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We called the other half's Mum last night, a fervent Yes voter who was 'heartbroken' (her own word) by the No result. But she has thought about it a lot and conceded that the referendum was the No side's to lose and the Yes side's to win, and although it was a stellar campaign by the Yes side (45% was an amazing achievement) she has realised that they spent too much time preaching to the converted and that the strident, almost evangelical tone of the Yes campaign probably put some people off, and that they didn't spend enough time worrying about those who hadn't expressed any preference.
I can agree with this. I wasn't convinced to vote yes by the main campaign, but the more reasonable fringes (they were probably the majority of the actual voters, but not the vocal ones) that acknowledged the downsides and risks but presented reasoned arguments that they were outweighed by the benefits and removal of the risks of staying in the UK.
Also, can everyone stop with wilfully misreading each other and being stroppy? This thread has been generally quite interesting but the last page or two... not so much.
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rwn
Yes. If that happens. If the majority of your fellow countrymen (and women) change their minds. I don't think they'd be likely to win it though, I think the silent majority would vote no, again. Personally.
We called the other half's Mum last night, a fervent Yes voter who was 'heartbroken' (her own word) by the No result. But she has thought about it a lot and conceded that the referendum was the No side's to lose and the Yes side's to win, and although it was a stellar campaign by the Yes side (45% was an amazing achievement) she has realised that they spent too much time preaching to the converted and that the strident, almost evangelical tone of the Yes campaign probably put some people off, and that they didn't spend enough time worrying about those who hadn't expressed any preference.
She put this beautifully. She said when they were out canvassing they spent too much time looking at all the windows with Yes in, and merrily noting how few windows had No in. But all along they should have been looking at the empty windows.
The fundamental point you keep avoiding, either deliberately or not, is that the Yes side didn't convince enough people to make the leap, and most people opted for the status quo. This is why there was a No vote. It's very hard to have a reasoned debate with someone who won't concede a single point, accept that they are in a minority or even consider that there might have been failings on the Yes side, so I'm giving up now.
I do genuinely hope that you can have that conversation with the No's because it's a conversation Scotland badly needs to have.