Yes We Can't!

Today’s Asahi Shinbun carries the results of its spot opinion polling in the wake of Japan’s recent elections. This might be called the morning after poll. And true to form, some voters are looking across at their newly elected leader (and his party) and are wondering, did I do the right thing?

According to the poll, most voters believe they elected the DPJ in the passion of the historical moment, with 81% saying that the DPJ won because the voters wanted (emotionally) a change. Only 38% believe that the DPJ won because of their superior policy platform. In fact, 52% reported that did not believe that the policy platform came significantly into the voters’ decision one way or another.

Perhaps for the DPJ that is for best. Polling on support for big ticket items in the DPJ’s agenda reveals an underlying negativity. Nearly 49% of respondents were opposed to the Child Support policy (compared to 31% who agreed), presumably due to fears of greater suffering in the 40s and 50s demographic. And there was next to no support for the abolishment of tolls on high speed roadways, 65% against to 20% for. One can only assume that voters were even less taken by the LDP’s offering, the trust in that relationship having been broken by the LDP’s four years of instability and the changing face of the man on top of that political machine.

But despite such voter indifference, or even negativity, towards the DPJ’s actual policies, most (74%) of those responding said they hoped that DPJ would do something good for Japan. A vague hope paired with some doubts, as 46% of respondents believed that the DPJ will not be able to make any significant changes.

This contrasts with recent American and Australian experiences. After the upset elections in both the U.S. and Australia, the voters who had supported the winning party were happy for a week, and for some the joy lasted a month or more. In Japan, it seems, the afterglow does not last even one news cycle.