There's a time and place for literary nitpicking, and this probably isn't it

[devi]

I'm off out to vote shortly. Just to make sure I haven't missed anything crucial, I had another look at the manifestos of the two parties I've been vacillating between.

Is it wrong to feel more affectionate towards one party because their manifesto is snappy, specific, well-written and has nice fonts and nice graphic design, while the other is full of densely packed, long, rambly sentences of vague upper-manglement-speak that made my head swim?

Never mind foreign affairs, education or the economy! Check out the use of sans-serif!


Edit (back now): And I didn't realise UKIP's logo was a pound sign. Ew, how tacky.

Comments

[j4.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's wrong (though I suspect it would be a bit misguided for that to be the deciding factor) -- I think the choice of style, register, design, etc. can be indicative of the attitude, priorities, effort, enthusiasm, etc. of the people choosing them. I think it can also tell you a lot about the audience they (think they) are aiming their literature at, which may be interesting.

I try not to over-analyse the election literature for this sort of thing but I can't help noticing it, and if a party thinks people don't notice that sort of thing then I think they're missing a trick. Several tricks, probably. Yes, there's the flip side of that argument ("if they didn't spend all their money on fancy leaflets etc. etc.") but I think presentation does matter, and it doesn't have to be ostentatious and expensive shiny paper -- just readability, being easy on the eye, even just basic spelling/grammar!

[gothwalk.livejournal.com]

They don't have to send anything. If they're going to send something, it doesn't really cost much more to get it right.

Thought while I've yet to meet election candidates, I know that the (non-Irish-Labour [1]) people I know that are involved in politics [2] are always slightly uncomfortable when I've read the stuff that comes through the door.

[1] Labour like their stuff being read. So the Socialist Workers Party, AKA the Party for Protests.

[2] Fine Gael; about the same position in the spectrum as current UK Labour.

[j4.livejournal.com]

They don't have to send anything.

True, but I think they'd be fools not to. Sure, if and when I want to read what the main parties have to say for themselves, I'll go and look at their websites; but not everybody has that option, and most people aren't proactive (ugh!) enough to ring up and ask about stuff or go and find out. As a nation, we're lazy; only just over half of us bothered to vote last election! If a party doesn't take that general level of apathy into consideration it's a bit misguided IMHO.

I do also read the stuff that comes through the door, in a something-to-read-idly-over-dinner kind of way, and it was noticeable that this time we didn't get anything from the Green Party at all. Or, indeed, from any of the three independents standing in Cambridge, which is frankly just stupid -- at least the major parties can rely on some kind of vague awareness of their policies (especially the Greens, and it's not as if you need to ask what they stand for!) but when I see three random names on the ballot paper and it's the first time I've heard them, I'm certainly not going to vote for any of them.

[juggzy.livejournal.com]

Two things - it takes huge organization to get those leaflets distributed. I've helped with labour mailouts over in Wales, and it has taken a weekend using 20+ volunteers just to get the envelopes stuffed for one mailout to the whole constituency. Independents often just don't have that organization to hand.

Secondly, there are some very good party workers that just don't have the eye for style and presentation or spelling(which I agree can be done cheaply) of other people. Not everyone has the same educational chances, or took advantage of them when they were there. Yes, the parties should probably overview the work, etc.

But I think judging by presentation and style is a mistake, and I don't think, frankly, you can even claim that it is representative.