Previous  1 ... 15  16  17  18  19  Next

I'm happier now than I expected to be earlier today. Just like every pollster and pundit who predicted a massive WRA victory I got proven wrong, and I'm glad for that. Alberta proved that it's a center-right province, not a right-wing one, and I'm happy that we showed that conservative doesn't have to mean radical in the way that the "experts" want it to be.

Bloody hilarity in the SUN reader's comments tonight. They even tossed some Nazi and North Korea references in at Redford. Ahh, nothing like the pure comedy the mixture of tabloid "journalism" and radical ideology is capable of generating.

Interesting article here as to the how's and why's of political thought in Alberta. It was from a couple of days ago but it turned out to be eerily reflective of tonight's final results.

   

That is great. If I were an Alberta resident I would have voted PC for sure.

I thought that, due to the polls, Wild Rose went to election day with reasonably bright prospects but got crushed by the ballot box. Must be hard to take.

If your 'Sun' is anything like the Toronto Sun I hear you.

   

The Calgary SUN was at the center of the WRA hijinx around here. It basically became an echo chamber where they were endlessly repeating the same old mantra to each other. By doing so I think that they basically ended up cutting their own throats. By not allowing any outside information in that might counter their own one-sided narrative they essentially blinded themselves to any possibility that they might actually be wrong. Reality caught up them and side-swiped them but good. And now all they've got left is to pathetically insult those who laid such a severe lickin' on them. Mr. Pierre-Karl Peladeau at Quebecor Inc. might do himself a favour by investigating what happened out here at one of his papers and purging the place of those who were obviously just making things up as they went along.

Kind of the ultimate irony that they basically fucked themselves by engaging in the same tactics that they regularly accuse the CBC of using. My own error with my faulty prediction was giving in to despair and assuming that they were going to be correct in their predictions. I'll try hard to not let this ever happen with me again.

   

Well the polls certainly led in a deceptive direction, they are generally not that far out of whack, esp. when they generally agree with each other. What do they say? Accurate to 4 percentage points 19 times out of 20.

As per the right wing echo chamber it is alive on talk radio as well. At some point you have to say STFU or it will either mesmerize you or be an endless irritation.

It probably does especially well in a right-center political climate rather than a more centrist atmosphere. Is the Calgary Sun profitable? If so I don't think you can expect a change of tune given the tough go newspapers have these days.

   

Ok, I never saw that coming. I expected at best a PC minority. Either the polling companies in Alberta are crap or they all just asked all the wrong people.

In the end, I think CBC said it best - the Wildrose no-meet committee was in the last week, when Smith defended instead of dismissed controversial candidates and pronounced the science of climate change unproven.

I made it no secret that I was going to vote for the PCs and I did.

For me, it was based on the party leader, period. I looked at all five party leaders and looked at who had the most impressive resume and the best experience and picked Redford. After all, isn't that what companies do - look over the candidates and chose the best one?

I'm glad she won, but all Albertans will have to make sure she sticks to her promises. Frankly, I'll be watching and if she doesn't do what she promised, I'll be talking up a storm in four years for her opponents.

   

Two years ago, I thought they would make a big splash too, but they never seemed to get anything going. It's too bad, because their platform seemed pretty decent and Taylor sounded like he could be a good leader.

But I think it fell apart when they only had 40 or so candidates. IMHO, for a party to have a chance at doing something, they have to be in every riding (or damned close anyways). The one thing that struck me as odd was that candidates had different coloured signs - not a deal breaker - but it was weird to see blue signs in one riding, yellow in another and green in a third. I think it might have affected continuty and people recognizing who was running for who.

   

Yeah, I should have put the Lougheed bit before the comma...my bad!

   

G'day. Back to reality, once again Alberta has chosen close to the middle instead of beating the dead horses again. Of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinion about things, but as a province we generally like to decide things and shoot the horse.

   

I think I know who Thanos voted for! However, I fear his tongue and will hence bury my thoughts deep, deep, deep down inside of me.

So, I am somewhat satisfied with this election. I only knew of two potential senators (Shaikh and Urquhart) in any real way so for the first time in my life felt stupid at the voting booth, but, well, what can you do? And I only got sent to one wrong voting booth this time, rather than in the Federal election where I got sent on a scenic tour of Edmonton-Strathcona.

My riding, unsurprisingly, went NDP, with Notley easily breaking the 60% barrier and keeping it. Everyone knew it was going to happen. The only real fault on a personal level was that she was on the no meet committee, but she was also the only one who actually tried to campaign during this election. Her election was as sure as the NDP MP's election at the federal level. We knew it would happen, so I was well aware my vote wasn't going to change much in that regard.

Most of the people I wanted voted in and out managed it. Only one annoyed me by remaining in his riding, but the other six or so ridings I was watching generally met with my grins, especially watching the fall of Morton. Regardless of his political affiliations, he irritated me to know end, was personally reprehensible and was an incredibly poor MLA to his constituents, of whom I have family among them. His defeat by the Wildrose brings with me hope that he will sink into relative political obscurity rather than seek an MP position in the next election.

I'm not happy that we have a majority government (I tend to categorically dislike those at the federal and provincial levels) but I am happy we have a centrist government. I guess in contrast to the Federal election where I was forced to chose between NDP and Conservative (even though I knew my riding was NDP) left me some political space to move around in, but the AB election was far more restrictive. I really did not want to vote in a Wildrose majority, for a few reasons, and hence the fact that the PCs are there at least makes me a bit happier.

I know a lot of people wanted the Wildrose in, but I felt really uncomfortable electing in an untried party with a leader who was not ready to lead her party forcefully if needed. They need time in the legislature to figure out how to make their party work best. I'd prefer the PC get a scare and they get time to vet and improve their party to they are a more viable and grown-up party at the next election, with their affairs much more in order. Not to mention, both the PC and the Wildrose need a bit of a lesson in humility, and hopefully this election gave both parties a taste of it. I also felt uncomfortable with the degree of "freedom" accessed by members like Leech, and the dude who told me I was going to burn in a lake of fire. Plus, the Wildrose is just too far right, both socially and economically, for me to really feel comfortable supporting them. I'd rather we stumble in a direction I'm comfortable with than stride confidently towards one I am not.

Even better, now the PC are at least nervous, and have to respond to a more leftist base, since there is no doubt that strategic voting played a large role in the PC win -- the collapse of the liberal vote and sudden rise in the PC vote cannot be ignored, even though it is not the only reason in my mind that the WR lost (I think a lot of cold feet appeared over the weekend and a lot of people were punishing the PCs). It'll be an interesting few years, especially since the left, if the PCs want to get back in, will get more of a say this time around, for possibly the first time in a few decades in Canada. We have a red tory in charge, and I'd like to see what they can do for Alberta with a lot more scrutiny on them than before. With a mixture of centrist, center right and center left support, it really does seem to be a centrist government to me, or as close as we could get in Alberta. Speaks to me, since I'm a centrist.

Speaking about the left, what is up with the Sherman hate? I know he criticized his own government over the health care system and got punished for it, but I do not necessarily view that as a bad thing in regards to his choices there. As a person, he seems more personable than the other leaders (mind, I dunno how well that translates on TV, and I might be biased because I got courted by him), and he did make some fairly contradictory remarks about Bob Rae and the general position Rae has on the pipeline as an example, so he is willing to stand up for Albertans. Plus, he didn't do horribly in debate for a guy who had little to no experience debating or speaking on the fly in such a situation. I feel like I have missed a lot here. I demand enlightenment!

   

I disagree that the PCs have to respond to a leftist base. I think the rift was created by a drift to the left. That drift is what is fuelling the WRP. I suspect you'll see the PCs veer to the right to get those votes. The left in Alberta isn't attractive enough and this election may serve notice to the PC party that if the move left continues they can be booted next time around.

   

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised yesterday. I was bracing for a WRA win and hoping it would be kept to a minority but the tide obviously turned. I think we saw a great deal of strategic voting by traditionally left of center voters (seemingly mostly Liberal) that tipped the scales back in the PCs favor. So many ridings were won on such slim margins that it seems a fairly reasonable explanation. Despite not minding Redford, I myself couldn't bring myself to stray from the left and am pleasantly surprised to find the local NDP I did vote for has won.

   

Yes, we hear they are upset because WRP don't like minorities.

(Yes, I went there.)

And the best part is the Minister of the Department I work in is gone!! Morton was far more right wing than the WR candidate, which is a bit of irony not lost on me.

   

I'm just preparing for four years of fiscal mismanagement if the last four years of deficit spending is any indication.

   

I have to agree, I for one am glad the PC's won. Like others have said, you stick to the horse you know before putting the horse down.

Overall, I support the decision we make as a people. Good job Alison!

   

I have to add; I was quite pleased too. Lines were short (3-5 minutes) and when I put my ballot in the box, it seemed nearly full.

I heard numbers this morning that turnouts were only around 50%, but that a darn sight better than 40% last time.

   

Previous  1 ... 15  16  17  18  19  Next