OPINION:The public presentation of electoral candidates can do little to assuage the hurt in this country, writes ORLA TINSLEY
CREATIVITY IS sometimes a dirty word in politics. Usually, voters want certainty, security and the knowledge they know how their elected representative will react in certain circumstances.
Being "creative", politically speaking, is usually a polite term for someone who embellishes matters or is unaccountably radical. Labour's Joan Burton was "being creative" on TV3's Tonight with Vincent Brownea little while back when she got stuck like a broken record, interrupting and being interrupted by the other panellists.
It was cringeworthy to watch her loss of control, and like a symbol for the situation we are in: a glimpse into the possible secret life of today’s politicians offscreen, at a time when so much is at stake.
The carefully crafted general election campaign that has emerged is unlike any we have seen before. There has been a sense of premeditated craftiness, or, dare I say it, creativity. Words such as “change” and “reform” have been bandied around liberally. It has started to sound almost convincing – and there is a belief that maybe we’re being too hard on the candidates. Maybe someone there could change our country for the better.
Then there has erupted an argument over televised leaders’ debates. Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said he would not partake in a debate tonight on Vincent Browne’s show with Labour leader Eamon Gilmore and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin because of a comment Browne made about him on air last year involving suicide, for which he then apologised.
This illustrates something we do not want in politics. Kenny’s inability to agree to tonight’s debate is shocking because it represents perfectly what we do not need right now.
We don’t need someone who acts on the principles of a petty grudge, disguising it as a political platform to say something, even though it’s a very important something, about suicide in this country. We need someone who acts on their policies as leader of their party and in the interest of the people.
Yes, Browne’s comment was inappropriate, but does someone who could be our next taoiseach have the right to say no to a debate after an apology has been made?
If Kenny is putting the people first, he surely does not. The level of disillusionment among the public is growing. To counteract this, we need a reality check.
Watching builder Mick Wallace in a pink shirt with chest hair showing and long grey hair announcing his intention to run as an Independent in Wexford on Friday night may have appalled people back in 2007. They might have asked themselves why this man had the idea he could run, and why he thought people would vote for him. Today’s climate, however, negates all previous interpretations of what a politician is.
The truth is that people on pedestals and shiny posters can do little to assuage the real hurt in this country. Image does not translate to policy and actions.
We want someone who can run our country with honesty and with the ability to put themselves out there for the people. For the first time, politics is truly fair game for anyone who is willing. But if they’re starting from scratch we need some sort of proof, too. It’s all very well being valiant and standing for election, but what the candidate has done thus far in life should be a good indicator of whether they are capable of transferring into what is a ruthless political system.
Another Independent candidate, Dylan Haskins, got 16,000 hits on his campaign website on the first day. The 23-year-old, heavily involved in arts, said at his first rally his campaign was all about “tapping into networks of goodwill”. He has been responsible for building resources from the ground up before.
He set up the non-profit, volunteer-run Exchange Dublin Collective Arts Centre, started his own record label and is the youngest of the board of directors of the Project Arts Centre.
His background is not typical of a politician. That’s the problem with politics and creativity. Creativity and arts in general are not conformist occupations. They are sometimes discounted as a forum for politics by those who don’t understand politics, and yet the very essence of the arts is to affect and inspire. Workshops in youth groups across the country help teenagers explore topics such as depression, government policy and decision-making in safe environments. Real art inspires and facilitates growth, which is what we need right now.
Whether this can translate into the confines of our broken political system remains to be seen. The common denominator between all parties at their campaign launches was the idea of change and reform.
According to a list compiled on his website by NUI Maynooth geography lecturer Adrian Kavanagh, 199 first-time candidates had declared as of February 4th, amounting to 45.5 per cent of all currently declared candidates. Thirty-five of these are female, which means 199 fresh faces, but not necessarily fresh ideas.
Structuring the image of the politician is a difficult one. The candidate must appear, at least, to be trustworthy, honest, intelligent, authoritative and humble. They must above all put the person before the ego. The promise of this is not enough.