefour elections across the island within the next 5 weeks. So I thought thiswould be a good time to republish Candidatitis again, slightly amended oncemore.
It is my tribute to the majority of candidates who won’t get elected.Good luck to them all. Good luck especially to Sinn Féin’s candidates. I hopewe have a great result. That’s all in the gift of the electorate. So I thankall the voters as well as all the candidates.
Opinion polls have become an integral part of every election campaign.Every newspaper and every broadcast outlet tries to second guess the electorateby commissioning polls. And then their columnists or pundits spend a hugeamount of time analysing the poll they just commissioned.
So do many candidates. And their supporters. This can lead to moodchanges and other character changing tendencies. This can be very stressful. Soevery candidate and everyone else should be mindful of the particular andpeculiar stresses and strains that come with being a candidate. It’s a form ofailment called Candidatitis. It begins with the candidate coming to believe –with a certainty known only to the prophets of old – that they are going towin.
This syndrome is capable of moving even the most rational aspirant orshy wallflower into a state of extreme self belief. It strikes without warning,is no respecter of gender, and can infect the lowly municipal hopeful, theaspiring Parliamentarian, as well as the lofty presidential wannabe.
I believe this is due to two factors. First of all most peoplestanding for election see little point in telling the voters that they are notgoing to win. That just wouldn’t make sense. Of course not. So they say theyare going to win.
That's when Candidatitis starts. As the 'we are going to win' isrepeated time and time again it starts to have a hypnotic effect on the personintoning the mantra.
Which brings me to the second factor. Most people encourageCandidatitis. Unintentionally. Not even the candidate’s best friend willsay hold on, you haven't a chance. Except for the media. But no candidatebelieves the media. And most candidates are never interviewed by the mediaanyway.
So a victim of Candidatitis will take succour from any friendly wordfrom any punter. Even a 'good luck' takes on new meaning and 'I won't forgetye' is akin to a full blooded endorsement.
So are we to pity sufferers of this ailment? Probably not.
They are mostly consenting adults, although some parties occasionallyrun conscripts. In the main these are staunch party people who are persuaded torun by more sinister elements who play on their loyalty and commitment. In somecases these reluctant candidates run on the understanding that they are notgoing to get elected. Their intervention, they are told, is to stop the votegoing elsewhere or to maintain the party's representative share of the vote. Insome cases this works. But in other cases, despite everything, our reluctanthero, or heroine, actually gets elected. A friend of mine was condemned toyears on Belfast City council when his election campaign went horribly wrong.He topped the poll.
That’s another problem in elections based on proportionalrepresentation. Topping the poll is a must for some candidates. But in PRelections such ambition creates a headache for party managers. If the aim is toget a panel of party representatives elected they all have to come in fairlyevenly. This requires meticulous negotiations to carve up constituencies.Implementing such arrangements make the implementation of the Good FridayAgreement look easy.
It means only placing posters and distributing leaflets in specificareas with clear instructions to the electorate on how we would like them tovote. In some elections I have noticed that some candidates (not Sinn Féincandidates folks) putting up posters in their colleagues territory. Not a goodsign.
It requires an inordinate amount of discipline on the candidates'behalf not to fall into this trap. Many do. Some don’t. Some get really sneaky.Particularly, as the day of reckoning comes closer. Panic attacks and anallergy to losing can lead to some sufferers poaching a colleague's votes. Thisis a very painful condition leading to serious outbreaks of nastiness andreprisals and recriminations if detected before polling day. It usually cannotbe treated and can have long term effects.
So dear readers all of this is by way of lifting the veil on theseproblems which infect our election contests. Politicians are a much malignedspecies. In some cases not without cause.
So the next time you look at a poster or get a leaflet through theletterbox or are confronted at your door by a wild eyed candidate –occasionally accompanied by a posse of cameras – then take a moretolerant and benign view of the sometimes strange behaviour of those citizenswho contest elections .
When you are accosted by a pamphlet waving candidate, as you shop inthe supermarket or collect the children at school or are minding your ownbusiness as you walk down the main street, try to see beyond the brashexterior. If they get carried away with themselves it’s not really their faultyou see. Big boys and big girls make them do it.
Most candidates are decent well meaning civic minded citizens. It’s a pity some have awful politics. So your votes should not encourage them.They will have difficulties enough dealing with defeat as well as theoutworking of Candidatitis But they will recover eventually.
If they get elected they or we may never recover. Please spare us fromthat.
Pathway to Change
Ireland’s Future has anevent in the SSE Arena in Belfast on Saturday 15 June. Entitled – Pathway toChange –it has all the makings of a seminal moment in our discussions about thefuture. It will be the largest gathering by Ireland’s Future since itsenormously successful ground breaking meeting in the 3 Arena in Dublin inOctober 2022.
Pathway to Change willbring together an impressive number of mainstream political and civic figuresfrom across the island of Ireland to discuss their vision of the future of ourisland. The list of notable speakers includes Alliance leader Naomi Long,SDLP MP Claire Hanna, Uachtarán Shinn Féin Mary Lou McDonald, former Allianceleader John Alderdice, Social Democrat leader Holly Cairns, Trade Unionist MickLynch, Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik, ProfessorBrendan O’Leary, Claire Mitchel, GAA President Jarlath Burns , LeasUachtarán Shinn Féin Michelle O’Neill, and veteran unionist and evangelicalProtestant Wallace Thompson will join Davy Adams and other panel guests.
WallaceThompson is a founding member of the DUP and in a recent interview on the BBC’s‘The View’ said that some fellow unionists share his view that a united Irelandis “inevitable”. He conceded that the previous positions of “no surrender” and“Ulster says No” got unionism nowhere and added: “The Union is damaged byBrexit. I can’t see it being repaired. We’re in danger of rearranging the deckchairson the Titanic.”
Whateverour different opinions might be on future constitutional arrangements thereality is that it is imperative that all of us who seek democratic changeengage in a positive and respectful dialogue with each other.
Thismeans planning for Irish Unity. It is important that unionists areinvolved in shaping this. The unionist population and its politicalrepresentatives need reassured that their cultural identity will beprotected in a new and independent Ireland.
It alsomeans that the Irish government must stop running away from this issue andprepare for the unity referendums that are coming and plan for a successfuloutcome. The Irish government should establish a Citizen’s Assembly tobegin this work of planning.
I commendIrelands Future for organising the SSE event. On 15 June I will join thethousands of others to listen and to learn. If you haven’t yet got your ticketyet then book now at the link below:
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