http://gulfstreamblues.cafebabel.com/en/ European politics from an American perspective. en Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:07:46 +00:00 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Dotclear http://gulfstreamblues.cafebabel.com/en/post/2008/06/13/Dustin-Defeats-Europe#c72 urn:md5:03204fdaeaf88a00c2b69117e18a1ce2 Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:25:43 +01:00 GulfStreamBlues <p>Couple of points:</p> <p>ap, I think the key point is there in your last sentence when you noted that it was done 'at the alst minute.' No matter how much money was spent on teh campaign, it was launched pretty much just a few weeks before the vote, mostly because Ireland has been so preoccupied with its political scandals. I think it's safe to say that if the Ahern scandal the referendum vote would have been a yes, for two reasons. One, the governmetn would have had more time and energy to launch a vigorous campaign and two, the government would have had more legitimacy with the people when it urged them to vote for the treaty. In many ways, since most people didn't understand this treaty, their 'no' vote was a vote of dissatisfaction with the current government .</p> <p>Brian McL, I think your ballot question would be a bit leading! lol. But it is a serious point. If the reform treaty is necessary for the EU's propert functioning, and the Irish people voted it down, then the next vote put to them should be whether they want to be part of the EU or not.</p> <p>Lastly arnau, the polling results clearly show that a majority of those that voted no did not understand the treaty, and you acnowledged that with your previous comment. Perhaps you are right in your previous comment that it is better to vote against a treaty you don't understand than for it. But you can't deny that the Irish people by and large did not understand what this treaty is.</p>