A new element has been injected into the general election campaign by research conducted with an "undecided" group of voters by RTÉ's The Week in Politicsprogramme. Findings from the focus group identified the perceived strengths and weaknesses of party leaders and established key areas of concern for voters.
And it concluded that "undecided" voters, amounting to about 18 per cent of the electorate, are deeply unhappy and could decide the outcome of the election.
One of the most important aspects of the programme was the insight it provided into the use of focus groups by political parties in constructing election strategies and in identifying and reinforcing any negative views of their opponents. In that regard, it comes as no surprise that Fianna Fáil has been campaigning hard on the untrustworthy nature of a Fine Gael-led coalition while the alternative government parties have concentrated on a lack of accountability within Government and poor value from the money invested in public services. Such issues were shown to be of major concern to the focus group. Political parties devote a considerable amount of money to such basic research while Fianna Fáil, in particular, invests in a further sampling of opinions and voting intentions at constituency level.
The programme was the first in an RTÉ series that is likely to become compulsive viewing as the election approaches. Research was conducted by Dr Frank Luntz, a well-known US opinion pollster who has also worked in Britain. It was based on audience responses to selected speeches made by party leaders and to matters of public concern. Undecided voters viewed Taoiseach Bertie Ahern as being popular but ineffectual; Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny as weak and lacking punch; Tánaiste Michael McDowell was seen as arrogant and Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte as hard-working but lacking focus. Efforts will, no doubt, be made by the parties to change those perceptions in the coming months.
By shifting attention to social issues and matters of policy, RTÉ may have helped to broaden the political debate into what kind of society we want to create. Certainly, the programme has managed to transcend the rather lazy "who will win" coverage which is encouraged by political opinion polls. There are caveats. The focus group was composed of "undecided voters" from the Dublin/Leinster region. But their concerns have been broadly reflected elsewhere. And while the formation of a Fianna Fáil/Labour Party coalition has been ruled out by Labour, if its preferred arrangement with Fine Gael finds few takers, it may respond to public demand.