Quote:
Originally Posted by MoneyGuy
I'm not a Calgarian but good job electing a young guy from a racial minority. It's a very progressive move to set aside the other issues and elect this dynamic individual. It's raising a lot of heads and looks good on you.
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That's the mistake that outsiders (including many in the eastern media) keep making again and again.
His election had nothing to do with "progressive" or "electing a ... racial minority". There may have been progressives who voted for him but there were conservatives who did so as well; his vote percentage was higher in white, rich, old Calgary than it was in the areas that tend to have more new Canadians.
Nenshi had an actual platform with ideas that were new, made sense and were well articulated. He answered every question that was posed to him in such a way that you knew he had thought about the issue from all sides and already had an answer before it was posed. He was compelling in the mayoral forums and debates and presented an obvious departure from previous leaders.
Professional Calgarians (i.e. the folks that work in the Oil Industry, including my peer group, the younger professionals, who overwhelmingly supported Nenshi) care about competence more than any other thing. What school you went to, what your degree is in if any, who you know, where you came from all take a back seat to what you know and whether you can communicate it.