[Dion]

Ex-MLAs lament "toxic" election campaign

Earlier this month, a Red Deer couple’s vehicle was vandalized by those who targeted their support for the NDP.

It’s a trend that soured McPherson on politics well before the current campaign.

“It’s something that made me not want to stay in the government caucus,” said McPherson, who left the NDP for the Alberta Party in October 2017.

“We weren’t talking about what’s good for Albertans, but how terrible the other person was.”

It’s an approach and mindset that’s particularly counterproductive, she said, at a time of economic difficulty in Alberta.

“There’s not a lot of space about talking about solutions,” she said. “We have a great province facing difficult times and what we really need is a positive message.”

Swann agreed this campaign has been extraordinarily negative.

“It’s bitter and personal and rather toxic,” he said.

Swann said those tactics tend to turn off constituents, particularly women.

“Women bring a different energy and this discourages them,” he said.
But even Swann said sometimes negativity has a credible focus as well as limits.

He pointed to the so-called “kamikaze candidate” issue plaguing Kenney, saying it hasn’t had the impact on the campaign he had expected.

“It doesn’t stick to him, people have decided none of it’s very believable or if it is, all parties do it,” said Swann.

Negative campaigning is generally effective, said Mount Royal University communications professor David Taras.

But those attacks have to be believable, he added.

“They can backfire if they are seen as over-the-top, false or too nasty. The attacker can look desperate and just plain mean.”

He said it was probably a mistake for the New Democrats to focus so much of their message on attacking rather than on the economy, a crucial area Notley seems to have ceded to her UCP counterpart.

“Instead, you make weakness into your strength,” he said of Notley’s perceived vulnerable spot, the economy.

Notley has said repeatedly that going negative is often necessary because it shines a vital light on potential leaders.

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