In Australia our politicians seem no more sophisticated. While the leaders of the political parties dominate the media, come election time you only vote for a member in your local area, not the leader you've seen on TV. And at the Ballot Box, the only thing you see is the candidates full name and political party.

This has led to the same "get my name out there" campaign, where my entire suburb will be covered in Billboards of various candidates, each Billboard containing only their photo and their name. Half the time I can't even tell which party they are with, let alone what their policies are or why they deserve my vote. I can't imagine it's an effective use of the campaign budget.

The worst version of this is seeing a party which otherwise claims to be thoughtful about the environment and global warming etc hiring drivers to drive a convoy of cars with billboards on the trailers around the city - again, with nothing but a photo and a name. I sometimes wonder if politicians even consider what message their campaigns send the electorate...