“Put your face on a sign” is an expression often used to refer to being a candidate in elections. It is also sometimes used pejoratively to try to block a corner for his opponent during a heated exchange: “If you are not happy, you just have to put your face on a sign. »
Posted yesterday at 11:00 a.m.
Despite the prevailing cynicism, people are generally very interested in politics. Rare are those who have no opinion on education, the health system, the state of the roads, public transport…
What keeps people away from the ballot box is not politics, but politicians. Or rather, the reputation that comes with being a politician.
Over the course of scandals and electoral decisions, “doing politics” has greatly lost its letters of nobility. Today, elected officials are “all the same”, “crosseurs”, “liars”, “profiteers” and so on.
And I’m not even talking about the virtual harassment – increasingly violent, particularly towards women – that politicians suffer.
So why are there still men and women putting their face on a sign?
Whether it’s because we’re angry with the government, because we think we’re made for it, because we have a social project for Quebec or simply because we’re looking for a job, all the reasons are good. In my eyes, there is no wrong answer, you know why?
Because this hiring process – the election campaign – is difficult. Very difficult.
Nobody gets into this lightly.
First, you become a public figure, instantly. Sometimes on a very small scale, sometimes on a very large scale. Our whole life, past and present, becomes public. Our social networks are scrutinized. Every gesture, every statement, every person we may have hurt or shocked becomes a potential attack.
If it were just that, we could surely live with it. After all, no one is perfect and you can’t please everyone.
But doing a real election campaign is not just about posing to take a nice picture for the signs. The ultimate goal is to make people want to go to their polling station on D-Day and put their little X next to our name. How to achieve this goal? By reaching out to voters. How to meet them? This is where it gets harder !
Carrying out an election campaign requires a lot of resources: in money, but also in “arm grease”, therefore in volunteering.
It takes a chief organizer (which we call the DOC), a person in charge of the agenda, a person in charge of display, a person in charge of financing, a. tally manager, a voting manager, a volunteer manager… The list can be very long.
I wrote above that many people have political opinions, but few are those who really want to take the time to follow through on their convictions.
Labor shortages also exist in politics! And when we can’t fill all these positions, we sometimes resign ourselves to doing it ourselves.
Also, meeting people for a candidate means knocking on hundreds of doors, shaking thousands of hands, talking for countless minutes with people who don’t necessarily share our opinion…
All this requires a lot of time and energy, in a life that was often already full.
It can also mean taking time off (sometimes without pay) from our job, with the financial complications that entails (many candidates go into debt to be able to campaign), spending a lot less time with our family (imagine how complicated it can be for a single parent to be a candidate), sacrificing hours of sleep…
And for all the candidates, except one, all of this will have been done for nothing, because there will only be one lucky one elected (literally).
But is it really for nothing? I do not believe that. To have a healthy democracy, it is essential that voters have options to express their opinion. Without a candidate to represent the different currents of thought, there would be no option.
Do you know what is most discouraging for a candidate who has not won his election?
A low participation rate.
We say to ourselves: “I did all this for weeks, and people didn’t even bother to go and vote! »
Politicians are not solely responsible for the health of our democracy. Voters have a duty to go to the polls.
If you haven’t already done so, on October 3, go show your respect to those who dare to be candidates, and go vote.
And if you’re not happy, next time you just have to put your face on a sign!