In just ten days there will be a general election in New Brunswick. If it wasn’t for the road signs, you would hardly know it. And, compared to previous years, there really aren’t that many signs out yet.
So, with the short time frame and Covid-19, are candidates taking it easy this election? I thought that might be the case so I jumped on Facebook to do some research on the candidates in my riding and discovered that they are really not that active. In fact, some of them were almost non-existent. To illustrate this, the number of Facebook followers for the candidates in my riding are: 2,100, 131, 389, 159 and 3. Yeah 3.
So I’m thinking they must be advertising and promoting some other way. Yes, most have their vehicles wrapped, and there are some direct mail pieces showing up, but not much else. I’m hardly seeing any sponsored Facebook posts, radio or newspaper ads. However, I do see that some candidates are getting a bit creative.
Not going door to door is really making some candidates put on their thinking caps. I’ve seen a candidate offer free one-on-one Zoom meetings with constituents, another is parking their vehicle in a different neighborhood each day and inviting people to come by for a socially-distanced visit. I’m not sure how well it is working but they are making contact with voters.
Not having the usual meet and greet rallies and barbeques is really hindering the ability for the candidates to market themselves. Especially the first time candidates that people don’t know. I’m sure that by next week we will see more signs and more marketing activity, but for now it has been eerily quiet.