Preparing to go 'on the road' in 1987
Back in the old days, people used to throw eggs and rotten fruit at politicians. These days, you'd get charged with terrorism for doing stunts like that.
In the old days, a bit of No. 8 wire and a bright idea was all one needed to get out the vote. These days, the Tao D'election requires authorisation statements, financial agents, and an argument of lawyers (or is it a tempest of lawyers?) in reserve.
In the old days, a politician who refused a soapbox was soon out of a job. These days, a posse of Hollywoods pick and choose their audiences and ignore others. And, as Russell Brown observes, such a policy provides a better show when they don't show up at all.
In the old days, when all MPs were electorate MPs, their were no bullshit scripts. They sold their side of the story in the local language, not squeezed through the PR digestive system and focus group gropes.
Meh to contemporary elections.
