This is the first time that I get to vote in a by-election. It is an interesting situation, since at the end of the day, you know there will still be a Conservative majority. The by-election will not change that at all. I am non-partisan and have not yet decided who will get my vote. I've been following all of the candidates on twitter for the last week or so.
So far, Ben Christensen has ruled himself out of getting my vote. He is one angry man. Even if you are not interested in the result of this riding, I would recommend following him on twitter. Here are a couple from last night: attacking Calgary Transit, calling his NDP opponent Dan Meades narcissistic, attacking Crockatt for being at a food drive. Actually, he has some serious hate for Calgary Transit, such as this gem from a few days ago.
I've also pretty much ruled out Dan Meades for tweeting like a 12-year-old girl. Seriously, it is only four more characters to use the words instead of numbers.
Last edited by jtfrogger; 11-27-2012 at 12:03 AM.
Reason: add link to Sunday's debate
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Wow, Ben Christensen's tweets are full of vitriol. I never heard of him before. Just those few tweets make him seem like an angry, cynical guy. So then I clicked on the youtube link and fired up the first link there, a video on his Nexen solution.
His commentary was funny but perhaps painfully so, in that I'd have thought he was joking but he was actually serious. He seems to take himself seriously but it is hard to do that watching and reading what he posted online. He has no gift for the art of rhetoric, but probably thinks he does. The dramatic end-of-video music is corny.
And he happens to look like a beaver. At first I thought that was part of the joke but now think he just has a crappy dentist.
Anyway, as to the race itself, isn't this just a guaranteed runaway victory for Crockatt? The Liberal candidate seems like a respectable guy, but the party is in shambles, and this is Calgary. The NDP won't be winning a seat in Calgary any time soon, with even fewer chances under Muclair, though I have to say I admire his boldness and charisma.
Thanks for setting this up jtfrogger, I've been meaning to do this for a while.
I'll throw this out there, as I've been working behind the scenes with the project (building the site and other elements, etc.) but the 1CalgaryCentre project is also a good resource for the by-election, if you're looking for information on the candidates that are running under the left of centre parties (Liberals, NDP, Greens).
We're holding polls (http://www.1calgarycentre.com/1calgarycentre-polls/) and trying to start conversation about trying a new way to get people in Calgary engaged with Federal politics and also to help prevent voter splitting.
Just thought I'd throw it out there and I know this won't be everyone's cup of tea. But for others looking for an alternative, this might be of interest.
I've also pretty much ruled out Dan Meades for tweeting like a 12-year-old girl. Seriously, it is only four more characters to use the words instead of numbers.
Yeah, but given Twitter's character limit, he only has one character remaining in that tweet. Sort of a lame excuse not to vote for someone.
The thought didn't even cross my mind that this was going on (I've been Calgary Centre-North for the past six years) so I should invest more time into looking into the platforms of each candidate.
Wow, Ben Christensen's tweets are full of vitriol. I never heard of him before. Just those few tweets make him seem like an angry, cynical guy. So then I clicked on the youtube link and fired up the first link there, a video on his Nexen solution.
The first video I watched of his was his five minute video explaining the Progressive Canadian Party of Canada. I dare you to watch it through to the end without breaking out laughing.
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Anyway, as to the race itself, isn't this just a guaranteed runaway victory for Crockatt? The Liberal candidate seems like a respectable guy, but the party is in shambles, and this is Calgary. The NDP won't be winning a seat in Calgary any time soon, with even fewer chances under Muclair, though I have to say I admire his boldness and charisma.
I'll admit I haven't really done too much digging yet. However, from what I have seen, Chris Turner is a pretty credible opposition to Crockatt. He did an AMA on Reddit. He is the only candidate that I followed on twitter before the by-election nominations. I've been following since he wrote this piece on Calgary. It is long, but very interesting. I'll have to re-read it now that he is a political candidate vying for my vote.
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Originally Posted by c.t.ner
Thanks for setting this up jtfrogger, I've been meaning to do this for a while.
I'll throw this out there, as I've been working behind the scenes with the project (building the site and other elements, etc.) but the 1CalgaryCentre project is also a good resource for the by-election, if you're looking for information on the candidates that are running under the left of centre parties (Liberals, NDP, Greens).
I was thinking of including it in my post, but I really don't know too much about this organization. There seems to be a lot of people that do not trust 1CalgaryCentre. Then again, those are people that support candidates that are not likely to get their endorsement.
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Originally Posted by TorqueDog
Yeah, but given Twitter's character limit, he only has one character remaining in that tweet. Sort of a lame excuse not to vote for someone.
Actually, if you delete the period and superfluous spaces, the tweet I linked fits in 140 characters even if you use "to" instead of "2" and "everyone" instead of "every1". In general, I find his tweets irritating and sloppy. If he spent another minute on them, he could clean them up. In the provincial election, I ruled out Jamie Lall for the same reason. Not taking the time to present a professional image is lazy, which is a characteristic I do not want in a politician.
We're holding polls (http://www.1calgarycentre.com/1calgarycentre-polls/) and trying to start conversation about trying a new way to get people in Calgary engaged with Federal politics and also to help prevent voter splitting.
It's not the message they want to hear, but I happen to believe that unless Harvey Locke is "selected" in the 1CC process, that 1CC will not be preventing vote-splitting and will in fact be exacerbating it.
Wonder if this will be interesting at all or another conservative slam dunk. It seems like more of a PC/centre right riding than a Conservative one but that's the first I've ever heard of the Progressive Canadian party.
Are they supposed to be ideologically similar to the old Tories?
LOL @ Ben Christensen and his "well known" automotive company that doesn't even show up on the first page of google hits when you type in the exact company name. Bonus points for not having any AMVIC licensing info on his page that is required under Alberta law to be an automotive broker. I have been in the car business at one of the largest import dealers in the city for 12 years, and I have never heard of this dude or his company.
Then again he was a supporter of the occupiers, so I am sure he is destined to fail anyway.
He doesn't even know the history of the Progressive Conservatives that he supposedly represents. The PC's did not become the Reform, but rather the Reform were a protest spin-off of the PC's, and it was the Reforms that did eventually become the Canadian Alliance. There was no such thing as the "Conservative Alliance"
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Last edited by OffsideSpecialist; 11-05-2012 at 12:05 AM.
Oh Ben.....
He was the one who presented himself as the "legal counsel" of Occupy Calgary.
Oh sh-t, are you serious? I knew that goof's name sounded familiar.
There's one candidate I can strike off.
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Originally Posted by jtfrogger
Actually, if you delete the period and superfluous spaces, the tweet I linked fits in 140 characters even if you use "to" instead of "2" and "everyone" instead of "every1". In general, I find his tweets irritating and sloppy. If he spent another minute on them, he could clean them up. In the provincial election, I ruled out Jamie Lall for the same reason. Not taking the time to present a professional image is lazy, which is a characteristic I do not want in a politician.
Ehh, fair enough. Still, given this imposed limitation, it doesn't seem like a medium where I'd be too critical of the author's use of internet shorthand. Now if he did that on Facebook, LinkedIn, or his official website, sure. Twitter is meant for short, bite-size pieces of information, and unfortunately not all our thoughts can be appropriately conveyed in 140 characters.
He resigned to work for the provincial government.
I like the idea behind 1Calgary Centre, and I think its a great idea. I do wish they were picking a candidate a lot sooner, and that the candidate was based on who could most likely win. The only way a group like this has a chance is by lining up behind the second place contender (3rd place if that happens to be Ben Christensen) and doing it early.
The distrust people have is that the polling shows that Locke is clearly in second place at this point. Going by facebook likes or other pure social media "scores" its probably Turner though. So if the end result is that 1CC endorses Turner you have a race for second that might tighten, but thats about it. Unfortunately though, waiting until a week before probably means that no one will stop their own push and help the other progressive though.
Its a shame. Its a great idea and a great project with the right intentions.
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I was thinking of including it in my post, but I really don't know too much about this organization. There seems to be a lot of people that do not trust 1CalgaryCentre. Then again, those are people that support candidates that are not likely to get their endorsement.
Thanks for that and the feedback. I've been watching some of the backlash and "conspiracy theories" on Twitter and it is quite humorous.
I do understand, that the one thing the project appears to lack is more transparency but as someone tied to the project, I can say that there is no "hidden agenda" with 1CalgaryCentre. This isn't a vehicle created by a single party or tied to a single party, just a handful of people who want to try something a bit different. At the end of the day, whomever Calgary Centre residents vote for through the project whether it will be Harvey, Dan, Chris or even Ben, will get the 1CalgaryCentre support.
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Originally Posted by SebC
It's not the message they want to hear, but I happen to believe that unless Harvey Locke is "selected" in the 1CC process, that 1CC will not be preventing vote-splitting and will in fact be exacerbating it.
I believe that right there is the odd problem with being a non-Conservative Federal voter in Calgary, each of the other parties believes that "their guy and only their guy" should win, while the other parties should just fall inline. All three parties have stigmas in Calgary, so as a personal standpoint I want to know why I should vote for each candidate and what they'll do to represent Calgary's interests.
He resigned to work for the provincial government.
I like the idea behind 1Calgary Centre, and I think its a great idea. I do wish they were picking a candidate a lot sooner, and that the candidate was based on who could most likely win. The only way a group like this has a chance is by lining up behind the second place contender (3rd place if that happens to be Ben Christensen) and doing it early.
I like the information a site like this provides. I personally think they have to wait in order to give the candidates a chance to campaign and to see the results of the campaign. If you do it too early, it defeats the purpose. At that point, just become a Liberal supporter because they had the best chance of defeating the Conservatives before candidates were named. Look at our last mayoral race. If you went by the polls a month before the election, Nenshi had almost no chance at winning.
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Originally Posted by c.t.ner
I do understand, that the one thing the project appears to lack is more transparency but as someone tied to the project, I can say that there is no "hidden agenda" with 1CalgaryCentre.
Transparency is key in anything political. I believe that there is likely no hidden agenda, but I will be skeptical of everything I see there. Also, I won't share the site with others without a disclaimer that I do not know how legitimate it is.
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So far, Ben Christensen has ruled himself out of getting my vote. He is one angry man. Even if you are not interested in the result of this riding, I would recommend following him on twitter.
Does not disappoint! I'm enjoying him and noted poster First Lady reviewing his efforts to get drunk people to sign his nomination papers this weekend. Very amusing!
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I actually know Ben IRL but hadn't really been following anything relating to the by-election. My only exposure, prior to this thread, was the occasional mention on Facebook. I will have to find his twitter feed and see what he is saying.
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Calgary Centre Federal By-election - Nov 26 (UPDATE - Crockatt wins for CPC)
