Rob Anders safe again. Every potential opponent has now resigned.

[Bertuzzied]

Why will the Conservatives never win a majority? because Rob Anders is still HERE! Ridiculous. He must have some super damaging info on Harper.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/busines...072/story.html


In the latest twist in Calgary West’s political drama, most board members from MP Rob Anders’ Conservative riding association have suddenly resigned their posts.Citing concerns with the actions of the party’s national council, as many as 17 Tories have informed the party they cannot carry out their mandate under new limitations “imposed” on them.
Last week, national council informed the board it would take control of this year’s annual general meeting and will have the final word on any riding association spending.

[Caged Great]

I like Rob Anders.

Thanks for sabotaging the conservative party.

Signed

The Federal Liberal Party of Canada

[SteveToms]

Rob Anders isn't the reason they will never win a majority, Stephen Harper is.

[Bertuzzied]

http://communities.canada.com/calgar...n/default.aspx

Well, it's mission accomplished for the big blue boys at Conservative headquarters just days after they seized control of a Calgary riding association from local members trying to oust their own controversial MP.

Calgary West MP Rob Anders is now 100 per cent safe from a nomination challenge after every opponent to his continued candidacy quit the board Wednesday night in disgust with the undemocratic thumping they received from national Conservative officials last weekend.

Their departure ends a prolonged battle to subject MP Anders, a source of mindless controversy backed by very few intellectual contributions, to an open nomination ahead of the next election.

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by SteveToms

Rob Anders isn't the reason they will never win a majority, Stephen Harper is.

That is true except Anders controls Harper. Can anyone disprove this?

The hard right, deeply pro-life Anders is an awkward fit with the upscale cosmopolitan voters of Calgary West, which boasts the eighth-highest average family income in Canada.
"Rob is a true reformer and a true conservative," Harper declared after saving his candidate from a challenge two years ago. "He has been a faithful supporter of mine and I am grateful for his work."
Work? Really? Anders, 37, has spent his entire adult life as a rarely seen MP, his only apparent profession being a paid heckler for a right-wing U.S. Republican candidate.

Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/busines...#ixzz0fGwmdL1t

[Bertuzzied]

So what do Conservative supporters think of this? Can you really trust Harper with a majority government, when he has pieces of crap like Anders on his payroll?

[Ducay]

Ugh, as someone whos views fall in between the cons and libs, I end up voting liberal only to avoid giving that shill my vote.

The guy is 100% what is wrong with politics

[HotHotHeat]

If someone savvy enough ran as an independent they'd beat Anders. It's truly a 'lack of option' situation.

[Rifleman]

The reason Rob Anders is still around is he does a lot behind the scenes for the Conservative Party. He is the guy handling all the campaign mailings, faxes, and other infrastructure things related to the election. And he must be pretty good at what he does, which is why he's going to be allowed to sit in that position for life.

[PyramidsofMars]

I'm really continually surprised at how many Conservative voters I hear voicing surprise over the farther-right views held by Conservative MP's. Seriously, aside from the mock-centrist views they blab about in public and the centrist pragmatism they're forced into as a minority government, it's painfully obvious to anyone who does a quick background check on a lot of the Conservative MP's that there are many, well, unsavory aspects to the party.

The people of Calgary in my experience are overwhelmingly socially libertarian and reasonably open-minded, with strong free market views, free speech views, etc. etc. I thought the new Conservative party might be a voice for this majority in Calgary but they seem to be only reluctantly so, for the sake of political gain, and in fact seem to hold many views personally that the people of Calgary by and large disagree with or are less extreme about.

[killer_carlson]

I'm surprised someone hasn't mounted a legal challenge against Anders. Don't give me the "You'll be blacklisted by the party" BS.

Someone just has to have the nads to do it. This is the guy who voted against giving Nelson Mandela a ceremonial honour. The timing of the movie Invictus, and Mandela's 20th anniversary of being free, is perfect.

[Svartsengi]

When I was in Ottawa three years ago I went to question period. Rob was sitting there playing solitare on his labtop. His screen was so big you it could see it plainly from the gallery. Seemed bored. Try paying attention to what is being said Rob. Its your job.

[SeeBass]

Originally Posted by SteveToms

Rob Anders isn't the reason they will never win a majority, Stephen Harper is.

If it is ideology that is fair, but if it is Stephen Harper as a person then which other party leader do you think is a better person than he is?

[Ashartus]

Originally Posted by HotHotHeat

If someone savvy enough ran as an independent they'd beat Anders. It's truly a 'lack of option' situation.

I thought the independent running against him last election seemed fairly credible (and had generally conservative leanings without being extreme), but hardly anyone voted for him. It's hard to match the finances of an established party, particularly when most voters just look at the party name and not the candidate.

[Bunk]

Originally Posted by PyramidsofMars

I'm really continually surprised at how many Conservative voters I hear voicing surprise over the farther-right views held by Conservative MP's. Seriously, aside from the mock-centrist views they blab about in public and the centrist pragmatism they're forced into as a minority government, it's painfully obvious to anyone who does a quick background check on a lot of the Conservative MP's that there are many, well, unsavory aspects to the party.

The people of Calgary in my experience are overwhelmingly socially libertarian and reasonably open-minded, with strong free market views, free speech views, etc. etc. I thought the new Conservative party might be a voice for this majority in Calgary but they seem to be only reluctantly so, for the sake of political gain, and in fact seem to hold many views personally that the people of Calgary by and large disagree with or are less extreme about.

You're right. Calgarians are not actually as conservative or right wing as they like think they are. Sure they're free market oriented, but that is pretty much orthydoxy anywhere in Canada now. The presence of union labour is minimal here, so labour is not a big issue like it is in manufacturing based economies. Certainly we're socially libertarian (or perhaps just socially ambivalent). You wouldn't find Calgarians marching against things like gay rights, nor would you really find them actively driving social movements in support.

On issues like healthcare, education and other critical areas of government, Albertans and Calgarians are really the highest supporters of such public systems (and spend the most). One could argue that Alberta has one of the best, if not the best public education system, perhaps only behind Finland. In many ways Albertans seem to epitomize mythical "canadian-ness".

I just don't see Calgarians at all as ideologically driven - they just vote for the supposed "home" party the (in reality centrist) conservatives, because they're not the central canada based liberals that screwed them a generation ago. I think we're more driven by competence and good governance, not blind ideology.

Remind me in what ways Calgarians are actually conservative on issues? Not many obvious things come to mind

[PyramidsofMars]

Originally Posted by Bunk

You're right. Calgarians are not actually as conservative or right wing as they like think they are. Sure they're free market oriented, but that is pretty much orthydoxy anywhere in Canada now. The presence of union labour is minimal here, so labour is not a big issue like it is in manufacturing based economies. Certainly we're socially libertarian (or perhaps just socially ambivalent). You wouldn't find Calgarians marching against things like gay rights, nor would you really find them actively driving social movements in support.

On issues like healthcare, education and other critical areas of government, Albertans and Calgarians are really the highest supporters of such public systems (and spend the most). One could argue that Alberta has one of the best, if not the best public education system, perhaps only behind Finland. In many ways Albertans seem to epitomize mythical "canadian-ness".

I just don't see Calgarians at all as ideologically driven - they just vote for the supposed "home" party the (in reality centrist) conservatives, because they're not the central canada based liberals that screwed them a generation ago. I think we're more driven by competence and good governance, not blind ideology.

Remind me in what ways Calgarians are actually conservative on issues? Not many obvious things come to mind

Well-said.

The bottom line is that, as you say, Calgarians vote Conservative simply because it's the only real option. NDP have a reputation as socialist and disinterested in big business, which is a problem for Calgarians, the Greens and other smaller parties are just too small, and the Liberals are simply not an option. Thus leaving the Conservatives as the only true option, along with, of course, not voting at all. I can't tell you how many Calgarians I've spoken to have said the words "at least the Conservatives are better than the Liberals"... Fine if that's an informed opinion; up until recently I'd have agreed with them, but more often than not it seems to be just a repetition of the status quo with no thought put into it whatsoever.

That isn't to discount the very real right-wing movement in the city, but simply to suggest that quite a large portion of the enablers of the movement, the voters, don't really know much about what/who they're voting for. Voting Liberal is treason as an Albertan, and many don't see the smaller parties as anything but a wasted vote, so they vote Conservative. There is, of course, a smaller but still very active left-wing and left-of-centre movement in the city as well, particularly among youth, and I do suspect that the left will have much more of a say in politics in the future, starting about 20 years or so from now (though I don't think they will ever dominate, or even come close to doing so during my lifetime).

[SebC]

Stephen Harper can never have a majority because the majority of Canadians are liberal. (Note lower-case.)

I suppose they could get a majority by turning into the Liberals, but then what's the point?

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

Why will the Conservatives never win a majority? because Rob Anders is still HERE!

Nobody outside of Calgary knows how Rob Anders is or cares about him.

[John Doe]

Originally Posted by SeeBass

If it is ideology that is fair, but if it is Stephen Harper as a person then which other party leader do you think is a better person than he is?

As a person? I would say that Ignatieff, Layton, Duceppe and May are the only other party leaders that are better people than Harper.

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Nobody outside of Calgary knows how Rob Anders is or cares about him.

Yes. When you call Nelson Mandela a terrorist only Calgarians would care.