Alberta Election Thread - Election Day April 16 2019

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by simmer2

Unfortunately our riding tends to have a fairly significant amount of NDP'ers which is disappointing.

I mean, I like being given stuff too...but the cost is so incredibly high (ie 50B in debt) and people are simply glossing over that fact. Absolutely blows my mind.

People with million dollar mortgages that think that was a rational thing to do tend to be spendthrift.

[kermitology]

Originally Posted by simmer2

Unfortunately our riding tends to have a fairly significant amount of NDP'ers which is disappointing.

I mean, I like being given stuff too...but the cost is so incredibly high (ie 50B in debt) and people are simply glossing over that fact. Absolutely blows my mind.

I’m not sure that people are glossing over it, I think that there are people who want to ensure that the social and infrastructure debt we incurred over the last 40 years isn’t perpetuated by a bunch of promises. I personally think that the UCP will say anything to get elected. That their plans won’t help us in significant ways.

Moreover I’m just extremely fed up with politics these days. We are so focussed on how terrible one party is over another and it’s creating this partisan divide.

We don’t think about making decisions that will help everyone. I’m honestly sick and tired of this argument that the economy is the only thing that matters. It does, but so do things like education and healthcare. The NDP were amateurs in the last 4 years, not disagreement. But instead of trying to do something good for everyone while we had this government, the focus has been in trying to prove how wrong the other side is instead of working together to find a way forward for all of Alberta.

The whole political landscape, provincially, federally and around the world makes me sick, and I’m fed up with it.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Whoever formulated the NDP strategy failed to realize that the Voters didn't want to see a campaign that was short on substance and long on Kenney is evil.

Whereas the UCP strategy of "Notley is a stooge for Trudeau and Trudeau is evil" is much more substantive.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by simmer2

Unfortunately our riding tends to have a fairly significant amount of NDP'ers which is disappointing.

I mean, I like being given stuff too...but the cost is so incredibly high (ie 50B in debt) and people are simply glossing over that fact. Absolutely blows my mind.

“People different than me think differently than me, and it blows my mind.”

That’s basically politics. People have different views of what’s important, the better approach would be to actually try to understand why those people believe what they believe. UCP supporters alluding to NDP supporters being financially incompetent is no better than NDP supporters alluding to UCP supporters being bigots.

Trying to understand each other would also do a lot to remove a bunch of the derision, and would encourage less of this type behaviour in politics.

I, for one, strongly believe a large PST is in order. Some people want even less tax than we have now, and CERTAINLY not a PST. It doesn’t “blow my mind,” it’s just reality. And it’s ok.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Whereas the UCP strategy of "Notley is a stooge for Trudeau and Trudeau is evil" is much more substantive.

UCP had/has a major lead...I think the point was that if the NDP actually wants to earn an election win (not just be the default vote by disgruntled voters) they needed another strategy.

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Just watching the polls, for the most part, the NDP hasn't moved the needle or done a great job of closing the gap. With 9 days left, I think unless Kenney murders a baby on TV, the results are going to be a UCP government. Whoever formulated the NDP strategy failed to realize that the Voters didn't want to see a campaign that was short on substance and long on Kenney is evil.

Well he didn't murder a baby, but he did give a 35-minute speech about how the UN was conspiring to make it unacceptable to beat children.

Dadgummit, I should be allowed to raise a hand to my child. Sparing the rod is for LIEberuls and socialists.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Whereas the UCP strategy of "Notley is a stooge for Trudeau and Trudeau is evil" is much more substantive.

Problem is the smear and fear strategy by the NDP is not working. Had they spent more time speaking about policies and defending their record they might be ahead in the polls. Problem is the economy is in such bad shape that the voters are focusing on policies and platforms. Notley needed to win the debate to have any chance at winning the election.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Whereas the UCP strategy of "Notley is a stooge for Trudeau and Trudeau is evil" is much more substantive.

The UCP has ran on policy actions.

Revamp Education Act
Kill Carbon Tax
Go to War with Ottawa
Lower Corporate Taxes
Freeze spending on social programs for 4 years.
Kill NDP rail deal

I don’t think I can make the same list for Notley other than

The Staus quote of spending increases at pop growth plus inflation is acceptable and taxation is acceptable.

So I dont think it’s fair to say the UCP has solely focused on demonizing Notley. They have done both.

[dre]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

“People different than me think differently than me, and it blows my mind.”

That’s basically politics. People have different views of what’s important, the better approach would be to actually try to understand why those people believe what they believe. UCP supporters alluding to NDP supporters being financially incompetent is no better than NDP supporters alluding to UCP supporters being bigots.

Trying to understand each other would also do a lot to remove a bunch of the derision, and would encourage less of this type behaviour in politics.

I, for one, strongly believe a large PST is in order. Some people want even less tax than we have now, and CERTAINLY not a PST. It doesn’t “blow my mind,” it’s just reality. And it’s ok.

Absolutely agree with you on trying to understand each other. Maybe I can start.

What would you hope to accomplish with a large PST?

[transplant99]

Alberta Election Polling:

UCP: 55%
NDP: 32%
ABP: 7%
LIB: 1%

Forum Research / April 5th / 1132 respondents / IVR / MOE 3%

Notes: This is the first public post-debate poll. Additionally, no % changes can be given as this is Forums first Alberta poll



In a random sampling of public opinion taken by The Forum Poll™ among 1132 Alberta voters, amongst those decided and leaning more than half of Albertans (55%) say that they would support the United Conservative Party. A third (32%) say they would support the NDP and about 1 in 10 (7%) would support the Alberta Party.Toronto, April 6th - In a random sampling of public opinion taken by The Forum Poll™ among 1132 Alberta voters, amongst those decided and leaning more than half of Albertans (55%) say that they would support the United Conservative Party. Few say they would support either the Green Party (2%), another party (2%), or the Liberberals (1%).

http://poll.forumresearch.com/post/2...lection-wave-1

[transplant99]

Alberta Election Polling:

UCP: 50.5% (-0.2)
NDP: 38% (+0.9)
ABP: 5.8% (+1.8)
LIB: 2% (-0.8)
FCP: 1.7% (-0.8)

Mainstreet Research / April 5th / 876 Respondents / IVR (Cell+Landline) / MOE 3.31%

(% Changes compared to MSR's last poll on March 19th)

Mainstreets website is completely down, so no link but this is what they posted on twitter.

[Fuzz]

^
LIB: 2% (-0.8)
FCP: 1.7% (-0.8)


I wonder how the Liberals feel being barely ahead of the FCP? Don't they usually get around 15% of the vote?

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

^
LIB: 2% (-0.8)
FCP: 1.7% (-0.8)


I wonder how the Liberals feel being barely ahead of the FCP? Don't they usually get around 15% of the vote?

4% in 2015.

They are completely irrelevant in the overall picture.

[Resolute 14]

The NDP must be getting desperate. Yesterday's big attack was "Kenney's going to build toll roads".

https://calgaryherald.com/news/local...for-toll-roads

One of the NDP's candidates basically pissed in his own face with this comment:

“Right across Alberta, families will suffer, we will suffer. They will be penalized for driving to work, picking up groceries, taking their kids to hockey or any other sports and these tolls will hurt businesses,” said Singh, who said many supporters in his riding are involved in taxi and trucking industries and would be negatively impacted.

Because right across Alberta, families will be penalized for driving to work, picking up groceries, taking their kids to hockey and businesses will hurt because of the carbon tax.

[Ozy_Flame]

Crossing fingers we only get a UCP minority government with a centrist party holding the balance of power. That would be the best realistic outcome for me.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by transplant99

4% in 2015.

They are completely irrelevant in the overall picture.

Ya, looking back they used to be regular 25%'ers, then that gradually dropped. Can they go negative? Let's wait and see.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

The NDP must be getting desperate. Yesterday's big attack was "Kenney's going to build toll roads".

https://calgaryherald.com/news/local...for-toll-roads

One of the NDP's candidates basically pissed in his own face with this comment:



Because right across Alberta, families will be penalized for driving to work, picking up groceries, taking their kids to hockey and businesses will hurt because of the carbon tax.

That really is a remarkable statement....lol.

[simmer2]

Originally Posted by kermitology

I’m not sure that people are glossing over it, I think that there are people who want to ensure that the social and infrastructure debt we incurred over the last 40 years isn’t perpetuated by a bunch of promises. I personally think that the UCP will say anything to get elected. That their plans won’t help us in significant ways.

Moreover I’m just extremely fed up with politics these days. We are so focussed on how terrible one party is over another and it’s creating this partisan divide.

We don’t think about making decisions that will help everyone. I’m honestly sick and tired of this argument that the economy is the only thing that matters. It does, but so do things like education and healthcare. The NDP were amateurs in the last 4 years, not disagreement. But instead of trying to do something good for everyone while we had this government, the focus has been in trying to prove how wrong the other side is instead of working together to find a way forward for all of Alberta.

The whole political landscape, provincially, federally and around the world makes me sick, and I’m fed up with it.

That's a fair response. And I agree, politics are not exactly at a great spot right now. The reality is, who would want to enter into politics with the amount of smear campaigns and looking back into private lives that goes on.

The only person that can run is somebody who 1) hasn't made any mistakes in their lives (which means they haven't had the opportunity to learn from it or 2) their egos are large enough that they can handle these things being brought up in their past and not care about them.

Either way, politics tend to attract not the top calibre of people, which is unfortunate.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

The NDP must be getting desperate. Yesterday's big attack was "Kenney's going to build toll roads".

https://calgaryherald.com/news/local...for-toll-roads

One of the NDP's candidates basically pissed in his own face with this comment:



Because right across Alberta, families will be penalized for driving to work, picking up groceries, taking their kids to hockey and businesses will hurt because of the carbon tax.

This sounds like a reason to vote for the UCP.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by simmer2

Either way, politics tend to attract not the top calibre of people, which is unfortunate.

It's basically a popularity contest. On surface level it's a terrible concept for bringing in the best and brightest. And it has been proven time and time again that many, many people are not qualified or should not be making decisions that affect the rest of us.

I've heard conservatives say that the government should be run like a business. If that's true, then we should be hiring the most qualified candidate, not the most popular one. As a business owner, I wouldn't hire someone just because of the color of shirt their wearing.

Yes I know I'm slagging democracy, but really we should be moving towards machine learning being fed huge samples of data that can manage our decision-making for us, and then submitted to a panel of the best and brightest of leaders, academics, and community representatives to review.

Perhaps politics can be used as a theatre style for entertaining tourists. Have a mock legislature and debate from the left and right. People should be able to laugh at this process in a non-binding manner.