Two elections have passed since I have taken an interest in politics. One of the first issues i raised in a branch meeting was about negative campaigning. At the time, Plaid had lost their campaign against Labour in Llanelli. That campaign passed and they went ahead by using the same tactic in the Assembly election. While some will call me a liar, I stand by what I say.
"I think there was a problem within the campaign itself where there appeared to be a determination to be as negative as possible towards our previous partners in government.
Campaining very negativley against labour which didn't work as I said it wouldn't at the time." - Dafydd Elis Thomas on The Politics Show 8/05/11
If Dafydd El was saying it wouldn't work and they didn't listen, what hope do I have that people will listen? Ah well, worth a second try!
Someone told me outside the polling booth in Glanaman, 'I like Plaid Cymru, but my issue is they seem to be moaning and winging about everything, be it placard theft, lies in a leaflet, lack of press coverage, their endless stream of moans and groans makes them seem pessimistic and archaic'. I am guilty of it and most of the plaid activists I have seen on-line and out on the street are guilty of it. You may say but Plaid is in a no win situation, and it wasn't our fault, and you get a constant stream of defensive jibber jabber when judging Plaid Cymru. Be it 'people of Wales don't know what they're doing' 'people of Wales are servants to the establishment' blah blah. None of this kind of talk is constructive and to this I attribute the main cause of Plaid Cymru's downfall - yes DOWNFALL in this election.
It saddened me to see Plaid leaflets full of Labour. I seem to remember one with a big headline "Labour lied. Vote Plaid".
Is that what people want to read when they pick up a Plaid Cymru leaflet? I don't think so. In my opinion, the only thing that negative leaflets do is infuriate the opposite party. I am not saying the other parties are not wholly guilty of negativity. I have collected some of the leaflets that have come through my door from this past election. Lets start of with Plaid's "Llanelli Voice". Headline: STOP PRESS: LABOUR EXPOSED. A whole A4 sheet of paper dedicated to the opposition. Secondly, Helen Mary's leaflet. A whole page on the inside as you open, dedicated yet again to Labour (for people living locally, the orange part). Plaid Cymru have great policies and an ambitious vision for Wales. Something which I think Labour lack. Now lets look at Labour's leaflets... None of which mention any other party, or Helen Mary. Although i have been told they said Helen Mary would go into coalition with the Tories on one leaflet... which i have not received through the door.
I have great faith that Plaid Cymru will pick themselves up and move forward but to move forward you have to learn from the past. I hope they mean what they say when they say that lessons will be learned. I hope the recent results have given them that wake up call and they start to listen, to their members and to great ideas. Of course this is just one aspect I think we need to look at.
I'm bitterly disappointed Helen Mary lost to Keith Davies. She was one of the best AM's Wales had, worked extremely hard and delivered for Llanelli like no other. 80 votes, just 80 votes were in it! As Helen said in her speech, Fe Godwn ni Eto, We will rise again.
"I hope after this result we'll see an end to negativity and scaremongering in Scottish politics - no more insults to the intelligence of the Scottish people." - Alex Salmond, First Minister of Scotland.
Alex Salmond seems to think negative campaigning and scaremongering insults people and I agree.
