2 Wildrose MLAs to cross to PCs

[Dion]

Courtney Theriault‏@cspotweetDec 16
Obligatory Wildrose Party meme. #ableg #WheelsFellOff #wrp pic.twitter.com/qdosadU9fv

[darklord700]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

and less than 4 years ago this was the choice for Alberta voters to be Premier.

It's amazing what they have done to their own credibility.

Yeah, it was amazing that only 3 years ago both Smith and Redford were at the top of the world in this province. And now both of them are gone, just crazy.

I still don't get it why DS crossed the floor. She never gave us a straight answer.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by darklord700

Yeah, it was amazing that only 3 years ago both Smith and Redford were at the top of the world in this province. And now both of them are gone, just crazy.

I still don't get it why DS crossed the floor. She never gave us a straight answer.

People forget the Wildrose were nothing more than a rural protest party before Smith took over the leadership. They got a huge boost from Stelmach's royalty review, which infuriated the oil patch and prompted them to funnel money and political clout to the WR in order to show the Conservatives that they shouldn't mess with the O&G industry. And it was Calgary oil interests who pressured Smith into running, and threw their support behind her for the leadership.

That all changed when:

1) Prentice took over the PCs and kissed and made up with the oilpatch. That left the Wildrose without their financial patrons.

2) When the Wildrose members voted against the equality statement Smith proposed, she knew they would never be elected as the government. And she's right - this isn't 1994 anymore. Social conservatism is pretty much electoral poison in this province in 2015.

Any party that wants to win an election in this province today needs to have the confidence of the oil patch, and not be burdened by fringe social policy. So that rules out the NDP and the Wildrose. The Liberals would at least have an outside shot if they were bright enough to ditch their toxic brand and merge with the Alberta Party.

[TorqueDog]

(Don't comment about her wheels, don't comment about her wheels, don't comment about her wheels...)

Wicked set of rims on her, no?

(Crap.)

In all seriousness, I don't think anybody is surprised by this turn of events given the past year. Though, if you'd told me three years ago that Smith and Redford would be out and disgraced by now, I'd have told you to stop being inconsiderate and pass the blunt already.