Yes, the world knows, has all the best tunes. It has the best jokes, the best slogans, the best speeches. Of Scots, it has the best writers, historians, actors, lawyers, painters, doctors, farmers, politicians, constitutional theorists, political thinkers, and more. It has a buzz, a sense of commitment and belief, a work rate. Above all, it has a grassroots campaign that Better Together, wedded to cynicism and a template from a box stamped Quebec, cannot match. Yes has been a sight - several thousand sights - to see. It has been a campaign without precedent in these islands. It has been infused with an optimism and a belief that ought to bounce from my calloused hide like most of the inspirational noise summoned up by paid campaign directors. The reality, as Mr McDougall knows perfectly well, is different. For the most part, Yes groups are self-directed and self-organising. They are, if you like, self-determined. Regiments of reporters from London or beyond, trooping around the village halls, witnessing an electorate determined to be informed and involved, have vouched for that. Those reporters, too, have seen nothing like it. They wonder over the phenomenon. Can politics still be done in this way? Isnt this just the converted preaching to the converted? Whos in charge? How can it be that Nicola Sturgeon or Jim Sillars pull crowds in and find that the crowds, persuaded or unpersuaded, noisy or polite, are deeply attentive? A popular movement permeates a society; a manufactured campaign buys software, consultants and volunteers as required. The campaign planted on astroturf feeds on received wisdom. So when the Radical Independence group stages a couple of mass canvass events, with 600 people in the field, the professional campaigners dismiss evidence of a big Yes vote in working-class areas. Thats what professionals do, after all. What is also missed is the ability to get 600 people to give up their time to go door to door. Its a conspicuous effort, but within the Yes campaign it is not treated as the kind of effort requiring a subsidy from a handful of rich Tory donors. That, though they would not advertise the fact, is one of Better Togethers problems. heraldscotland/comment/columnists/the-no-camp-is-losing-out-in-this-carnival-of-democracy.25102521
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 07:51:04 +0000
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