08 May 2009
	Little else on offer Anthony Bizos, via e-mail

Carol Paton's "analysis" of our election results was wanting (Features May 1). It is odd that your publication has not considered the obvious: the majority of rational South Africans voted for the ANC, not because of "a rollicking good party", but because the alternatives did not present anything that looked workable or believable? The Democratic Alliance wanted to "stop (Jacob) Zuma", from what exactly was not too clear to me and I assume others. Cope's basic message was: "We are not the ANC... well not anymore," but "Mbeki-lite" is hardly a proposition to win elections with. The remaining parties appeared to try the race/class/God card - all of which don't go a long way in explaining how problems would be solved unless one believed that prayer, ethnic identity or financial standing would build houses quicker, and so on. It appears lost on some that maybe the average black Joe is not a race-driven nostalgic idiot - maybe the masses voted for the ANC because, given what was on offer, it was the rational thing to do. But are we members of the "elite" prepared to accept that the average black Joe is capable of such profound political rationalism? Sometimes evidence from the FM would suggest not, which is sad.