Please Advise! Will No-Information Voters Decide the BC Election?

[Editor’s note: Steve Burgess is an accredited spin doctor with a PhD in Centrifugal Rhetoric from the University of SASE, situated on the lovely campus of PO Box 7650, Cayman Islands. In this space he dispenses PR advice to politicians, the rich and famous, the troubled and well-heeled, the wealthy and gullible.]

Dear Dr. Steve,

Journalist Frances Bula made a post to X last week that said, “Talked to a B.C. provincial politician today who said that 50 to 60 per cent of people he door knocks don't even know there is a provincial election on Oct. 19 and one said that she's definitely voting for Kamala.”

As the provincial election campaign begins, does B.C. have a public awareness problem, Dr. Steve?

Signed,

BC-Based

Dear BCB,

It is indeed looking good for Kamala Harris right now. B.C. is a battleground state worth 93 ridings in the Electoral College. But befuddled voters want to know: Who is eating the dogs in the understaffed ERs? Who is eating the cats at the safe injection sites? Does Project 2025 cancel the carbon tax? Are Taylor Swift and John Rustad ever, ever getting back together?

The amount of coverage devoted to the U.S. election dwarfs that given to the B.C. campaigns. The resulting political picture we get is like an AI portrait of JD Vance as done by Emily Carr.

Some distraction is understandable — there is a whole lot of crazy happening south of the border. Last week alone it emerged that independent presidential candidate RFK Jr. was apparently in a relationship with a New York Magazine reporter who was writing stories critical of President Joe Biden. North Carolina Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson was revealed to have called himself a “Black Nazi” on a porn site. Donald Trump told an interviewer he would “move to Venezuela” if he lost the election. (Robinson could perhaps explain to Trump that the proper historical choice would be Argentina.)

With all that going on, paying attention to the B.C. race is like trying to read a book while sitting in the front row of the Imax Transformers movie.

B.C. is hardly the only jurisdiction where voter awareness is an issue. It's a problem everywhere and always has been.

Democracy cannot discriminate against the so-called “low-information voter.” For every resident who is busy parsing NDP and Conservative positions on housing policy, there might be one who thinks Dr. Bonnie Henry created the coronavirus in a Chinese laboratory.

There's an argument to be made that the current state of B.C.’s political race is itself a consequence of superficial impressions — the shocking demise of BC United and simultaneous rise of the BC Conservatives suggest it was a simple question of branding. Some voters probably think they'll be electing Premier Pierre Poilievre.

Speaking of whom, what is up with that guy? The federal Conservative leader is sailing along with poll numbers that would trigger the mercy rule in a peewee baseball game. He appears to be more popular than free doughnuts on 4/20. This despite his personality, which resembles that of an arthritic hyena. People know they are tired of Justin Trudeau and beyond that, well, whatever. They aren't paying much attention.

A similar low-info bubble seems to envelop Trump like a protective force field. Insofar as the Republican nominee ever had it, he is losing it. Trump has been ranting like Jack Nicholson chasing little Danny through the hedge maze. He has been reduced to threatening American Jews and reciting lists of the various types of people of colour who are destroying the nation.

Does any of it matter? Not much, apparently. The presidential race remains neck and neck. It's like a remake of The Wizard of Oz where the Wizard yells, “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!” and everyone answers, “OK, no problem!”

Even now, many voters simply don't see Trump. In spite of the incompetence, idiocy and racist bile he has displayed over the years, for a lot of Americans Trump is still the guy from The Apprentice. He's a TV show caricature of a successful businessman. These people would take Dr. Steve for a surgeon.

And Conservative Party of BC Leader John Rustad? A different sort of low information surrounds him — he genuinely hasn't been in the spotlight for very long. NDP TV ads are busily trying to define him while Rustad himself shifts and dances. Watching him finesse his positions on SOGI and climate change has been as painful as listening to Elon Musk define free speech.

But that's all wonky stuff, right? The devil is in the details.

And the Devil knows few will notice.

---

Want to get even more of The Tyee’s election coverage? Sign up today for The Run. It’s a free B.C. election newsletter full of smart voices unpacking key issues, fact-checking politicians and exposing disinformation to clarifying light. Go beyond the horse-race headlines and subscribe now.