i dont think anyone said it was his central plank> what people are drawn to is someone speaking his mind, and continuing to do it in the face of the other bluffers in the race. Its not his position on travellers per se, rather his compunction to say what he thinks rather than what he thinks people want to hear.
This is better served in the main thread but to answer it if I can. Perhaps he is perceived as the most honest. Perhaps that is worth more than gold these days all things considered.
I don’t think he’s particularly presidential, but what appeals to me is not so much that he speaks his mind, nor the actual content of what he says, but the fact he is actually prepared to defend his opinions and refuse to be cowed into an meaningless apology just to appease the outraged who are pompously calling on him to withdraw his remarks.
I guess your response is part and parcel of some peoples perceived problem (including myself) that Casey has tapped into.
He made comments concerning traveller’s sense of entitlement and how this is being enabled by their designated ethnic status.
Some people found that offensive, fair enough, they’re entitled to take offence. Others thought fair comment, fair enough, they ought to be equally entitled to that view.
Why can’t we leave it at that and whether you were offended or in agreement you have the perfect opportunity to express your view with your vote? That seems to be a perfectly reasonable scenario.
But to whip up an outrage that leads to his comments on travellers land and stables being compared to the defence of an event which caused the deaths of 1 million people just strikes me as slightly ridiculous.
Ya the media here know/told what/who they’re allowed attack.
They applied the same tiresome technique as they do whomever the mark is deemed to be, but this time the media may have inadvertently gifted Casey underdog status in the race and if people in the voting majority agree with his sentiment or words then they’ve really messed up as gatekeepers because the Irish do seem to love the underdog or so I’m told.
I didn’t even know he was in the race.
I’ve paid not attention until this moment and I am sure most people are same.
Now I do and he’s got my vote as an alternative to spoiling.
If some of the stories about Higgins and particularly one were to take hold in the popular mind about Higgins conduct in his personal life but more importantly while holding the office of President, he’d be finished overnight. Regardless if they were true or not. If they are true. They may not go away and come back to haunt him.
If they’re not true surely he could take them head on and gain the higher ground, or so you might think. Perhaps too risky now they’re all in fear they’ve Trump’d Higgins with Casey.
Suddenly this went from snore-fest “farce” to one jack boot kick too many by the bully media with an alternative to spoiling your vote to spoiling the political snug that has become Irish politics.
Who could resist voting for Casey now let alone spoiling your vote?
I think if memory serves me correctly it was spot on (all of them) and was perhaps the first poll ever to be spot on in the history of the forum. In comparison Politics.ie showed something much closer to a 49/51 outcome on their poll.