GDT: The Alberta Election 2012 - The Morning After - PC Majority Government

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Dion

MLA transition allowance estimates released



http://calgary.ctv.ca/servlet/an/loc...ub=CalgaryHome

Need to cap it somehow, because 1.2 million is absurd, but other than the really large amounts, I am not up in arms over it.

[longsuffering]

Originally Posted by Dion

http://calgarygrit.blogspot.ca/2012_04_01_archive.html

Isn't it ironic that a day after losing the election, WRP supporters are turning to Liberal bloggers to console themselves. "We'll get 'em next time!":roll eyes:

Sure every single prediction he made leading up to the election was wrong, but I'm sure he's got it right this time!

[kn]

Originally Posted by longsuffering

Isn't it ironic that a day after losing the election, WRP supporters are turning to Liberal bloggers to console themselves. "We'll get 'em next time!":roll eyes:

Sure every single prediction he made leading up to the election was wrong, but I'm sure he's got it right this time!

Or maybe we'd just like to read how Alberta Liberals are interpreting the election without it being filtered through the media. I know I appreciated the link as it led me to other blogs and sites that I found interesting.

[Slava]

I'm not sure what to do about the phone calls. I think that the easy answer is no robocalls, but people do hate the actual calls as well. I get the phone calls at my house as well, so I definitely see the annoyance, but then a part of me thinks "its just a phone call".

I also think that as a guy who has employed these for political use, the reality is it works. (Not saying the robocalls here, but specifically the GOTV calls we did yesterday). We can see the correlation between who we call and who shows up. I would also say that people posting in this thread might be surprised how many votes this can be worth. I talked to a lot of people yesterday and a lot of them would say something like "when is the election?".

I guess the phone calls just aren't that big of a deal to me, so I don't see why some people get so upset. Plus, its an election and they're pretty important to me. So if I get more calls than I like I just don't answer or take the call and move along with my day.

[getbak]

http://www.calgaryherald.com/technol...469/story.html

“We have some soul-searching to do as a party,” she said Tuesday, a day after a provincial election defeat that saw the Wildrose almost shut out of the major cities and northern Alberta.

“Our members have now seen that some of our policies were rejected by Albertans, quite frankly,” she said in an interview Tuesday. “We will be revisiting some of those. You can't run a government if you don't get sanction from the people.”

Asked which policies in particular were up for debate, Smith mentioned the “Alberta Agenda” items that call for the province to establish its own pension plan and replace the RCMP with a provincial police force. Such ideas were touted by a group of conservative thinkers in a famous letter written a decade ago that called for Alberta to build a “firewall” – a term that was used by the PCs to attack the Wildrose during the campaign.

Smith also mentioned her party members' endorsement of conscience rights, which would allow a marriage commissioner refusing to perform a same-sex marriage, or a Catholic doctor to decline writing a prescription for birth control.

“There may also be a stronger statement to make about climate change and our policy around greenhouse gas emissions,” she said.

[Kybosh]

I fully expect the Wild Rose Party to come back with force in the next election. I think some hard lessons were learned and that they won't make the same mistakes twice. I think I've said before that I liked a lot of their platform but certain actions/ideas were dealbreakers for me.

[Tinordi]

If PC's hold onto their right flank then Wildrose is destined for the dust heap. Far right parties simply have limited appeal to the median voter - the voter you need to capture to win elections.

Barring major scandal, economic upheaval, or the emergence of a viable governing alternative on the left, the PCs are on solid ground.

I predict that this is Wildrose's zenith.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by getbak

http://www.calgaryherald.com/technol...469/story.html

“One of my disappointments is that we didn't get to feature our candidates much during the campaign, which I think contributed to the result.” - Danielle Smith

Hehe.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by Tinordi

If PC's hold onto their right flank then Wildrose is destined for the dust heap. Far right parties simply have limited appeal to the median voter - the voter you need to capture to win elections.

Barring major scandal, economic upheaval, or the emergence of a viable governing alternative on the left, the PCs are on solid ground.

I predict that this is Wildrose's zenith.

You do not need the median voter under first-past-the-post, which is one of it's biggest flaws. However, governing without the median voter is a precarious position, as it puts pressure on the opposition parties to merge.

The PCs will struggle to keep both their right and left flanks (especially given that the left flank is strategic-voting liberals). There is always pressure to shrink the tent to the minimum required for a majority.

I do think that the PCs are perhaps better off without their right flank. They are much more palatable to centrists without the extremists. They have a firmer grasp on the median voter now (Stelmach held the median voter, but barely), but the downside is that the left is more fractured than the right so they will have to contend with more vote splitting on their new path.

[kn]

Originally Posted by Slava

I also think that as a guy who has employed these for political use, the reality is it works. (Not saying the robocalls here, but specifically the GOTV calls we did yesterday). We can see the correlation between who we call and who shows up. I would also say that people posting in this thread might be surprised how many votes this can be worth. I talked to a lot of people yesterday and a lot of them would say something like "when is the election?".

That's astonishing.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by longsuffering

Isn't it ironic that a day after losing the election, WRP supporters are turning to Liberal bloggers to console themselves. "We'll get 'em next time!":roll eyes:

Sure every single prediction he made leading up to the election was wrong, but I'm sure he's got it right this time!

Are you suggesting the comparisons to 2004 are wrong?

[kn]

Originally Posted by Tinordi

If PC's hold onto their right flank then Wildrose is destined for the dust heap. Far right parties simply have limited appeal to the median voter - the voter you need to capture to win elections.

Barring major scandal, economic upheaval, or the emergence of a viable governing alternative on the left, the PCs are on solid ground.

I predict that this is Wildrose's zenith.

The assumption here is that the Wildrose remains a far-right party and I think Smith is too ambitious to stay there and be in the political hinterland forever. She knows that to capture the reigns of power they will need to toss out the untenable policies and revisit how they select candidates.

But I think the state of the economy hasn't been emphasized enough. Alberta is doing well and I think most people weren't willing to potentially sacrifice that stability.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by longsuffering

As opposed to blaming the actual bigots, and gay-haters. I have to laugh at the WRP crowing "Look how tolerant we are! We tolerate intolerance! Anyone with an extreme view can find a home in our Party!"

Except, you aren't. Even in your own post, you are equating the entire party to a couple individuals. Your own defence only proves your hypocrisy. Wildrose got 35% of the votes. Are you going to stand here and tell me that 35% of Albertans stand for what idiots like Hunsperger and Leech said?

And Slava and Makarov - Redford likely knew the moment Hunsperger was named a candidate what his blog contained. Trash Wildrose for not dumping him if you like, but don't stand here and pretend Redford's big argument about how scared she was was anything but a cynical attempt at pushing the agenda of fear. It was a political ploy, and ultimately a highly successful one.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by Slava

I hate to tell you, but polling companies call cell phones as well. I spent about 10 hours calling for a candidate yesterday as well (and I'm almost positive I called a CPer), but anyway, we had cell numbers.

Ugh, just great. Well at the very least I never answer numbers I'm not familiar with, so at least you can yap away with an answering machine.

Originally Posted by getbak

I know you just recently moved back to Alberta, so you may not have been on the voters list that all the parties were given.

So I have 4 years till I have to move again....

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by Slava

I get the phone calls at my house as well, so I definitely see the annoyance, but then a part of me thinks "its just a phone call".

Great! In that case, mind giving us your phone number? Just want to call you a few random times at my convenience. It will probably be on a weekend or during something fun.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by photon

Well in Leech's case Leech is the one that got the ball rolling, but in both cases I think being aghast at it is one thing, saying it was a Liberal and PC message "that a vote for the Wildrose was basically a vote for Homophobia and racism" is another, I haven't seen anything indicating the latter.

I don't think they need to, the media coverage and guaranteed public response does that by itself.

That's why I asked, I didn't see that message from either the PCs or Liberals.

Agreed on Leech.

Here's one of Raj Sherman's tweets:

Dr. Raj Sherman ‏ @RajShermanMLA Alberta: Want MLAs who are Homophobic,Climate Change Deniers,Bigots and Health/Education Privatizers? Vote #wrp #abvote #yyc #yeg

In his defence though, he was trying to paint BOTH Wildrose and PC as scary.

Lol. If only the leftists would wake up and become conservatives then there'd be no more polarizing?

Not quite what I meant, but sure!

I call shenanigans, this election was exhibit A, the right polarized between the right and the far right all by them selves without any help from the left.

I spent more time reading twitter than I ever have during an election, and between people seeing a hidden social agenda in the WR and other people saying voting for PCs was like voting for Obama, the right was plenty polarized by itself.

Though I do agree that it is becoming more like American politics, but I think the reasons are a lot more complicated than "hardcore leftist supporters" (whatever that means).

I think that if you want to see where Canadian politics went off the rails, go back to when the federal Liberals began running attack ads against the mysterious hidden agenda of the federal Conservatives. They changed their focus from attacking policy and record to attacking hidden demons that only they could see. And that has continued almost with out break for many years now. Soldiers... with guns... in our streets.

For some, it has gotten to the point of zealotry - e.g.: Bridget Depape. People who are so utterly convinced that the problem with the federal Conservatives, and now Wildrose, isn't that their policy is bad, but that they are, simply, evil. That, frankly, is ridiculous and damaging to Canadian politics.

Not that people like Hunsperger or Leech help, mind you, but the valid criticism made against them for their comments and valid criticism for Smith's handling of it became invalid attacks made against anyone who supports the same party. e.g.: Sherman's comments above. Strategic voting wasn't argued to ensure a better platform won. It was argued to ensure the evil party lost.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by fotze

It is the height of arrogance that you intrude in their life in something so insignificant. And it is extremely insignificant.

For some people a phone call is a big deal, like for seniors waiting for a grandchild or a medical test result. To have a computer to call for some brutal contrived, vague, political, weasel message to dash their hopes or fears.

I know, and I'm really sorry for that ignorance and intrusion. Believe me I've lost a lot of sleep tossing and turning just flashing back to these atrocities.

I wish I had saved some of the messages people left for me when I ran for the school board and used a robocaller. It was really amazing. My message was literally thirty seconds and was basically "tomorrow's the election, don't forget to vote and vote for me." People phoned me just screaming and ranting and raving. It was so bizarre! I'm sure that First Lady could tell you some similar stories, or maybe people just think that a robocall for the school board is going too far.

I do want to stress that yesterday was all live calls, so no one should hate me too much for admitting I made a bunch!

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Agreed on Leech.

Here's one of Raj Sherman's tweets:



In his defence though, he was trying to paint BOTH Wildrose and PC as scary.


Not quite what I meant, but sure!

I think that if you want to see where Canadian politics went off the rails, go back to when the federal Liberals began running attack ads against the mysterious hidden agenda of the federal Conservatives. They changed their focus from attacking policy and record to attacking hidden demons that only they could see. And that has continued almost with out break for many years now. Soldiers... with guns... in our streets.

For some, it has gotten to the point of zealotry - e.g.: Bridget Depape. People who are so utterly convinced that the problem with the federal Conservatives, and now Wildrose, isn't that their policy is bad, but that they are, simply, evil. That, frankly, is ridiculous and damaging to Canadian politics.

Not that people like Hunsperger or Leech help, mind you, but the valid criticism made against them for their comments and valid criticism for Smith's handling of it became invalid attacks made against anyone who supports the same party. e.g.: Sherman's comments above. Strategic voting wasn't argued to ensure a better platform won. It was argued to ensure the evil party lost.

Did it go off the rails after the Reform party ad with a picture of Jean Chretien (and his polio stricken face as the focus) asking whether this is the face we wanted representing Canada? If that's your position, I call BS!

[Senator Clay Davis]

First of all, why the hell is that article on Danielle in the Technology section of the Herald?

Now as to said article, it's nice that they'll consider changing things, but realistically they need the PCs to flop to have any chance of getting more seats in the next election. 17 seats is only good because its Alberta and thats what qualifies for "opposition", but how can they add 27 seats without really any power whatsoever?

[EddyBeers]

Originally Posted by Slava

Did it go off the rails after the Reform party ad with a picture of Jean Chretien (and his polio stricken face as the focus) asking whether this is the face we wanted representing Canada? If that's your position, I call BS!

That was PC ad on Chretien.