Dave Rutherford considering running against Nenshi

[the_only_turek_fan]

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/ca...349/story.html

I am a big fan of Dave and listen most mornings, but I know a lot of people that don't like him.

[Regulator75]

What he said.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Because being a talk show host (or a newsperson like Barb) somehow makes you qualified to hold public office. But from a purely comedic standpoint I sure hope he runs.

[Hockeyguy15]

It worked for Ralph.

But I agree, it's pretty rediculous.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Regulator75

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand open lines....

Fixed, if he leaves red neck radio i will be sad.

[PsYcNeT]

Well this will be good for a few yuks.

Ideologues always make the best candidates...

[worth]

This doesn't scare anyone? I could see him getting a lot of votes in this city.

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by worth

This doesn't scare anyone? I could see him getting a lot of votes in this city.

I see Rutherford resonating more with rural voters than in-city ones.

Not to say he wouldn't make a good go of it, I'm actually fairly sure he could secure around 20% of the popular vote if he tried, but I don't see him winning.

[Hockeyguy15]

Originally Posted by worth

This doesn't scare anyone? I could see him getting a lot of votes in this city.

Rutherford would be his own worst enemy if he runs. Sure he will have a base of people who will vote for him but they likely weren't voting Nenshi anyway. For someone to beat Nenshi they need to sway voters away from him, and Rutherford is not the guy.

[jammies]

Anyone running against Nenshi should be preparing to win the 2017 election, not this one. Getting your name out and voters familiar with you would be the goal. Then you hope Nenshi moves on to provincial/federal politics, because if he stays, you aren't winning in 2017 either, barring some huge scandal or the like.

Does Rutherford really need to get more name recognition? Seems like a stupid idea, unless maybe his intent is to build an organization. In which case, he'd be smarter to go for alderman against someone beatable. However, it's possible his ego won't let him do that.

[Thor]

eeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwww

[Tyler]

Totally agree Jammies.

We'll get 4 more years of Nenshi (if we're lucky) and then he'll be on the national stage. Start securing donors now and working on a plan to fill that vacancy when it arises

[Hevishot]

Aslong as there are still radios playing in old folks homes in this city Rutherford has a chance. He will grab the grouchy senior vote and run with it.

[troutman]

No more oooo-pen liiiiii-ine?

[Huntingwhale]

I like when he yells at people on the radio, then hangs up on them. But until he proves he can actually do a better job then Nenshi (who I support 100%), I don't see the appeal of him becoming Mayor.

[East Coast Flame]

Does anyone under 40 know who Dave Rutherford is?

[Parallex]

There would be no point. It's superhumanly hard to unseat a sitting mayor barring a major scandal, to say nothing of the fact that the portion of the population who would be an automatic vote for Rutherford almost certainly voted for McIvor last time... so unless someone is out there is peddling a video of Nenshi smoking crack while uttering slurs Rutherford wouldn't have a chance.

Originally Posted by Tyler

We'll get 4 more years of Nenshi (if we're lucky) and then he'll be on the national stage.

Not so sure about the "national" stage. Maybe provincial but I don't see Nenshi being a fit for federal politics.

[Minnie]

Blech. I hope Calgary keeps Nenshi.

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by Parallex

There would be no point. It's superhumanly hard to unseat a sitting mayor barring a major scandal, to say nothing of the fact that the portion of the population who would be an automatic vote for Rutherford almost certainly voted for McIvor last time... so unless someone is out there is peddling a video of Nenshi smoking crack while uttering slurs Rutherford wouldn't have a chance.

The Sun is doing their best right now to run a partial smear campaign against Nenshi over $128.

What kind of ties does Corus Entertainment have with Sun Media? :tinfoilhat:

[mykalberta]

No one under 30 likely knows who he is but there are alot more voters historically 40-60 than 20-40.

Nenshi is likely to get 40% of the vote, so he can be beaten so long as that vote % amount stays the same. If you summed Higgens and McIvor's totals into 1 candidate that candidate would have beaten Nenshi in the last election no?

That assumes that no other "star" candidate on the right would split the vote which is what happened the last election.

From a winnable standpoint I think Rutherford is the only type of candidate that could beat Nenshi - someone with instant name recognition. I listened more to his talk show 5-10 years ago but for the most part he didnt talk about civic issues more Provincial and Federal issues so its likely he isnt running on a record that Nenshi could pull apart unless how you feel about Quebec matters when being the mayor of Calgary (just as an example). Remember you would have alot of negative adds being brought against Nenshi by groups who dont like him (the number is small but their influence isnt).

Politics aside, I dont think Rutherford should run not because he has no chance of winning but because why would he run. He is retiring in the summer so why bother running for Mayor of Calgary and possibly ruining your reputation with a Job that is relatively powerless and thankless. If I was him I would be running as a candidate for WR in the next provincial election and be a glue that finally topples the PC majority and cut them down to at least a minority gov - that would be something he could be truly proud of - Mayor of Calgary, thats pizzles.