Scarecrow Wisdom

"Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking... don't they?"

A quote from my favourite movie of all time. The simple Scarecrow of The Wizard of Oz tries to explain why he's able to talk if he doesn't have a brain. Maybe that statement's more valid in the current political climate than ever before.

We're drawing to the end of an election campaign and Gordon Brown has just tipped the scales further out of his favour by calling a voter a "bigoted woman" while he was still wearing a microphone. Ill-advised? Yes. Brainless? Not so much.

I've heard a lot of flannel in this election campaign. As it's the first one I'm eligible to vote in I felt the urge to be informed, to analyse policies and such. Unfortunately, that's proved to be more difficult than I could've anticipated. Even the party leaders don't know their own manifestos, as proven by David Cameron's recent interaction with the father of a disabled boy. What we're told is going to happen after the election is the polar opposite to the reality of Britain after the 6th of May. Yet the politicians continue to flannel their way through the campaign. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has told us we're being deceived but the sad fact is our options in the next government are limited to bad and rubbish.

That said, I'm probably voting Labour. Nick Clegg, whichever way how you look at it, is not going to be our next PM. And everytime I think of David Cameron I can't help picturing the infamous Wizard of Oz himself, hiding behind a curtain and creating illusions with smoke and mirrors. What Brown did today was a little stupid but I bet it's no difficult to what Cameron's been saying about his critics. Brown just happened to be caught on microphone.

I look at my choice - Brown or Cameron - and it boils down to this: I actually think Brown is intelligent enough to run our country. He isn't the popular vote by any means and at times we will want to smack him, but at least his blunder has given us an insight to the man behind the curtain. And, guess what, he's human! For me, David Cameron is still a projected face surrounded by fire and brimstone.

In response to the Scarecrow's self-pity ("I'm a failure because I haven't got a brain") Dorothy asks, "well, what would you do with a brain if you had one?".

Mr Cameron? Awaiting your answer.