PC leadership race

[RinkRat]

So I haven't seen any discussion on this over the last few weeks anywhere really, the voter apathy is as strong as ever.

Considering voting started up this morning I was curious to see where people stand on our trio of choices?

[LanceUppercut]

Meet the new boss, the same as the old boss.

[Kjesse]

I bought a membership to vote, I have no idea who to vote for. I'm thinking none of the above, I might not even cast mine.

[Resolute 14]

IMO, this vote is really about what colour of paint PC members want to use in their bid to cover up the mould underneath. But if any of them is capable (and perhaps even willing) of actually trying to remove the mould itself, it would be Prentice.

[calgarygeologist]

I would be shocked if the leadership race was not a landslide victory. The PC party has lost me as a voter and supporter over recent years and I don't foresee the party as being able to change enough to bring me back into the fold under any new leadership. With that being said, Prentice is the logical choice for leadership.

[Jacks]

Originally Posted by RinkRat

So I haven't seen any discussion on this over the last few weeks anywhere really, the voter apathy is as strong as ever.

Probably closer to voter disgust

[RinkRat]

I still think we all missed out huge when Jim Dinning was pushed aside for every ones second choice "Stelmach", on the plus side it seems none of the trio have over promised or sold their souls to the teachers union this time at least publicly....

[Senator Clay Davis]

It'd be pretty hilarious to see McIver win. Can't get actually elected as Calgary's mayor, backdoors his way to becoming premier. That said it'll be pretty surprising if they don't choose Prentice, he's really their only hope of turning things around. Lukaszuk would be the most disasterous choice by far, too close to Redford.

[FireFly]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

It'd be pretty hilarious to see McIver win. Can't get actually elected as Calgary's mayor, backdoors his way to becoming premier. That said it'll be pretty surprising if they don't choose Prentice, he's really their only hope of turning things around. Lukaszuk would be the most disasterous choice by far, too close to Redford.

See, and I've heard him speak a couple of times and what I heard was more of the same. Sure, he looks great on paper but I don't actually think he'll change anything.

For example, when asked about the government planes, he said he'd speak with the auditor general about their use, the requirements for their use, etc. None of the other provinces has government planes, why do we need them? Same old sense of entitlement.

[Bunk]

The lack of interest is quite remarkable. I don't know whether this is disenchantment or whether people assume Prentice would win, so why bother. Probably both. I wouldn't be totally shocked by a McIver upset. If he can get out the vote, he could slip by Prentice.

[ken0042]

Poll I saw last night had 23% Prentice, 12% McIver, 10% Lukaszuk, and over 50% undecided. If nobody gets 50.1% this time, there's a second vote. You could see one of the two who get knocked out get behind one other person and surge ahead.

Myself I'm voting for McIver. Partially because I liked him as my alderman, but also because of the job he did as Transportation Minister.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by FireFly

See, and I've heard him speak a couple of times and what I heard was more of the same. Sure, he looks great on paper but I don't actually think he'll change anything.

For example, when asked about the government planes, he said he'd speak with the auditor general about their use, the requirements for their use, etc. None of the other provinces has government planes, why do we need them? Same old sense of entitlement.

But he's technically not even elected yet (he'll be parachuted in should he win), so at the very least he can play the outsider card. The other two unequivocally can't, particularly not Lukaszuk

As to the other provinces, well, the other provinces are nowhere near as rich as Alberta, nor do they have to go out and sell something like the oilsands to most of the free world. The private planes unto themselves are fine, the abuse of those planes is the issue. But we sort of need our premier going out to sell the oilsands everywhere. So long as it's used properly, I don't have much of a problem with it.

[Harry Lime]

The fact that we look at the leadership vote as the vote for the Premiership says a lot about the state of our provincial politics. There is a lot of apathy because the majority no longer identify themselves as PC.

If there is a large turnout in the next election, the PCs will lose. If there is an overwhelming apathy towards the process, the PCs will win.

It feels as though the most powerful 10 companies in the province should just form a Politburo, and be done with this democracy thing already. It doesn't matter who is elected, Prentice or McIvor, the man behind the curtain has been running the show since Klein (depending on how cynical you want to get; before). The corruption is no surprise, and it's not going to end in a one party system.

[FireFly]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

But he's technically not even elected yet (he'll be parachuted in should he win), so at the very least he can play the outsider card. The other two unequivocally can't, particularly not Lukaszuk

As to the other provinces, well, the other provinces are nowhere near as rich as Alberta, nor do they have to go out and sell something like the oilsands to most of the free world. The private planes unto themselves are fine, the abuse of those planes is the issue. But we sort of need our premier going out to sell the oilsands everywhere. So long as it's used properly, I don't have much of a problem with it.

Don't forget McIvor was just elected last round too though; he hasn't been sitting that long and he has been effective in his role as Transportation Minister. He's not really part of the old boys club because he's relatively new to it. There's nothing stopping Prentice from becoming part of the old boys club in two years either; it certainly didn't take Redford very long to grow her sense of entitlement.

As far as the planes go, there are other options for travel. How often do they need a last minute flight? They could do some research and planning and either charter a flight or buy a ticket like a normal person. I'd even suggest first class would probably be okay. But to have millions of dollars in aircraft sitting there for whenever they might need it? Do they also have a pilot on payroll? Mechanics, etc? They need somewhere to store the thing, etc. It's not like they use it daily.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Harry Lime

If there is a large turnout in the next election, the PCs will lose. If there is an overwhelming apathy towards the process, the PCs will win.

Does anyone know if there are voter statistic available for the various Alberta elections?

I've seen some federal election demographic data (estimations) and the 18 to 34 age group is generally the lowest turnout. In the last federal election only ~35% of 18 to 34 year old's in Alberta voted. I wonder if that number is representative of the recent Alberta elections as well.

If turnout is low for the young voters maybe an overhaul of the system would generate more interest. Voter turnout would probably increase if they had an online component or some sort of app.

[Addick]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Myself I'm voting for McIver. Partially because I liked him as my alderman, but also because of the job he did as Transportation Minister.

So both Calgary and Edmonton now have reliable and consistent funding for transportation infrastructure projects?

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

We're going to have our fifth premier in 8 years, all from the same political party, selected with very little public involvement. At this point it's a combination of voter apathy, voter disgust, and voter alienation.

[Canehdianman]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Poll I saw last night had 23% Prentice, 12% McIver, 10% Lukaszuk, and over 50% undecided. If nobody gets 50.1% this time, there's a second vote. You could see one of the two who get knocked out get behind one other person and surge ahead.

Myself I'm voting for McIver. Partially because I liked him as my alderman, but also because of the job he did as Transportation Minister.

This is exactly what I'm doing as well. For the same reasons.

[Jacks]

Watching Redford get dragged before the party executive was pretty interesting. There was a large group of people who I'd never heard of telling the Premier what to do and how to do it if she wanted to keep her job. They laid down the law basically, put the highest elected member of our government on probation. I had always assumed that the party decisions were primarily made by the elected members, seems not so much.

After watching that I don't really think it matters who gets voted leader of the PC's, the back room players aren't elected and they seem to be calling the shots anyway.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Bunk

The lack of interest is quite remarkable. I don't know whether this is disenchantment or whether people assume Prentice would win, so why bother. Probably both. I wouldn't be totally shocked by a McIver upset. If he can get out the vote, he could slip by Prentice.

Originally Posted by ken0042

Poll I saw last night had 23% Prentice, 12% McIver, 10% Lukaszuk, and over 50% undecided. If nobody gets 50.1% this time, there's a second vote. You could see one of the two who get knocked out get behind one other person and surge ahead.

Myself I'm voting for McIver. Partially because I liked him as my alderman, but also because of the job he did as Transportation Minister.

I was speaking with some people this morning and while it seems like Prentice should win in a landslide, they were shocked at how many "red tories" were voting for McIver. Take that FWIW, which might well be nothing.

I saw Prentice speak in his role as a banker and he really impressive. It might be just the state of politics in the province, or depends on what you are comparing him to, but he was head and shoulders above what the leaders at the time were capable of. Now he wasn't speaking on political issues at that point, and it was a business-friendly crowd, so who knows what you can take from that. All I know is that I was impressed, and that had nothing to do with politics because he wasn't in politics at that point and not running for anything.

I did hear a very favorable report on McIver today as well though. I don't want to divulge where, so I will keep this really broad. Basically they met with him months ago and he didn't know anything about the particular topic. They gave him a lot of information and sources of information. When they met again a couple of months later he was totally educated adn could speak on the topic. Not that they completely agreed, but he had clearly done his homework. Again, maybe thats worth absolutely nothing, but I thought it was interesting.