Our ugly poll dance

Victorians love the weekend, but this weekend is going to be special and for the majority of rational Victorians, Saturday night cannot get here fast enough. The votes will finally be counted, a winner will be recognised and then maybe some of the madness will stop.

The 2022 state election has been a shocking campaign, period.

So bad it feels like Victoria needs an intervention.

Maybe it’s the pandemic?

Maybe it’s because some still refuse to believe the pandemic is real?

But a lot of Victorian voters have lost their patience, and some have already cast their vote.

The level of hyperbole is off the charts and there has been scant regard for policy analysis.

The focus has not been on promises and pork barrelling, but on “bombshell revelations” and degrees of outrage.

The ’22 state election will be remembered not for free regos and public transport, but for a seemingly unending barrage of threats including words like “dictatorship”, “Nazi” and “red mist”.

Most of us understand we live in a democracy, not an autocracy.

(Hint: That’s actually why we get to cast our own vote)

So, it has been shocking to see how easily some have tipped into a QAnon-style narrative.

The low water mark was definitely when a sitting member of Parliament took a microphone and told a crowd she wanted to see the premier made into “red mist”. The same parliamentarian then spent the next few days back-pedalling and saying they did not mean anything violent by their remarks.

We are not morons.

Politicians use language for a living.

If they can’t be clear in their outrageous statements, then they should be put in the stocks. Not patted on their head.

Parties of all stripes need to take a good hard look at themselves.

Major and especially minor.

The pandemic has produced a virus of boutique single-issue parties pretending to be apolitical.

They say they value transparency but hide behind a veil of ignorance and this is one of the reasons Victoria has crawled into the bin fire of a quasi-American system.

Instead of thought leaders we have a bunch of culture warriors, finger pointers and blatant liars.

Victoria deserves so much better than this bargain-basement intellect that masquerades as authentic intention.

We are bombarded by citizen journalists who “do their own research”.

They call for radical solutions and ignore the need for dialogue to produce actual policy.

But by 6pm on Saturday the polling booths will be closed.

There will be the counting of votes but this year, we will be treated to random accusations of vote rigging and electoral corruption.

For the overwhelming majority it is will be a massive relief when regular transmission resumes.

The declaration of a winner will start at least two-and-a-half years of reprieve from self-righteous name calling, stupidity and duplicity.

Then will it start all over again? No way.

This election feels like a circuit breaker.

Common sense says it’s time to take Victoria out of the oven.

This state is in danger of being totally cooked.