Comments on Splintered Sunrise: The Old Firm election, part 3

Very true. And I think that Mitchell probably woul...

2007-03-20T03:23:00.000-07:00

Very true. And I think that Mitchell probably would have done worse had he run as an open SWP candidate.

This is why I think an IRSP or SD candidate would have done better than Mitchell. They would have been appealing to the same voters but would have acknowledged that imperialism has something to do with Ireland.

True enough. This is probably an issue that shows ...

2007-03-19T10:01:00.000-07:00

True enough. This is probably an issue that shows up the downside of "frontist" politics. The SP have indeed been very active in the campaign, but by pushing their We Won't Pay front instead as some kind of mass campaign, they may have shot themselves in the foot electorally.

I think it's fair to say that most of Mitchell's vote came from left republicans while Taylor's came from "traditional" republicans, but the water charges ticket was definitely what got him those votes. Many people in West Belfast consider the "Brits out of Iraq but don't mention Ireland" line espoused by McCann and Mitchell to be hypocritical and opportunistic, and typical of ultra leftists. They needed a reason to vote for him.

That being said, if the SP had've been running in West Belfast I still think the SWP would have performed better regardless of which is more active in the anti-water charges campaign.

Not being someone who moves in Gaeilgeoir circles,...

2007-03-17T07:22:00.000-07:00

Not being someone who moves in Gaeilgeoir circles, I wasn't aware of that part of the wee lad's background. Certainly it helps a lot that he's local.

The water charges have obviously been a big issue for him, but I don't think that in itself would get a vote. Militant have been more prominent on the issue than anybody, and it didn't win them votes.

The death of David Ervine insprired me to go for a...

2007-03-17T06:53:00.000-07:00

The death of David Ervine insprired me to go for a couple of pints.

Mitchell's vote may well have come mostly from soc...

2007-03-17T05:33:00.000-07:00

Mitchell's vote may well have come mostly from socialist/left republicans in West Belfast, but the water charges would definitely have been the reason for that. He isn't completely unknown in West Belfast, he is sort of known in Irish language circles because of his family's involvement in the Shaws Road Gaeltacht and the language movement in the city in general - if he had've utilised that he could have potentially passed the 1,000 vote mark, but it was likely considered too "sectarian" to bring up.

And some people voted for Sean Mitchell purely on ...

2007-03-17T04:30:00.000-07:00

And some people voted for Sean Mitchell purely on the basis that he stood on an anti-water charges platform. Simple as that. An old fashioned protest vote.

He's a "security correspondent". Used to appear on...

2007-03-17T03:12:00.000-07:00

He's a "security correspondent". Used to appear on the Beeb, now writes for the Telegraph. He says the death of St David Ervine inspired him to go for election.

I've never heard of this Brian Rowan character. Hi...

2007-03-16T16:30:00.000-07:00

I've never heard of this Brian Rowan character. His relatively good vote show just how depoliticised people must be.