Quick-fire election campaign never really heated up

For some it’s too little, too late. For others, it has been too much.

Party leaders have left their own distinct marks on this election campaign, an otherwise dull affair peppered with few scandals, no real political joists and only a few fired-up debates that petered out.

It has been a quick affair, but took months to get off the ground and officially under way.

The story of the campaign has been one of weaknesses and one of strengths. There were blunders, there were truths and there was a lot of travelling.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny left the door open for scrutiny after telling an early Fine Gael press conference in the campaign that financial “jargon” would be something voters wouldn’t understand. He concluded a rally in his hometown of Castlebar in Mayo over the weekend complaining about the “whingers” saying there was nothing happening in the economy.

Clearly, this was too much and explains why Mr Kenny’s handlers have kept keep him on a short reign in recent months.

Even Leo Varadkar, the health minister, admitted on radio yesterday that debating was not one of his leader’s strengths. But Mr Kenny was more humble when quizzed at Fine Gael’s last outing with the media.

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“I’m human and I make mistakes.”

Gerry Adams on the other hand has had rather a few problems when it comes to numbers and specifics.

Attempting to brush off claims he’s lost on the maths behind Sinn Féin’s policies yesterday, he said he sets the policies while it was Pearse Doherty, the party’s able finance spokesman, who knew everything about numbers. That’s that then.

Only this week, he fumbled when questioned about consultant numbers in the RTÉ leaders debate while last week, the TD left doubt in the air about party plans for a 7% extra tax on high earners.

Clearly numbers aren’t his strength. His back pain also probably didn’t help.

As for Labour’s Joan Burton, the tough campaign for Labour has clearly taken its toll on her. The Tánaiste got off to a terrible start during the TV debates, but recovered somewhat for the last clash with presenter Miriam O’Callaghan at the RTÉ Montrose studios this week. But, with many voters having decided and just days before polling, maybe it was too little, too late.

While the RTÉ debate was ultimately a damp squib, Ms Burton had the least to lose even though her brief but direct remarks on crunch Labour issues had an impact.

Fianna Fáil’s Micheál Martin, on the other hand, looked like a man who had won the lotto this week.

Given his strong performance in the TV debates, the party will now be hoping it might surpass previous predictions of “going out of business” and go on to recover from its 2011 thumping.

Maybe the public have amnesia. Maybe the polls are wrong. Joan Burton put it well yesterday, when, during Labour’s final conference, she compared the former health minister to “old wine in new bottles”.

While the debates were not all satisfactory, they have helped set the tone and direction of the campaign. But it is probably fair to say, for many, the issues of health and housing will not be trumped by the economy for people before they get to the ballot boxes tomorrow.

And just as the closing hours come over general election 2016, it’s worth remembering that every vote will actually matter, especially given the dire predictions of a hung Dáil.

Furthermore, just in case readers think this is the last of it for another five years, there’s also the small issue of negotiating a government once all the votes are counted and the dust settles on what has been a strange but at times also surprising campaign.

All party positions and priorities on major #GE16 issues right here #DoYourJob #Vote https://t.co/62Fkq0iXqC ^DH pic.twitter.com/QNUXoDo510

— Irish Examiner (@irishexaminer) February 24, 2016