Leeching Strategy

Description

Weaken your opponents by drawing away their support.

Woo their votes over to your side if you can by showing your policies as superior (see other strategies in this section for ideas here). Each vote won has a double effect, as it is one less for them and one more for you.

An alternative way of leeching support from them is getting their voters to vote for another party (which of course should not be another big competitor). This has a single effect as you do not pick up the vote, but is still valuable in weakening you major competitor.

Discussion

'Leeching' is drawing of blood. Historically it has been used in cures but it also weakens the patient. It can thus be seen as being good whilst actually doing harm.

A controversial way of leeching away votes is by secretly funding other parties and opponents who will undermine your main opponents, either by attacking them from another angle or by having very similar policies and thereby dividing or confusing the electorate.

In the UK, there are two main political parties: The Conservatives and The Labour Party. The Liberal Party are the third party and often pick up votes when the electorate is turned off both major parties. The winner may then the major party that loses least votes to the Liberals. Thus, for example, if the Labour Party are well ahead, then it makes sense for the Conservatives to tip Labour voters towards the Liberals (who are also motivated to encourage and collaborate with this move).

This strategy also makes sense for a third-placed party to weaken the second-placed party by getting the second-place voters to vote for the first-place party.

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Leeching Strategy

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