Winning and Losing

At one time, a certain English rugby team (Gloucester, if my memory serves me well) had a very supportive local newspaper. Everything the team did was portrayed in the most positive way possible. Even when they lost heavily, some silver-lining to the cloud would be found. The best example of this occurred after Gloucester lost by 71 points to 5 one sorry weekend. Nothing daunted, the newspaper headline read "Gloucester in 76-point Thriller !"

The motivation is, I believe, different, but I am always reminded of that rugby team when people say that Dick Spring's Labour Party "won" the 1992 election, and again when they say that Enda Kenny's Fine Gael "won" the 2007 one.

Certainly, both were fine performances, but, to switch to a soccer analogy, it is the team with the highest score, not the team that put together the best moves, or which showed the most improvement, which is deemed to have won the match.

Bertie Ahern and Fianna Fail have won the 2007 election.