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Index of Subjects To: Doug and all From: John Sollows Date: April 15/11 I think this is highly appropriate, Doug! It's a little scary how few of us bother to get informed on various issues, and take the trouble to vote. The fact that the timing of the French language debate got easily (and wisely) moved so as not to compete with a hockey game speaks volumes about our priorities. -----Original Message----- From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca [mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca] On Behalf Of Doug Linzey Sent: April-15-11 1:47 AM To: NatureNS Subject: [NatureNS] Dealing with politicians Warning: This is not strictly natural history-related, but it does apply to most of us in an election period. Candidates will always ask you about your concerns. Don't tell them. Whatever you say, they'll feed right back to you. Rather, tell them that in order to decide whom to vote for you have to know what their concerns and interests are. Your own opinions are irrelevant when it comes to judging the candidates until you know what they really stand for. I have two standard questions for candidates: What are the three (or four or five) issues ofmost concern to you in this riding? and What are the three issues of most concern to you facing the country? Once they've answered these questions, you can feel free to get into a discussion about anything. If you want to know if a candidate is interested in the environment, for example, you won't really know unless you ask these sorts of questions first. If the candidate knows right off the bat that this is your primary concern, guess what? You have an instant friend. One other point is that if the candidate starts to offer the party platform or complain about the other parties, my response is, "No, I'm familiar with your party's stand on things. What I want to know is your own position." Likewise, if a handler tries to answer my questions, I just say I'd prefer to hear directly from the candidate, thank you. Doug Linzey
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