Paskini's laws of elections (part 1 and 2)

Reading this vastly entertaining whinge by a Green Party candidate in the European elections reminded me that many people are not aware of Paskini's laws of elections:

1. If you want to win an election, you have to be prepared to work harder and do more disagreeable things than your opposition. "Disagreeable things" for this purpose includes spending time doing things like delivering leaflets, knocking on people's doors, phoning them up etc etc, but also includes concentrating on telling people about what they are interested in (even if you find it tedious), not what you personally are interested in. And it means working together with people who are on the same side as you, even if you don't like them or find them annoying.

Whichever party has more people who follow rule 1 will win an election. If, however, despite your best efforts you do happen to lose, then rule 2 comes into play.

2. If you lose an election, you should not spend your time whinging about the people who beat you, no matter how disgraceful their behaviour or how repulsive they are. Instead, you should figure out what you did wrong and put it right for next time so that you are able to beat them next time.