So, What now for Labour?

Lenny Lovett

Can Labour build on their strong opinion poll showing and gain even more to make them a single party Government ore even the major ppartner with the help of just Independents and Sinn Fein? Or, will they go the way of Fine Gael and implode spectacularly in the euphoria of getting to a point that they never thought they'd reach? Maybe they need to engage the services of someone like Alastair Campbell to take them over the line?

ednwireland

no because i dont think they can turn that poll figure onto enough seats outside dublin (labour can hardly get a local councillor elected here 3out of 29on the donegal council)

+1 on this

mike65 wrote: »

I was going to say they need to start outlining policies in a hard and fast fashion but that could possibly be the biggest mistake they could make. Thier current elevated status does mean they are due to come under greater scutiny, it'll be interesting to see if they stand up to the glare.

roisin shorthall on vincent browne and anything eamonn gilmore says are so short on policies i couldnt vote for them at the moment (no one else is much better which will put me in a right quandry at the next GE)

mike65

I was going to say they need to start outlining policies in a hard and fast fashion but that could possibly be the biggest mistake they could make. Thier current elevated status does mean they are due to come under greater scutiny, it'll be interesting to see if they stand up to the glare.

Thirdfox

+2 - I want to see practical policies put forward by some of the opposition before I'll vote for them. As demonstrated by the Kerry/Bush election of yesteryear - simply stating "We're not Bush/FF" isn't a particularly good reason to vote FOR you.

I'm in a right quandary too about who to vote for:
FF - no (but at least they have the devil you know "advantage", if it can be called that)
FG - not convinced by Enda's plans for recovery.
Lab - even less convinced about their resolve to tackle the important and difficult decisions in regards to spending and debt.

The smaller parties don't appeal to me either (speaking as a disillusioned Greens supporter).

whippet

there is a certian arrogance eminating from Labour at the moment, and in my opinion nothing substantial to back it up.

Quinn was on newstalk this morning using the opinion poll as a barometer as to confirm over 40 seats in the next general election.

These are the same politicians who will always say polls mean nothing, its the ballot box that is the indicator.

He kept referring back to '92 and the number of seats won based on the poll figure. This to me is a total arrogance.

I know when push comes to shove the electorate will not give the vote to labour as easy as it is to say 'isn't Gilmore a great lad' when asked over the phone.

I don't see how a party lead by a man who tries to always make every statement into a joke/anecdote can actually become the largest party.

I can't even listen to his interviews as they are full of snide remarks and always trying to get a laugh ... just like his predecessor Rabbitte.

Foxhound38

Labour have been handed an opportunity to prove itself as one of the big boys, not a promise of state power, and I think they know that. It will be interesting to see if they can handle this. So far, they seem to be doing well - Labour is probably the most unified and internally healthy Party in this state at the moment, which will help them build up as they need to greatly. Gilmore continues to be performing in a far more impressive way that his rivals in FF and FG. Labour have 2 viable potential candidates for the Aras in Michael D and Fergus Finley.

Vincent Browne was convinced that Gilmore would be left out of the televised leaders debate come the election. I really don't think that is a viable option for RTE at the moment. How would they get away with trying to pull that?

Sizzler

Voting labour would be like voting for Jack O'Connor / David Begg to run the country, look where they have got us thus far with their "social partnership" bollox, I would rather abstain from the next election than vote for this shower.

bijapos

Lenny Lovett wrote: »

Can Labour build on their strong opinion poll showing and gain even more to make them a single party Government ore even the major ppartner with the help of just Independents and Sinn Fein?

No. They wont even have the number of candidates to get near a majority. As to looking for the support of Independents todays announcement by Grealish is a great example of how they operate. In difficult times they bring instability.

Or, will they go the way of Fine Gael and implode spectacularly in the euphoria of getting to a point that they never thought they'd reach

Labour will be found out badly a few weeks after the next election when the first budget is introduced. At the moment they are telling the people what they want to hear, not what they need to hear.

Labour and FG are not very compatible, their policies on some issues differ greatly. When the new Programme for Government between Lab and FG is drawn up a lot of people on both sides will be disappointed but thats part and parcel of coalition politics. Labours (and indeed FGs) only long term chance is to take a strong line on political reform, corruption and cronyism that has badly affected this country. As to whether they will actually do this is another question.

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