Gungahlin Al spits the dummy

puggy said :

Alan, you did OK in the Gungahlin and Harrison booths, compared to the other Greens candidates anyway (going off Elections ACT).

It’d be interesting statistics for John to tally up IPs from riotact visitors located in Gungahlin and compare them to Alan’s total vote.

I would imagine that an audit of IP addresses would indicate that a lot of us live in large buildings housing government departments or other agencies in Civic, Barton, Belconnen, Woden & Tuggers.

Chop71 said :

Gungahlin Al said :

Really appreciate the feedback folks.

Al, I think your efforts are very much undervalued and you deserve more respect for the work you have done over a long time (not just the 2 weeks before election). Even though I don’t agree with most of your ideology and don’t live in Gunners, someone as community minded as yourself is an asset to Canberra.

Thanks for running Al.

+1

Alan, you did OK in the Gungahlin and Harrison booths, compared to the other Greens candidates anyway (going off Elections ACT).

It’d be interesting statistics for John to tally up IPs from riotact visitors located in Gungahlin and compare them to Alan’s total vote.

Gungahlin Al said :

Really appreciate the feedback folks.

Al, I think your efforts are very much undervalued and you deserve more respect for the work you have done over a long time (not just the 2 weeks before election). Even though I don’t agree with most of your ideology and don’t live in Gunners, someone as community minded as yourself is an asset to Canberra.

Thanks for running Al.

caf said :

c_c™ said :

mezza76 said :

I took delight at making Mr Pocock my 26th pick… just to be sure 🙂

Well done, by doing that you actually helped him.

The only way in Hare-Clarke to put a candidate last is to not put any number down for them at all. Nothing, zilch, nada.

This is completely untrue. If you number right to the end, there’s no difference between numbering the last box or leaving it blank. When the last preference distribution is done in a count, there must be at least 2 candidates remaining, and the remaining transfer value of your vote will end up with the candidate that you’ve ranked highest out of those.

Yep – as a political science double major with honours – I figured I had it right (essentially the vote exhausts on the last preference) 😉

I’m now awaiting my apology from C_C as I was mortified that anyone thought I would help Pocock…

c_c™ said :

mezza76 said :

I took delight at making Mr Pocock my 26th pick… just to be sure 🙂

Well done, by doing that you actually helped him.

The only way in Hare-Clarke to put a candidate last is to not put any number down for them at all. Nothing, zilch, nada.

This is completely untrue. If you number right to the end, there’s no difference between numbering the last box or leaving it blank. When the last preference distribution is done in a count, there must be at least 2 candidates remaining, and the remaining transfer value of your vote will end up with the candidate that you’ve ranked highest out of those.

c_c™ said :

mezza76 said :

I took delight at making Mr Pocock my 26th pick… just to be sure 🙂

Well done, by doing that you actually helped him.

The only way in Hare-Clarke to put a candidate is to not put any number down for them at all. Nothing, zilch, nada.

Not correct, I’m sorry. There is no way for a final preference to be distributed, as if the counting gets down that far, by definition all other candidates have already been eliminated or elected. Happy to hear you produce a scenario where it’s possible.

Aeek said :

c_c™ said :

mezza76 said :

I took delight at making Mr Pocock my 26th pick… just to be sure 🙂

Well done, by doing that you actually helped him.Crows will be playing 4 finals (with 2 trips to Melbourne) – no wonder fans are pacing themselves!

The only way in Hare-Clarke to put a candidate last is to not put any number down for them at all. Nothing, zilch, nada.

I took great delight in reaching the last box, and leaving Coe blank; not that it did any good.

Didn’t Coe get more primary votes than anyone other than two major party leaders?

Really appreciate the feedback folks.

I had a great election day – local knowledge meant I had a spot all to myself, outside the 100m limit, and time to introduce myself to more than 500 people and give them my Gungahlin-specific leaflet. I was pretty sure a good proportion of those people were going to support me, and only a handful of people were deliberately rude. (Why I wonder? What did that prove?)

But as someone else pointed out earlier, the How To Vote section on my leaflet suggested people vote 1 and 2 between Shane and Caroline and 3 and 4 between Adrianna and myself, but with the photos in that order. And that is the order people voted in.

There’s still nothing in the way of booth results up, so no way of knowing if that booth (or indeed booths outside Gungahlin) was any different from others. The North Canberra booths are of course very strong Green voting areas. So I take some comfort from knowing that the actual numbers don’t show how many people came over to the Greens because of me running. And that was my goal anyway – to try to bring in new votes and help the MLAs get re-elected. (It doesn’t mean the numbers are any less personally embarrassing though.)

So, as opposed to the other main parties, the Greens HTVs reflected the team approach – supporting the MLAs first and foremost, with an eye to “leakage”. It’s how campaigns are run everywhere else in Australia, and avoids the way the other parties work here, where all candidates are competing against each other, as well as against other parties.

The vote distribution shows that about a third of my first preference votes did indeed “leak” to candidates from other parties. But perhaps there is an argument that the hammer-and-tongs way the other parties go about their campaigns leads to overall higher votes, and outweighs the leakage issue and actually works better here with the Robson rotation? It may mean now and then losing an incumbent MLA, but parties are not likely to care about that much if their numbers stay up. (The losing MLA, on the other hand…)

It’s a moot point anyway, as the other party candidates have to put in their own money to make up a large part of their personal campaigns, and our obscene mortgage meant I could not have afforded that.

However, the results show undeniably, that the prevalence of signs everywhere, and the “Occupy The Crossing” on Hibberson Street worked. No matter how much people said (here and elsewhere) that they hated being hassled in the town centre, or detested the signs, the numbers matched almost perfectly the candidates wit the most of both – irrespective of whether they had done anything in the community earlier than a year ago. Simon’s total lack of signage may well have cost him his job, and I’ll bet Andrew Barr was seriously regretting not bothering to campaign on Saturday night, given the scare he got!

It’s been a real learning experience to read comments like the one on page 1 saying I wasn’t visible during the campaign (no I wasn’t visible on the roadsides, but I was for 6 years prior to that, and we did three separate leaflet drops in Gungahlin during the campaign, plus a lot of doorknocking and attending every community election forum out there), and hear the media focus on “strong campaigns” rather than candidates. I’m not bitching about it – just making the observation.

Anyway, I appreciate the comments about standing again. I had hoped that I’d come away from this election with a reasonable foundation from which to have a serious go at getting rid of Gary Humphries, for whom I have no time and little regard for his contribution to Canberra either in Opposition or in Government before that.

But if that idea wasn’t stuffed Saturday night, it sure seems to be now with Simon Sheikh putting his hand up. So four years is a long time. I think I might enjoy just being an ordinary citizen, and perhaps feel less constrained about letting rip the next time some idiot tries to run me down when I’m on my bike!

A final observation: the biggest winners out of the ACT election were the corflute printers! And can you imagine what it will be like next time? Unless something serious is done to overhaul the election sign “code of practice” and turn it into a law, with stiff financial penalties and sign confiscations attached, and maybe limits on signage per candidate, etc, it will be mayhem out there next time. As if the behaviour of a whole lot of people wasn’t bad enough this time around…people who hold themselves up as fit to govern – to make laws and impose them on others…

c_c™ said :

mezza76 said :

I took delight at making Mr Pocock my 26th pick… just to be sure 🙂

Well done, by doing that you actually helped him.

The only way in Hare-Clarke to put a candidate last is to not put any number down for them at all. Nothing, zilch, nada.

I took great delight in reaching the last box, and leaving Coe blank; not that it did any good.

mezza76 said :

I took delight at making Mr Pocock my 26th pick… just to be sure 🙂

Well done, by doing that you actually helped him.

The only way in Hare-Clarke to put a candidate last is to not put any number down for them at all. Nothing, zilch, nada.

mezza76 said :

I took delight at making Mr Pocock my 26th pick… just to be sure 🙂

Ditto. The only disappointment being that it meant that it was impossible to put the nutters from the Motorists’ Party lower than 24 and 25.

Masquara said :

Eby said :

Alan, for what it’s worth I think 1133 votes is amazing – no it doesn’t get you elected and probably seems like a small number, but that’s 1133 people who decided you were their number one preference to be in government. I voted 1 for you – and so did my husband – and that is saying something given he has never voted Green… Well done!

Just so long as Al remains ahead of Pocock (numbers-wise, not necessarily within-electorate-direct-competition-wise)…. please, Canberra!

I took delight at making Mr Pocock my 26th pick… just to be sure 🙂

Eby said :

Alan, for what it’s worth I think 1133 votes is amazing – no it doesn’t get you elected and probably seems like a small number, but that’s 1133 people who decided you were their number one preference to be in government. I voted 1 for you – and so did my husband – and that is saying something given he has never voted Green… Well done!

Just so long as Al remains ahead of Pocock (numbers-wise, not necessarily within-electorate-direct-competition-wise)…. please, Canberra!

Alan, for what it’s worth I think 1133 votes is amazing – no it doesn’t get you elected and probably seems like a small number, but that’s 1133 people who decided you were their number one preference to be in government. I voted 1 for you – and so did my husband – and that is saying something given he has never voted Green… Well done!

Al would have got my vote had I not moved to Ginninderra earlier this year. Well done for giving it a run mate and I wish you well.

Honestly, I think you need to stop and have a little think before you type brainless tripe like this.

You voted for people from parties who hold fundamentally opposing views about pretty much everything, and you think I’m the one who needs to think about it?

I mean no disrespect to Al and frankly the bile that you and the others like you have responded with is totally uncalled for.

Said the person who ‘honestly’ asked if Al was ‘there for cannon fodder’.

Alan, good on you for putting yourself out there.
You’ve done better than all three Pirates combined at least.
I’m also sure that there would have been many who decided that their #1 vote belonged with someone else, but still voted you very highly. It doesn’t show up in the primary vote figures of course, but I’m sure it’s there.
Maybe next time some of those #2 and #3 votes will turn into #1 votes.

Glen Takkenberg
Pirate Party ACT

bd84 said :

Jealousy’s a bitch when you only had 1000 people vote for you and came last on the Greens ticket..

Or alternate ways to look at it, he polled in front of each of the candidates from the Motorists and Liberal Democratic Parties, and in front of each of the ungrouped candidates also. I’d take particular solace in beating Philip Pocock.

As someone who has run as a candidate in an election before, sometimes the seat is not the sole objective, its the opportunity and platform to put a view that is important.

DrKoresh said :

poetix said :

Jim Jones said :

You should totally vote in an election based on who spent the most time standing around at a shopping centre. That’s the very essence of democracy right there.

Targeted democracy.

I see what you did there, but it was a close one though, you almost had the Woolies over my eyes 😀

I figured i would Cotton On eventually!

poetix said :

Jim Jones said :

You should totally vote in an election based on who spent the most time standing around at a shopping centre. That’s the very essence of democracy right there.

Targeted democracy.

I see what you did there, but it was a close one though, you almost had the Woolies over my eyes 😀

maxblues said :

Yes some have had the guts to stand, but have been ignored by the masses, so please feel free to stand down or even sit down or even lie down. Talking of lies, now that the war is over and the pockets of resistance are being mopped up, the casualties are being counted and the MIA’s are still missing, perhaps we will have an end to lies and calling a lie a lie… but then wars and political contests are all about propaganda.

What the… I don’t even …. [insert grandpa simpson leaving the bordello.gif]

Yes some have had the guts to stand, but have been ignored by the masses, so please feel free to stand down or even sit down or even lie down. Talking of lies, now that the war is over and the pockets of resistance are being mopped up, the casualties are being counted and the MIA’s are still missing, perhaps we will have an end to lies and calling a lie a lie… but then wars and political contests are all about propaganda.

Now we have surfacing on this site the vilification of candidates who stood up for what they believed in. This is what Al was alluding to:
• Al should be commended for all the effort he has put into advocating for his community. At the PDF meetings he was always putting his position forward assertively. I hope that he will still be a planning activist. He should be interested to know that the Industry Monitoring Group minutes are now on the ACTPLA website.
• Caroline has no peer, except Mary Porter, in attending community meetings and putting in all the hard work. She is responsible for the amendment to the P & D Act so people are at least notified about knockdown/rebuilds happening next door to them. She once told me they don’t listen.
These people have had the guts to stand up for what they believed in. I thank them for their efforts. The grand negative keyboard warriors, in this blog, just vent their bile, they really do nothing more.

Woody Mann-Caruso said :

By comparison, I voted for one new Lib and one new Lab and one existing Green that went out of their way to do something to make sure that I knew who they were.

By comparison, you sat on your ar&e and had to be spoon fed before you’d even tick a box on a piece of paper, and yet you think this qualifies you to criticise somebody who ran for f*cking elected office for not doing enough.

Honestly, I think you need to stop and have a little think before you type brainless tripe like this.

A person wants my vote then they do something about it, anything would be good.

I mean no disrespect to Al and frankly the bile that you and the others like you have responded with is totally uncalled for.

EvanJames said :

mossrocket said :

RiotACT supports robust debates, by now…

Cheap abuse isn’t “debate”. It’s just cheap point-scoring and destruction. People like Al have a go because they actually want to help their community, and make the world a bit better and fairer. If Al and co were in it for cynical reasons then cheap abuse wouldn’t hurt, but it does, because they’re genuine decent people.

It’s a real shame Al didn’t get up, and the Greens as a whole did so poorly. I was particularly sorry to see Caroline Le Couteur(sp!) go, she was a good person and a hard worker.

I am still dancing on their grave!!1 Tee her!!!!

By comparison, I voted for one new Lib and one new Lab and one existing Green that went out of their way to do something to make sure that I knew who they were.

By comparison, you sat on your ar&e and had to be spoon fed before you’d even tick a box on a piece of paper, and yet you think this qualifies you to criticise somebody who ran for f*cking elected office for not doing enough.

Jim Jones said :

bd84 said :

Jealousy’s a bitch when you only had 1000 people vote for you and came last on the Greens ticket..

Post 2: vicious snark

Frankly I’ll join anyone in schadenfreude re the routing of the “Greens”.

bd84 said :

Jealousy’s a bitch when you only had 1000 people vote for you and came last on the Greens ticket..

Where’d you finish champ?

Gungahlin Al said :

johnboy said :

Gungahlin Al said :

Thanks because it’s a response out of context. I see John has now added the original. But he wants someone to poke fun at, and it looks like it’s me.

I have added nothing. And I don’t get out of bed looking to poke fun at anyone or thing.

The original post from Mark wasn’t there when I first viewed it. Perhaps for some other people too.

When the post first loads up in chrome, only your quote hows up. After about 5 seconds it repopulates with both the original comment and your response in a nice sparkly twitter-format.

Using my magical ability to right-click and view-source I think this has something to do with SEO rather then an attempt to take your comment out of context.

While, I’m here I might as well mention that I live in a suburb blessed with people like you (we have a public bbq, tennis court, playgrounds etc. thanks to a progress association who have obtained grants, donations & lobbied council) that allows 99% of us to sit back & do nothing yet still reap all the benefits. Thank you for being so selfless and caring about your back yard.

Your statement was not so much a dummy spit as statement of the obvious. The snarkiness is why I continue to come here even though I haven’t lived in Canberra for years. It’s fun.

mossrocket said :

RiotACT supports robust debates, by now…

Cheap abuse isn’t “debate”. It’s just cheap point-scoring and destruction. People like Al have a go because they actually want to help their community, and make the world a bit better and fairer. If Al and co were in it for cynical reasons then cheap abuse wouldn’t hurt, but it does, because they’re genuine decent people.

It’s a real shame Al didn’t get up, and the Greens as a whole did so poorly. I was particularly sorry to see Caroline Le Couteur(sp!) go, she was a good person and a hard worker.

chewy14 said :

I’d be interested in Gungahlin Al’s thoughts as to whether the fact that Gungahlin was split into two electorates hurt his personal vote?

Are you suggesting that the reptoid conspiracy rigged the electorate boundaries specifically to disadvantage Al?

I’d believe it.

“And this was his first run. I just hope it is not the last, as we need people like Al who have a strong community, grassroots approach to politics….So good on you Al, and better luck next time.”

Damned right!

I was happy to vote for Alan this time around, and I’ll be happy to vote for him again next time, if he chooses to put his hand up and have another go.

Jim Jones said :

You should totally vote in an election based on who spent the most time standing around at a shopping centre. That’s the very essence of democracy right there.

Haha. I was thinking the same thing.

I wouldn’t call Al’s Tweet a dummy spit, but it sure is random.

I’d be interested in Gungahlin Al’s thoughts as to whether the fact that Gungahlin was split into two electorates hurt his personal vote?

While the people of Gungahlin might know him, the residents of Isaacs and Weston Creek not so much.

Surely they’ll fix the electorates by the next election? How about 21 members, 7X3?

BTW, the only reason I come to RA is for teh vicious snark.

For what it’s worth, I don’t think Al was spitting the dummy.

rosscoact said :

With all due respect Puggy, didn’t say any of that.

Let me make it clearer.

I did not vote for those who were absent during the election, you know, the ones who thought that they could phone it in and people would vote for them because they did something good for the community in the past.

Fair enough and I’ll admit I had wondered where Alan was during the campaign. I figured it was because I don’t get out enough or that he was off in other far reaches of Molonglo, where truly, nobody would have known who he was.

I’ll admit I did lean toward the people I saw “pounding the pavement” to hear our concerns first hand, although I do find it amusing that when I told one of them my concern about illegal parking all over Gungahlin, they then go and park their campaign vehicle all over the place.

I’d argue Alan is still doing things for the community as well.

Jim Jones said :

You should totally vote in an election based on who spent the most time standing around at a shopping centre. That’s the very essence of democracy right there.

Targeted democracy.

puggy said :

rosscoact said :

… By comparison, I voted for one new Lib and one new Lab and one existing Green that went out of their way to do something to make sure that I knew who they were.

If you’re posting on here and claim that you don’t know who Alan is – or what he has done for Gungahlin – then you cannot be saved. Congratulations for voting for people who showed up just in time for an election.

With all due respect Puggy, didn’t say any of that.

Let me make it clearer.

I did not vote for those who were absent during the election, you know, the ones who thought that they could phone it in and people would vote for them because they did something good for the community in the past.

You should totally vote in an election based on who spent the most time standing around at a shopping centre. That’s the very essence of democracy right there.

rosscoact said :

… By comparison, I voted for one new Lib and one new Lab and one existing Green that went out of their way to do something to make sure that I knew who they were.

If you’re posting on here and claim that you don’t know who Alan is – or what he has done for Gungahlin – then you cannot be saved. Congratulations for voting for people who showed up just in time for an election.

I might have put Al on my ticket if I had seen him once in Gungahlin town center, if I had a knock on the door, if I had received any communication whatsoever that broke through the noise that is an election. That’s not to say that I none of these things happened but honestly, were you there for cannon fodder?

By comparison, I voted for one new Lib and one new Lab and one existing Green that went out of their way to do something to make sure that I knew who they were.

RiotACT is fine when you’re an anonymous contributor and others are slapping you on the back. When you run for election and the populace snubs you like a ham at a bar mitzvah then RiotACT is suddenly the villain.

Winners are grinners and the losers can do whatever they like.

Mysteryman said :

How can anyone seriously describe that as a dummy spit? Stupid headline.

Agreed. Even if it were perceived as a slight against the RA website itself (as opposed to some of the posters, which in context it clearly was) it was so minor as to not warrant a second thought.

How can anyone seriously describe that as a dummy spit? Stupid headline.

lizw said :

Sadly, Gungahlin Al, some of us who wanted to vote for you couldn’t because of the distribution of Gugnahlin over different electorates. I know that Nicholls has been part of Gininderra for a number of years now, but with the change of Palmerston and other suburbs to Gininderra as well, meant that some of your possible votes were kiboshed. But good on you for having the guts to give it a go.

+1
I have the same problem in Nicholls.
It is my no.1 issue at election time that I cannot vote in the community that I live in. I too would have liked to vote for Gungahlin Al and others that have an interest in Gungahlin issues. Instead I am forced to vote for people who have no interest in our community and it is quite difficult to even find out about the candidates because most of the time we are completely ignored. Riot Act was pretty much my only source of info as even candidates pages were fairly limited outside of the major parties.

54-11 said :

bd84 said :

Jealousy’s a bitch when you only had 1000 people vote for you and came last on the Greens ticket..

Irrespective of your views of party policies and the views of individual candidates at least he is active in his community and had a go in the election.

Exactly. And this was his first run. I just hope it is not the last, as we need people like Al who have a strong community, grassroots approach to politics. The greatest problem with the LA is too many members are off on irrelevant tangents, rather than concentrating on delivering better government.

So good on you Al, and better luck next time.

Hear, hear.

joingler said :

I personally have no idea what Alan is on about. Perhaps I am missing something?

Second. I’ve read it three times and I don’t get Al’s Tweet. Having said that, the Greens how-to-vote was quite prescriptive in telling people which order to vote – clearly this would influence people who would otherwise have put Al at number 1 on the ballot. So chin up, Al, the number of votes you got doesn’t truly represent the popularity and respect that you have in the community. Maybe next time around, the Greens will move you up the order.

Or come join us in the Libs. We’ll take good care of ya.

I can see where you were going Al, but your tweet isn’t very clear as to your meaning…
RiotACT supports robust debates, and it’s abviously a lot more free and easy than the Crimes – but to single RiotACT out when it has clearly been a site that supported your election efforts seems a tad hypocritical…

Maybe aligning with the Greens was the reason why you got such a low vote – You might have been the one and only independent MLA by now…

54-11 said :

bd84 said :

Jealousy’s a bitch when you only had 1000 people vote for you and came last on the Greens ticket..

Irrespective of your views of party policies and the views of individual candidates at least he is active in his community and had a go in the election.

Exactly. And this was his first run. I just hope it is not the last, as we need people like Al who have a strong community, grassroots approach to politics. The greatest problem with the LA is too many members are off on irrelevant tangents, rather than concentrating on delivering better government.

So good on you Al, and better luck next time.

Yeah, I’ll second that. And I’m sorry that things didn’t go better for you. I’d rather have you in the assembly than Zed or Barr.

Regarding the snark…someone recently made a comment here about people sniffing my “sh*t stained underpants” as a result of what I thought was a polite request for information. That’s the burden and the joy of public forums like RA. Everybody gets to have a go if they want to, including the dim and unhinged. 🙂

Anyway, I hope you have another go next time around. 🙂

johnboy said :

Gungahlin Al said :

Thanks because it’s a response out of context. I see John has now added the original. But he wants someone to poke fun at, and it looks like it’s me.

I have added nothing. And I don’t get out of bed looking to poke fun at anyone or thing.

The original post from Mark wasn’t there when I first viewed it. Perhaps for some other people too.

bd84 said :

Jealousy’s a bitch when you only had 1000 people vote for you and came last on the Greens ticket..

Irrespective of your views of party policies and the views of individual candidates at least he is active in his community and had a go in the election.

Exactly. And this was his first run. I just hope it is not the last, as we need people like Al who have a strong community, grassroots approach to politics. The greatest problem with the LA is too many members are off on irrelevant tangents, rather than concentrating on delivering better government.

So good on you Al, and better luck next time.

Sadly, Gungahlin Al, some of us who wanted to vote for you couldn’t because of the distribution of Gugnahlin over different electorates. I know that Nicholls has been part of Gininderra for a number of years now, but with the change of Palmerston and other suburbs to Gininderra as well, meant that some of your possible votes were kiboshed. But good on you for having the guts to give it a go.

bd84 said :

Jealousy’s a bitch when you only had 1000 people vote for you and came last on the Greens ticket..

Post 2: vicious snark

Gungahlin Al said :

Thanks because it’s a response out of context. I see John has now added the original. But he wants someone to poke fun at, and it looks like it’s me.

I have added nothing. And I don’t get out of bed looking to poke fun at anyone or thing.

The microphone is always live, or something like that.

joingler said :

I personally have no idea what Alan is on about. Perhaps I am missing something?

Thanks because it’s a response out of context. I see John has now added the original. But he wants someone to poke fun at, and it looks like it’s me.
It was a crap result, but I was never in it to win – I was there to try to support re-election of the MLAs – people whose efforts and achievements I believe in.
I am of course disappointed that my contribution amounted to so little. I have thoughts about why that is, but that’s a discussion for other people.

Gungahlin Al said :

I know you’re on the hunt for a dummyspit, but it was merely an observation…

There really are some pretty snarky people on here. Hell, I am occasionally a little snarky when I am in the wrong mood and someone says something I think is stupid/wrong/whatever.

Having said that, by specifically mentioning the RA you might have known JB wouldn’t be able to resist.

I personally have no idea what Alan is on about. Perhaps I am missing something?

Jealousy’s a bitch when you only had 1000 people vote for you and came last on the Greens ticket..

Seriously John?

I know you’re on the hunt for a dummyspit, but it was merely an observation that there have been *some* pretty personal remarks made by *some* people here about some of the candidates – of whatever party here. As there usually is, but that doesn’t make it any more acceptable. “Play the man not the ball.”

Mark made an observation of empathy for what those candidates who’s fate is hanging in the balance – from one who has been there. And I agreed.

But dummyspit? Hardly.

Conversely, I’ve greatly appreciated some of the thoughtful comments made about my rather less than successful nomination on some threads.