JP might vote for…Stephen Crabb

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I saw a good example of a positive election poster this morning. 

“Working for Pembrokeshire” gives a good local focus, and it bucks a trend by not implying anything negative about the other candidates.  Stephen Crabb is incumbent MP in the area and his choice of slogan effectively says “vote for me on my current record.”  Obviously if you think he’s done a rubbish job then you might not be inclined to try and re-elect him, but at least it’s encouraging you to judge him on his merits alone, rather than someone else’s lack thereof.

This is in contrast to the majority of Conservative posters.  The “Vote for Change” slogan sounds good, but it’s a bit generic.  Will there be a change?  What will that change be?  At the end of the day, it’s a slogan based on being fed up with Labour rather than offering anything specifically new.  We all have good reason to be fed up with Labour, and so I don’t need to be encouraged to vote for change – I’d just like to know what that change will be.

Still, congratulations to Stephen Crabb for offering the most positive signs I have seen so far in the 2010 election.  If I was registered to vote in Pembrokeshire he’d be heading in the right direction to secure JP’s cross on the ballot paper.

Comments

Alasdair said…
I fear you're too easily pleased, JP. For a poster to mean anything at all, it should have a message that opponents might conceivably disagree with: proportional representation now; cut corporation tax to make our economy more competitive; join the euro; ...

Are the Lib Dems, Labour or Plaid campaigning on a "Working against Pembrokeshire" platform? If not, I don't think your poster's adding anything useful to the debate, it's just an exercise in brand awareness for the Tory candidate.
JP... said…
Hello Alasdair, nice to hear from you - hope all's well :)

I concur that I probably am too easily pleased, but stick with my reasons for liking this poster nonetheless. After all, isn't a poster meant to be an exercise in brand awareness? Whereas I agree that a bolder, possibly more divisive, slogan would be better, I wasn't comparing Stephen Crabb's poster with anything like that. The more generic Conservative poster I was using as a comparison also says nothing useful.
Alasdair Nicol said…
Yes, posters are exercises in brand awareness, but unless they can provoke disagreement they're a little boring.

In contrast, the Tory's latest effort might at least spark a little debate.

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