Campaign 2014: party like it's 2010

With 100 days to go until election day on April 19, the 2014 election campaign seems to be playing out like 2010 all over again. Virtually all of the parties are drawing on the same slogans, talking points, campaign promises and hot-button issues as at this time four years ago. The SRM is still playing the "Patria first/take back the economy" card along with the usual dose of old-school Hinduism. Tough-as-nails macho National Unionists still call for "law and order" and "separating the real men from the pussycats". The Amrita Party is all about "Embracing Patria" with four more years of Amma. The new-agey Chakra Party continues to "Inquire within" where there are "no gurus just right". Social Democrats are still "Patria's progressive voice". Greens are all for a "sustainable Patria". Libertarians are once again clamoring for "less government, more freedom". The Chastity Party and Family Values Party are once again two sides of the same "roll back the clock to the 1950s" coin. One of the few new slogans for 2014 comes from the Jungle Party: STRAIGHT FIRE! This is a reference to Jim Rome's take-no-prisoners approach to bare-knuckled hard-hitting sports talk and social commentary. But for the most part, even the Jungle's "have a take, don't suck" clones are talking the same smack as in 2010.

Over the next hundred days there is still the chance that a new party will enter the race: a fringe party that manages to win a seat or two, or a true grass-roots populist party that comes out of nowhere to win a fair chunk of seats. The last time that Patria experienced the latter was 20 years ago when the Patriot's Party (RAISE THE FLAG! RAISE YOUR FIST! RISE UP!) won 33 seats in the 45th Congress - almost 10% of popular vote in 1994 - but was virtually defunct by 2002.