vendredi 25 mars 2011

Twas the night before an election

Voici une article que j'ai publié dans le Sherbrooke Record d'aujourd'hui, dans la langue de publication.

What am I thinking!?!?

As we roll on towards an election campaign, I wanted to the opportunity NOT to speak about the reasons for the campaign, or why one party is better than another. Rather, I want to speak about WHAT a candidate is feeling at this very moment. Here are some of the emotions that I’ll be dealing with over the next 40 or so days:

Stress: You know that feeling, where you’ve got a knot about the size of a baseball in your stomach? That’s what I’ve been dealing with for the past week. I hope it doesn’t cause permanent damage, or add to my grey hairs…

Anxiety: Do I have enough volunteers? Do I have enough posters? Do I have enough money (a campaign needs money to succeed, and, frankly, there’s not much out there)? Will voters listen to me? Will they listen to the leader? Will they read the platform? Does it connect????

Expectation: The writ has dropped and the election has started! Race around, find the best telephone pole to put your poster on, find the best location for your office, send out the press releases, and prepare for your debates! All in the same, oh, 10 minutes!

Excitement: Hey, I just convinced someone to change their vote! I met someone who stands out as a community leader! I’ve spoken about a policy we’re offering and someone realises that, yes, it can make a difference! I made a witty remark in the debate, one point for me!

Pride: Yes, you folks have seen me in the paper often over the past three years. An election campaign is the culminating point of that process – and a candidate who has been present, active and engaged in their community will feel pride through bringing it all together.

Anticipation: Will the weather be good voting day? How will the leaders do in their debate (you know, 80% of voters vote based on the leader or the platform, and NOT me…!)? Is voter turnout good? Is it good in the right places?

Relief: When all is said and done, after a campaign is over, one can only feel a sense of relief, after putting in thousands of kilometres on the poor car, shaking thousands of hands, and speaking to thousands of people. I can go back to spending more time with the kids, enjoying spring, and getting ready for summer.

That is, unless I get elected…


If you want to help out by contributing to my campaign, make your donation here:

https://action.liberal.ca/en/donate/Riding/24017
Si vous voulez donner un coup de main en contribuant à ma campagne, vous pouvez faire votre don ici:

https://action.liberal.ca/fr/donate/Riding/24017

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